I started at 3, and trained on one of these since I could walk.
Posted on 07/13/2023 5:32:33 PM PDT by mowowie
The kid is resisting. He can’t be that dumb. Can he?
Thank you.
Proud to do it.
I started at 3, and trained on one of these since I could walk.
We borrowed engines off lawnmowers and mounted them to
homemade go-carts. We took off push mower wheels and used them for the rear wheels on a cart. Briggs and Stratton’s 3.5 horse made for endless fun.
I knew how to mow the lawn by age 10.
CC
I was 8 back in the 50’s. Dad’s mower had to be grounded out to stop. Any stick would do. Well, not one that was damp. Yeow. And no baffle for the sound. It was terrifying, but I went out and made some money from my uncle. I think a quarter for the huge yard. Nothing for dad’s yard. LOL
What works for me with recalcitrant objects is to threaten to turn them over to mr. mm to look at.
He can fix almost anything and sometimes all it takes is the threat of giving it to him for the thing to start working right.
My 35 year old (single) niece moved down close to me with her four kids and as she was moving in I decided to do the yard. So I got out the push mower out and I pushed the yard (which was sizable) and I finished and she was amazed at how straight the lines were and how perfect the mow job was and how did I do that. I looked at her kind of oddly and I said “I’ve been mowing yards 10 years old honey.” She had never heard of such a thing.
The first time my grandparents had me mow part of their lawn, I was 14. It was 1981.
In 1982, I was routinely mowing their lawn in the summer, including putting gas in the mower. The only fault in my method I can see, looking back, is replenishing the gas right after the mower cut out (you’re supposed to wait about 10 minutes for it to cool first). I was a kid; that’s my excuse.
“Can the kid operate a manual can opener?”
I was fortunate, my dad used to work around machinery, teletypes and all kinds of intricate mechanical devices and every now and then he would bring me home one that was beyond repair, put it in front of me with a couple of screwdrivers and pliers and a crescent wrench and have me take all the screws out and divide them by size in this egg carton, great fun! It would take me sometimes 2 or 3 days to get those things apart but you know what? I learned manual dexterity from that. Manuel dexterity is not something that just happens you actually have to practice manual dexterity. Like learning how to play a piano or a guitar you have to rehearse and practice to get your dexterity technically proficient.
That’s on the parents. Back in the 60s we also had Erector Sets which after taking teletype chassis apart was an easy task.
Hate to see them try to start a gas mower. Would either of them know what a “carburetor” is, and why you have to push that little button on the side three times before you start it?
Hilarious. I was taught to swim by being thrown off a pier by dad (I’m 62 yr old female).
Both of my kids grew up to be productive members of society. They received no allowance (couldn’t afford it on my wages alone; dad never paid child support back when you could get away with that).
Son is in the AF, married with 2 yr old daughter and my daughter has been happily married for 19 years and who works in retail management.
When I was 12 mowing the lawn was my major chore. For a few years my dad traveled a lot for his job. On Monday morning he would tell me “when I get home on Friday that lawn better be mowed”. I could generally be seen Friday mowing the lawn. 😆
Assembly of Japanese bicycle require great peace of mind.
Aside from the unintended slur on the then shoddy reputation of Japanese products, it does point out that doing a successful assembly requires calm, focus and concentraion, otherwise known as peace of mind. He's not wrong.
in 1968 my dad (old man) was 40 and my brother was 12 and i was 13. we had to learn to pull our weight in our new house.
later learn how to clean the pool, and balance the chemicals too.
i was horrible about leaving a few “holidays” in the lawn, always made me go over it again.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.