I had a utility knife pulled on me by a contractor

**Copper Head** · 10-15-2011, 06:12 AM

I have been to traffic court , for this & that , & one of the neat things about Traffic court is for part of your punishment they do traffic infractions last so you see the worst first. If it had been me , I would of called the cops . It is illegal to brandish a weapon towards another human . I saw guys locked up for it , one guy was using a brick another guy threating with a knife they did not do much jail of course . But the day of being locked up till bail is set then the day in court to pay a $1000 fine along with court fee's $250 will make them think twice before they ever do that again .Also you could be saving there or some ones life by being a good citizen to set in motion correct behavior in public. At the least the contractor would have realized the best way to have spent his money that day was to just give you a smile and go for a slice of pizza.

**eesakiwi** · 10-15-2011, 08:49 PM

I have been thinking about this thread for a while.

Since the person doing the kitchen is a contractor, that implys a contract of some sort.
If his contract is to renovate the kitchen, I expect he has to remove the kitchen parts before he puts the new stuff in.
Since he removes the kitchen, I expect its his problem how he gets rid of it & thats probably in the contract too.

How he disposes of it is irrelevant, its for the contractor to do. If the contractor gets to sell the sinktop he may get some $ for it.
I expect that when the contractor made up his pricing, he would take into account how much it costs to dump whatevers not usable & what is reusable is possibly recycled & sold.

Since he could sell the kitchen sink & get a few $ for it, it would probably offset the costs to dump the waste stuff from the old kitchen.
If all thats happened I expect he would get very irate if someone came along & removed all of the stuff that was his property & worth money to him, and then be left him with a mess to clean up by himself, in his own time & then he has to spend his good hard earned money cleaning up the worthless waste.

Now THAT would be taking money out of his pocket & therefore 'stealing food out of his family's mouth'....

So, what did the contractors contract actually say about the 'removal & disposal' of the old kitchen?

**KzScrapper** · 10-15-2011, 09:38 PM

The way I handle it is by asking at the start if they want to keep anything and if they do it has to be out of the way the morning I start otherwise everything else I will get rid of. Anything good, goes with me by the end of the day, preferably in my van or on the trailer as it's removed so it's out of site and out of mind. I then get rid of it like I said I would, how I get rid of it is my problem then, good or bad. If you are the General Contractor of the project and have a contract, usually anything that has to do with the project has to go thru the G.C. btw I only get my utility knife out if I intend to use it...like sharpen my pencil, score a line, scrape some paint.....

**injunjoe** · 10-16-2011, 04:30 AM

Originally Posted by jackshmuc

A home owner called me to pick up his furnace fridge stove and toaster. while there he had contractors renovating the kitchen. the home owner helped me load up my truck with the appliances and offered me a sink fixture attached. I said ok thanks man ......

Eesakiwi you make a good point but the contractor's argument was with the homeowner not the scrapper.

**eesakiwi** · 10-16-2011, 09:28 PM

Originally Posted by injunjoe

Eesakiwi you make a good point but the contractor's argument was with the homeowner not the scrapper.

I was figuring that once the contracts been signed or motion has been started, the contractor owns the sink.

You are right, the house owner offered the sink to the scrapper.
So the argument between the contractor & scrapper was a wrong thing to do, the contractor should have went to the owner first & then the owner to the scrapper.
---------
I had to ask 3 different people Tenant - Landlord - 2nd tenant/owner if I could have a microwave I noticed on someones property last week.
He looked at me, smiled & said "Sure, take it" & shut the door.... Almost comical. I'm glad I asked. Carried it home at 1 am this morning.

Above was this quote
{"Also you could be saving there or some ones life by being a good citizen to set in motion correct behavior in public."}
I'm really impressed with that. I will use it in the future.

And a mention of a pizza..
A few years ago, on a TV program, they followed a few court cases, one was a pizza owner who told someone to leave his shop, he indicated towards him using a knife that was in his hand at the time.
He got charged & found guilty of assault, simply because he branded a knife while telling the guy to leave.

I think we all live on a very thin line of lawfulness & unlawfulness. A 'thin blue line' is what the Cops call it.
We can get done for assault for just pointing at a Cop with a finger, while using 'gruff'(?) body language or words.
Education for us all. We should get taught this at school.

Thanks for the thread too.

**bluemeate** · 10-16-2011, 10:56 PM

i would have been shocked and appauled

**skylinejack** · 11-13-2011, 09:12 PM

Over $6?

He might be willing to kill for that $6, are you?

If it's MY 6 dam dollars? Hell Yes!!!

**Pattyb** · 11-15-2011, 11:32 AM

Sounds like a real A-hole but I'm with you buddy it was'nt worth the fight, but I would have told him if 5 or 6 bucks is nothing to you give me that much and its yours. Now put the knife away and get your panty's out of a bunch.

**murt** · 11-17-2011, 01:14 PM

Yep 6$ ain't worth going to jail over, or a 5 grand hospital bill. You can either be the tough guy, or just see that it's a gray area (ownership of the sink) and do what you did- same thing i would have done.
In all likelihood you'll prob never see the guy again, it's not like you're getting a rep for being weak/easily bullied. This ain't prison, its the big world.

