Clout gone wrong

The alley behind my parents’ house had sunk and a stagnant pool of water had collected there. They called City Hall numerous times for a repair but nobody ever responded.

The next door neighbor sold her house to a politically connected guy who built a new garage in the back yard and wanted a new alley to go along with it. A crew arrived immediately to check it out.

But there was nothing wrong with his alley. They saw the problem behind my parents’ house and assumed there had been a typo on the work order. So, they fixed the alley behind my parents’ house.

The new neighbor was angry. He didn’t get the new alley he wanted.