Imagine hearing the water running in your house, but you’re not using the water. If you don’t live alone, you’d probably assume that someone else was using the water.

What would you do if you found out that it was actually a construction worker who was using your water hose outside for a project completely unrelated to your house, and he hadn’t even asked your permission? Would you ignore the situation or call him out on it?

In this story, one woman was in that situation, and she yelled at the construction worker. After talking to her coworker about what happened, she’s wondering if she was too harsh.

I think she was the perfect amount of harsh, but keep reading to see if you agree.

AITA for yelling at a construction worker?

My sister and I inherited a house after our mother died 2 years ago.

The house is large and since our bedrooms and offices are in other ends of the house we rarely see each other.

We are both very petite at 5ft tall and are often mistaken for teenagers because of our height, body build and higher pitched voices.

She noticed an issue with the water pressure.

They have recently started construction on the street on the side of our house.

There has been a lot of dust dirt being thrown in the air so whenever I leave the house I end up getting covered in a light layer so have been immediately taken my clothes off throwing it in the washer and showering.

One day while showering I noticed the water pressure was off and when I finished washing I could hear the outside hose being used. So I think it’s my sister.

We live in Texas and in summer months are on water restrictions, no use of water during the day, only at night every other day and so I thought it was odd.

It wasn’t her sister.

For the next week I can hear the water being used again and again and not during our assigned time.

I meant to ask her about it, but had a big project due for work and kept forgetting.

This morning I wake up to the water being used and I get up to ask her about it and find her in the kitchen. She is not using the water.

We go outside and it’s one of the construction workers using our water and hose to water the street. Our house is on an incline and it’s a long trudge to get to our hose when there is a easily accessible fire hydrant at the bottom.

The construction worker lied to them.

I go up to the worker and ask why he is using our water hose when there is an easy hydrant nearby.

He tells me that he talked to our dad and that he said it was ok.

I tell him that either he is “Whoopi Goldberg and talks to ghosts or a liar because my father has been dead for a decade.”

We go back and forth and my sister cuts the water off.

The foreman arrived at just the right time.

Luckily the foreman/manager pulls up in a truck and asks what the issue is.

I tell him that the worker has been using our water and hose without permission by me the owner.

He asks the worker and he says he did get permission and that the hydrant is stuck.

The Foreman asks why he hasn’t called the water department and the worker makes some kind of excuse.

Her coworker doesn’t think she handled this situation well.

The Foreman then tells me he is sorry, gives me a card and tells me to call him if my bill is higher than normal and the city will reimburse me any costs. He will also make sure nobody comes back on our property.

Later when I’m talking to my coworkers about what happened they said I was an AH for not letting them use our water and yelling .

I wouldn’t have been upset but he lied about talking to my dad, and they didn’t ask while we are on restrictions and I don’t want to be fined for extra use. So am AITA?

She was completely in the right calling out the construction worker on using her water without permission. Her coworker sounds like a pushover. Let’s see if Reddit agrees.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a couple whose new neighbors’ construction noise is ruining the whole neighborhood vibe.

This person doesn’t think she did anything wrong.

Another person was in a similar situation.

Here’s a suggestion.

Nobody thinks she did anything wrong.

Her coworker is crazy, or a doormat, to think she was wrong to complain. Water isn’t free, especially if the water is being used on days it’s not supposed to be used. Her water bill could be much higher than usual, and the foreman understood that.

The construction worker messed up and deserved to be called out on what he did. Lying on top of it was even worse.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a mom who is irate after she gave a group leader money for her daughter’s lunch, only to have him pocket the cash and ask all of the kids to pay their own way.