I was listening to my neighbor talking to the HVAC technician.
I wasn’t deliberately listening to their conversation.
My son wanted to play on the porch and I wouldn’t let him outside alone. I had the porch gate locked while he was outside, and I sat on the rocking chair. I noticed my neighbor outside with the HVAC technician. The tech was trying to get some work done, but it wasn’t working. My neighbor was carrying on about how bad the last HVAC tech was. I was beginning to feel sorry for the tech. The way he talked to him was wrong. It was like he was blaming this man for something someone else had done. I stood up and was getting ready to go over and admonish the man’s behavior, but his wife came out. Thinking she was going to take her husband inside and let the tech complete the air conditioning repair, I sat back down. Instead of taking him inside, she began browbeating the tech. She told him she didn’t know why they kept using his HVAC company. I picked up my son, opened the gate, and walked over. After a deep breath, I asked the tech if he wanted to come over for a moment. Then I turned to my neighbors. I told them there were three HVAC companies in our area, and I suggested they call one of them if they were so unhappy with the HVAC tech. It wasn’t his fault someone else had made a mistake, but it was their fault for behaving so badly.