It’s bad enough to borrow something small and inexpensive from a neighbor, but tools?

Yeah, that’s a bad idea…

Because tools are expensive and people take pride in the ones they own!

What’s a person to do when this happens to them?

Check out how this guy handled it.

Disrespect my means of income? I’ll disrupt yours.

“I am currently in the town I grew up in, working.

This town is hundreds of miles away from my home. I’ve been here much longer than I expected, and it’s been more miserable of an experience than I could’ve anticipated.

The house I’m at happens to be right next door to someone I grew up with, and their spouse. J1 is my childhood acquaintance, J2 is the spouse.

Drama time!

This melodrama kicked off 2 nights ago when I went to grab some tools out of my work truck.

The truck is an F550 with an 8 panel utility box on it. It’s a couple extra desserts shy of 10 tons gross weight.

And my tools are how I make my living.

I obtained a reverence for quality tools early on because of their ability to provide. I rarely loan them out but when I do it’s under expressed conditions.

The truck has to sit in the driveway as it won’t fit in the garage.

The edge of the driveway is inches away from the property line shared with J1 and J2’s house. They rent the house.

I’ve known S, the landlord of said house for my entire life. S and I have a very good relationship.

Back to the tools; I went out to grab something from one of the panels in the truck when I noticed a uniform extrusion of snow in the bed portion of the truck.

I discovered that under the fresh snow was my open, double fold case of all of my priority sockets, wrenches, pliers, etc.

The case itself I made as a project when I went to school for trade certification. The shell is aluminum, the inside is blow molded plastic I made specifically for those tools.

I had to make the 1-off mold for the plastic. I pressed the hinges that I made from scratch.

I hardened the cam of the locking mechanism myself. It was a final project for a class that received high praise from the instructor who was a veteran machinist.

(By ‘high praise’ I mean he gave a critical scowl while inspecting, and finished with a grunt and “Not bad.”) The case received a perfect score.

Hmmm, this didn’t look good…

It wasn’t just the case, open to the elements, left out for anyone to grab. It was all of those bare tools, buried in snow.

I do not treat my tools like that. If someone treats their own tools like that, I judge them for it.

Abuse of my tools virtually never happens because there is hardly ever an occasion where I’m not in control of them. But someone left my single most valuable piece of kit out to rust or walk off.

That someone was certainly not me.

A few nights ago J1 texted me asking if J2 could borrow a cordless drill. I said “sure” so long as he put everything back when he was done and locked it back up.

He knew where the key was because I had grown to trust him over time. That came back to bite me, as it seems it always does.

After discovering my tools in that state, I took them in to clean and lube everything and calmed a tiny bit when I discovered the damage was mostly superficial.

The jury is still out on a pair of digital calipers. I was still fuming over the disrespect though.

Yesterday I decided to do a complete inventory of the truck to figure out if anything was missing. It doesn’t take more than a half hour since everything is indexed.

There is a hook, clamp, or holder of some kind to keep all of my tools. It’s a significant initial investment of time that doesn’t take long to recoup.

I shave minutes off of my work every day because I don’t need to look for things. I know exactly where they are.

Once I had my list of missing tools I headed over to the Js’ house (cordless driver, a few bits, 2 batteries, a pry bar and a 4′ spirit level.)

When J2 answered the door he was clearly intoxicated, which was standard for that time of night.

He had enough of this.

He didn’t know specifically what he still had but promised me he’d check in the morning.

I informed him that given the state I discovered my tool case in, tomorrow morning wasn’t good enough.

He advised I quit being a little ***** about the matter and he’d get to it when he found time.

My fury was only bubbling at a light simmer, so I gave him one last chance. I asked him explicitly if he was refusing to give my tools back.

He instructed me to self-copulate and forcefully closed the door in my face.

I could’ve let it go and just defuse over time and maybe get my tools back. But that’s not something I’m capable of doing in a situation like that.

I try to avoid confrontation because I don’t back down until the other person loses.

It can result in a net loss for me as well, but it becomes about extracting that pound of flesh. It’s a character flaw for sure, but I’m aware of it and do my best to mitigate it.

Thankfully, this turned out to be far milder than I was prepared for.

So the next stage of escalation was one I really wasn’t looking forward to.

Police.

I was tangentially involved with several different LEAs, both privately and professionally, for almost 2 decades.

My feeling about law enforcement started as a kind of ignorant reverence, which turned to fascination.

He’s not a fan of cops…

But over time, through intimate dealings through several facets and several agencies, I developed a profound and righteous contempt for law enforcement.

There are otherwise decent people involved, to be sure. But as a whole there’s not a single class of people I hold in lower regard.

