"We appreciate your patience and cooperation..."

So reads the notice posted by the contractor who is painting our condo complex. What it really means is: we will be killing your ground cover, stomping on your plants, taking 10-day breaks without notice or explanation, leaving cigarette butts and food wrappers all over the place, and, if you complain, we’ll give you dirty looks and make rude comments in spanish as you walk by.

These guys seem to know what they are doing, painting-wise, so I assume that they are a step or two above day laborers. Their total lack of respect for the residents and their homes is simply appalling. Why do these workers have such distain for us?

Because they essentially are working for you, making you a quasi-boss. Everyone hates their boss.