A few of you may remember this thing.
Simply put; it was the bane of my summer existence. This was suppose to be the latest whiz-bang sophistication of lawn mowing in the '80s. It wasn't. The Flymo should have been named the Dragmo, because I would just drag it across our Rexburg lawn whilst cursing my Dad for making me perform feats of manual labor.
I think back now about my chores and that damnable chalkboard that magically assigned them, and I find myself amused and a little ashamed. I am amused because the chores seemed like they were impossible to get done. They were my own personal Everest. I am ashamed because I could drag out a chore like mowing the lawn, which took, at most, 30 minutes. Only two hours and fifty-nine minutes later I would finish a shoddy job; pissed and winded from the work of avoiding work.
Back to my Dad, the Flymo, and cursing. I would mow the lawn and because the motor was so noisy I would vent my frustrations verbally. My language would have done a Sailor proud. The part that still makes me chuckle is that I could see my Dad watching me....and laughing! This, of course, just infuriated me at the time and so I would cuss louder and with extra vulgarity. His reaction was only to laugh harder.
I love this memory now.
I get to relive it with my own children, and I find myself laughing when they lose thier silly tempers.
Such is fatherhood...I guess.
12 comments:
avoiding work is indeed,hard work. other than that you were always a good boy. every kid goes thru that attitude on their way to maturity. i remember jill about 4 yrs old saying "work work work i always have to work" which is just about as good a memory as "42".
love poppy
Yeah, you think that mower would float on grass the same way one of those janitor-mopper-things floats on fine linoleum. Definitely not the case.
The worst part of chores was when they were assigned to a team of children. Combined with fighting my own desires to dodge work, I'd have to fight my brothers too...
Pop,
Yes, why does avoiding work have such appeal?
I believe now that work is the perfect Prozac for so many things.
Love ya'
I've got to go to the bathroom, what an excuse. I really do have to go. I remeber the hot summer nights after Dad would kick off the AC and we would always have to do the dinnner dishes. (You would think that a 15 Minute job would make us want to get it done quick, yea right) we could stretch ot out for hours.
Fights would break out and we would all be grumpy. 15 minutes and we could go play but no, we would take 1-2 hours. ya think we would all have learned.
I hate to admit that i have to pee now.
bye...
That seems straight out of Back to the Future II. Perhaps mowing the lawn with a Flymo would be better time spent if you were on a hoverboard as well, with self tying shoes and insta-dry clothing.
This invention makes me smile. I wish I could have been in on the think-tank that spawned this idea and then on the team that presented the idea to get funding. I would have worn neon colors.
I have many a story when I worked harder to eschew work then actually worked to get a job done.
Great post. Nice glasses.
Dr. Thornock,
I've told you before that I think that group work is the quality killer. I understand it is necessary, but oftentimes synergy is just the path of the corporate monkey (Synergous George).
J-Dawg,
Good to see you here! I'm glad that at least you can laugh at your bathroom antics. Although, we all did it. But you brother, you were the greatest of the poo abusers.
I commend you for that.
Ibid,
We have spoke oft of the avoidance of labor. Perhaps we have actually committed the act.
My favorite part of your comment was the wearing of neon colors.
Nice glasses... You have nice glasses.
Flymo! No way. What a battleaxe the Flymo is...totally unwieldy.
This post is still making me laugh. I like the picture of your dad watching you and laughing. Yours and mine must have shared tactics, or just pulled them from the same instinctive book.
Grift,
Yes, perhaps it is just a fatherly thing to laugh at the silliness of your children. I am still not sure if he heard everything that I said, because it should have wilted his ears. Maybe he just had the wisdom to let me work out my temper myself.
It is always a pleasure when you drop by.
Please do so often.
Dare I leave a comment? The only positive flymo experience I had was scalping a bulge in the lawn the proved a broken spinkler pipe. It is akward to reflect on our take of chores when younger. More than prozac Greg. I state that our parents wanted us to learn this quicker than they did. Maybe cause they avoided it just as bad. If so their parents would of done likwise. A truly vicious cycle that provokes a found smile.
BigJ,
You have brought a little seriousness into this little slice of fun. It is true, how do we teach our kidlets to see work as a great friend, that can reward them richly? I don't know. I have some ideas, but nothing more.
Thanks for commenting.
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