Do you find you have to beg workers to do a job for you?

They may have been really busy. When your dance card is full. it’s full.

You might pleasantly ask him if he has a waiting-list, should any of his regular clients drop out, move, go on vacation, get sick?

I’m sure some house cleaners will never come back if you react negatively if they break something (although, are we talking like sad and maybe throwing them a “really?” look, or like yelling at them for 15 minutes even though they didn’t mean to do it?). But other’s won’t. Everyone’s different, it depends more on their personalities than their job.

@gailcalled I can’t ask him anything again. He drove off and acted like I didn’t exist. The other guy who is friendly is working away across the street. I think these guys want contracts. Each week or forget it. I won’t sign any contracts for yardwork; they don’t know that.

@Aster Any chance he actually didn’t hear you?

Give the job to a kid in the neighborhood.

You might consider that having contracts enables these men to estimate their weekly or monthly income. It’s not an unreasonable expectation.

If you choose not to sign one, then you have to find a kid or friend. Call the local high school.

When you were first talking to the mowing guy, did you excuse yourself to go inside or just run? Did you try to contact him later to apologize?
If you called to him while he was working, it’s very likely that he didn’t hear you. Or maybe he decided that if you were the type to keep him waiting outside while you went back in, he wasn’t interested in your business. If he didn’t know you were ill, and you didn’t explain, that’s where I’d put my money. You might have sent a note or called him the next day to explain your abrupt departure in the middle of a conversation.

The man walking down the street was probably on his way somewhere. You can’t just grab someone and expect them to drop everything and work for you right then and there.

He heard me. He was taking a break on his riding mower and when I yelled his name he turned around and looked at me; I beckoned him to come and he drove off.
@Seelix good points. The man walking down the street is a full time yard man with a crew. He was carrying a hedge trimmer; I’ve seen him before with his other guys doing yards
You may be right in saying I should have called the guy who ignored me and apologized ; I never thought of that. But then, I have no idea what his last name is. You may also be right, knowing the people around here, he is not interested in my business. This is what blows my mind. Its hard to define but he looks like he could use $40. Maybe not. I think he thinks I am not a person to sign a contract. When I ran inside to throw up I said, “I am going inside a second; I’ll be back.”
@Cruiser the very few boys who live around here have never been seen near a mower. I guess they get a hefty allowance just for being alive
My bottom line is I thought people needed an income these days more than ever but, no, if you go look at a job and the potential customer walks off you just write them off? I would , had I been this guy, have rang my doorbell to check. Maybe he has a lot of pride which is a good thing.