And J2 required that I involve them.

So I called the non-emergency number to dispatch an officer, reference theft.

Now, I knew perfectly well the cop couldn’t do anything because it was a civil issue but I had 3 goals.

Perhaps recover my property.

Maybe J2 would become belligerent and earn himself a sleepover with the local losers and petty criminals.

But primarily I wanted a call log to reference if I needed to file a small claim against the spouse of a family friend I’ve known for almost 40 years.

The cop showed up within an hour and I gave him the rundown. He was sympathetic but explained what I already knew.

He still made contact to try to resolve the situation. Kudos.

J2 was doe-eyed at the appearance of a cop and was ready to surrender the hostage tools, but J1 was the one that became belligerent- throwing the bits and level off of the deck.

All while chastising me for such a betrayal. It turns out J1’s dad actually had my driver, batteries, ect. so they weren’t even around to be had. J1 informed me I’d be lucky if they could be found after such a betrayal.

I’ll agree, it was a jerk move on my part but I just wanted my pound of flesh. (and my tools) The cop left and I went inside.

Before bed last night I hatched my revenge. And after a brief chat with S (landlord) I could hardly get to sleep.

This was going to be interesting…

At about 5 this morning I plugged in the truck heater. At about 6:30 I started the truck, let it fully warm up for about 15 minutes, then backed out of my driveway, pulled around to the alley and into the Js’ driveway behind their vehicles.

I dropped the bracing jacks on the truck and jacked up the axle on one side. I put jack stands under the raised side of the axle and used my pneumatic impact to remove both rear wheels on the raised side.

I spun the impact until pressure was low enough the veins wouldn’t engage to spin and went back inside where it’s warm.

Freezing moisture prohibited me from running the air compressor in near 0 degrees F weather, so pneumatics were now dead.

Their driveway access is from the alley, mine is from the street. Their driveway terminates just past the front of my garage right on the property line.

There is just enough room for them to park side-by-side, but they’re blocked in on 3 sides by most of my garage, their deck, and their fence. And at now the 4th side by my incapacitated work truck.

Well, what do ya know?!?!

At about 7:40 AM I answered a furious pounding at my back door.

Surprise! It was J2!

He inquired what in the copulation my truck was doing in their driveway- he had to get to work.

I informed him I moved there for better access to the air line at the back of my garage, fed through the back window.

But due to the cold, the frozen moisture prevented sufficient pressure to remount the wheels.

He was visibly shaking from anger and informed me I was “Messing with his livelihood.”

“Curious,” I replied “tools are my livelihood.” At which point I repaid his forceful door closing with one of my own.

I received a flurry of texts and disparaging remarks from J1, peppered with a few vague threats. At just past 8 a cop car pulled in my driveway.

Lo and behold it was friendly officer XX12.

The same cop dispatched last night, looking a bit rough around the edges from working a double shift. I stepped out to greet him.

He looked at me, panned to the truck, back to me and asked “What the hell is going on?”

Here’s the deal…

I informed him of my attempted maintenance on my truck, but unfavorable conditions prevented me from finishing.

I told him if I’d had all of my tools, I probably would have finished without issue. Which of course earned me a withering look.

All while J1 was haranguing us with her perception of the law and what exactly needed to happen, through the kitchen window.

I informed kindly officer XX12 that I had the property owner’s consent before attempting my labors. J1 opined “It don’t matter! She needs to give us 24 hour notice!

You need ta blah, blah, blah…” As it turns out, notice is only required 24 hours before entry of the domicile. No notice is required for external portions of the property.

It just so happened that the tools I needed to finish were the tools J1’s father still had in his possession.

Officer XX12 inquired how far away they were and suggested J2 walk there to get everything if he wanted to make it to work at all today.

J1 insisted the officer provide conveyance. He declined stating again, it was a civil issue.

15 minutes later I had my tools back. I used the driver to run down all the lug nuts on the wheels but (of course) used a bar for final torque.

As it turns out, the tires weren’t leaking and pressure was within operating range. So maybe un-mounting them wasn’t entirely necessary.

I put my tools away, moved my truck back, and double checked the surveillance camera on the driveway… just in case.

While typing this J1 informed me I now owe them $ for J2’s lost pay (he’s salaried) and also $ for the speeding ticket he got going to work.

I can’t find words for the amount of vengeful glee I’m feeling right now.”

Here’s what folks had to say on Reddit.

This person nailed it.

Another Reddit user chimed in.

This reader shared their thoughts.

Another individual had a lot to say.

And this Reddit user weighed in.

Never mess with a man’s tools…

That’s just common sense.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.