The Plumber’s Sweet Revenge 🛠️🐜
One summer afternoon, my dad, Joe, a hardworking plumber with hands of gold and nerves of steel, got called to renovate a high-end guest bathroom for the Holloways — a wealthy couple known for being picky and difficult 😒💸.
At first, everything went smoothly. They chose the tiles, faucets, grout color, and even where to hang the towel rack. My dad did everything by the book 📐, taking extra care to make the bathroom a true masterpiece. But on the final day, as he was finishing the grout, Mr. Holloway walked in and delivered a blow.
“We’ve decided your work isn’t worth what we agreed,” he said coldly. “We’ll pay half, or nothing at all.” 😡
My dad was stunned. He tried reasoning with them, reminding them how they had approved every step. But Mrs. Holloway just smiled and said, “You’re lucky we’re paying anything.” That was the moment something snapped.
My dad didn’t yell. He didn’t argue. Instead, he nodded and calmly said, “Alright, I’ll finish.” But in his mind, a plan had already formed 😈🧠.
Instead of mixing the grout with water, he added a special cocktail — a mix of sugar, corn syrup, and just a drop of honey 🍯. He completed the job as usual, wiped his tools clean, and left the house as if nothing had happened.
At first, the bathroom looked flawless. But within a few weeks, the Holloways began to notice tiny trails of ants weaving through the tiles 🐜🐜. Then came cockroaches, followed by silverfish. The invasion had begun.
They called exterminators, fumigated the bathroom, and even replaced the drains. But the insects kept returning — drawn in by the invisible sweetness baked into the walls 🕷️.
My dad’s friend Rob, who lived next door to the Holloways, would give us updates. “They’ve redone the bathroom twice,” he laughed. “Still full of bugs.”
Eventually, the Holloways were so fed up they listed the house for sale. But word spread, and potential buyers backed out, claiming the home was cursed with an unstoppable infestation 🏚️.
When Dad heard that, he laughed until he cried 😂. “Sometimes,” he said, “a little sugar can teach a bitter lesson.”
To this day, whenever I see ants crawling on our porch, I think of the Holloways. And I remember that my dad wasn’t just a plumber — he was a craftsman of poetic justice 🎭🛁.