**kcscrapper** · 11-17-2011, 01:27 PM

Could told him $6 and its his.

**injunjoe** · 11-17-2011, 04:46 PM

Just call me butter fingers. " Sorry bro did not mean to drop sink on your head, bummer your knife cut your throat from your own ignorance !"

**skylinejack** · 11-17-2011, 07:46 PM

It's not about the $6.00. It's not about being seen as weak. And it's not a prison thing. And he's definitely not going to just give you 5 or 6 bucks because you tell him to. Hell man, he's standing there with a blade in his hand and robbing you of what is yours. What in the **** makes you think he's going to politely put the knife away and stop robbing you and pull out his wallet and pay you?! NO. It's about protecting yourself and your property and your personal freedom. Being a man and standing up for what's right. Taking control and turning the whole situation around. It's about being a man and saying enough is enough.

**bcrepurposing** · 12-22-2013, 05:11 PM

If the person had been civil about it and spoke to me I would have given him the sink otherwise I would have offered to sell it to him or told him to take a flying leap. It wouldn't be about the money to me but a matter of principle. I treat attitude in kind when dealing with people.

I tend to always wear layers rather than heavy jackets. I would have removed one and wrapped my arm and told him "if your feeling froggy, leap or **** off" personally.

**jmerritt** · 12-22-2013, 06:46 PM

since he lives in canada he may want to check canada's laws first. i was told in canada hand guns are against the law. but you can have a rifle go figure.
i'm not 100% sure. so i would check your laws and see what they have to say. so you don't get yourself into trouble.

**missouri** · 12-22-2013, 07:16 PM

My question is how could you sleep at night ? Knowing you kill someone over a sink that is worth 5 or six dollars . If you fight him and win . What if he see your truck park somewhere . Then decide to get even by busting out the windows or burning it .

**Phantoms001** · 12-22-2013, 07:43 PM

In my truck I have a handgun, my Kbar from when I was in the USMC, tire irons, the list goes on an on. I have each for different reasons.

There are a ton of people in jail for "self defense". It doesn't matter how right you "think" you are. If you kill someone, the majority of the time you are going to jail. I don't care what state you are in. If the guy was chasing you around your truck with a knife you should shoot him. If he actually cut you, you should shoot him. Anything short of that I think there is a very large chance you are WRONG and going to jail.

Are you willing to throw your life away for a sink?

I personally would not have given him the sink, don't get me wrong, but there are a lot of other options. My first option against someone with a utility knife would certainly be pepper spray. I always have some in my pocket and on my keychain. I don't care how big and tuff you are, a face full of pepper spray will make you a kitten.

Pepper spray is always my first line of defense. It is a less than lethal alternative. THE LAW IS ON YOUR SIDE. Pepper spray is at the very bottom of the force scale, look up the laws in your area. You would be better off using pepper spray on someone than pushing them or striking them in some way.

If you don't have a gun, I most likely wouldn't pull mine out. Just my personal thoughts. I might pepper spray you and beat you with a baseball bat but I just have a problem using the lethal force of a gun when it's really questionable what a persons real intentions are.

**scrapping4ever** · 12-23-2013, 10:07 AM

Originally Posted by Phantoms001

In my truck I have a handgun, my Kbar from when I was in the USMC, tire irons, the list goes on an on. I have each for different reasons.

There are a ton of people in jail for "self defense". It doesn't matter how right you "think" you are. If you kill someone, the majority of the time you are going to jail. I don't care what state you are in. If the guy was chasing you around your truck with a knife you should shoot him. If he actually cut you, you should shoot him. Anything short of that I think there is a very large chance you are WRONG and going to jail.

Are you willing to throw your life away for a sink?

I personally would not have given him the sink, don't get me wrong, but there are a lot of other options. My first option against someone with a utility knife would certainly be pepper spray. I always have some in my pocket and on my keychain. I don't care how big and tuff you are, a face full of pepper spray will make you a kitten.

Pepper spray is always my first line of defense. It is a less than lethal alternative. THE LAW IS ON YOUR SIDE. Pepper spray is at the very bottom of the force scale, look up the laws in your area. You would be better off using pepper spray on someone than pushing them or striking them in some way.

If you don't have a gun, I most likely wouldn't pull mine out. Just my personal thoughts. I might pepper spray you and beat you with a baseball bat but I just have a problem using the lethal force of a gun when it's really questionable what a persons real intentions are.

You can pepper spray someone but after, you do you can't beat the $h!t out of them.

**TheKid** · 12-22-2013, 08:04 PM

I'm just a skinny 16 year old but I'm a wrestler and always have a 3 inch blade on me so he wouldn't have been walking away from that one without a scratch(;

**BurlyGuys** · 12-23-2013, 02:31 AM

Nor am I letting him get away with pulling a knife on me.

**BurlyGuys** · 12-23-2013, 02:30 AM

Is it just me? Everybody talks tough on this thread. I'd have given him the sink and called the cops when he walked away with it. No way am I getting hurt, hurting someone else, or going to jail over something like this.

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