A gross story. Please don't read unless you're ready to be grossed out. [View all]

My job takes me into people's homes to perform maintenance and installation work on various electronics. Individual jobs will range from five minutes to 40+ hours, depending on what's involved.

Had one today that ran about 2.5 hours, and I mostly knew that before I went in.

However, I was not prepared for what I encountered. When the door opened, I actually gagged and drew back sharply because of the vile stink issuing from within. I made that "oooowhoa-uah!" noise that people make. Being a professional, however, I ventured inside.

The house was hot. All windows closed, all curtains drawn, and no AC on. When I passed the thermostat it said 87, which I'm prepared to accept.

It was an averaged-sized home, and my job required me to check every room, and in every room except one I found MULTIPLE heaps of dog shit. And not chihuahua pellets; I'm talking Doberman heaps of varying freshness. Some had clearly been for several days. And among these heaps were numerous puddles of piss.

The only room without piles of dog shit and piss puddles, in fact, had three large and overflowing litter boxes. I counted two dogs and one cat, so they'd been busy for some time.

The smell was ghastly. And the amazing part is that I met the occupants, four able-bodied people: the customer, his wife, and his parents. All of them just casually sitting around while their technician struggled not to vomit.

Several thoughts: I've done jobs for actual pathological hoarders, and these people aren't that. The home is surprisingly spartan in its furnishings, with very little in the way of garbage and knickknacks scattered about. So how does one let their home get like this, and wouldn't they at least want to clean up a few of the shit piles when company is coming over? For the sake of simple hygiene, if nothing else? Open the fucking windows, at least!

Is there some appropriate course to take in a situation like this? There were no kids in the home, thankfully, or I'd have called CYS from the driveway. But even so, this family is living in an active and significant health hazard; should someone be notified?

I ultimately didn't take any such steps, though I flagged the account in such a way that I won't be sent back to the site.


Now excuse me while I