A Mowing Safety Lesson

[Music] john john come in john hi son how was school today pretty good huh did you uh learn anything new just usual stuff you know well um son life is full of lessons and uh you're 13 years old now you're a young man i think it's time we had to talk about responsibilities and growing up but dad i thought we already had that talk that was a different uh talk son i see your older sister has taken a job for the summer and that means we must talk about the lawn and the lawnmower now this is the lawn and uh you are the lawnmower i'm the one what will i get paid no minimum wage minimum wage that's over three dollars an hour isn't it dad no no john i was thinking of the minimum wage uh nothing nothing but dan all my friends get paid for mowing the lawn well i'll tell you what we'll do son let's see how long it takes you to mow the lawn and uh then we can negotiate okay dad okay now the first thing you have to do is read the operator's manual but dad i already did that you've already read it [Music] [Applause] obviously then uh what's the first thing you do before mowing the lawn walk around the yard and make sure there's nothing to run over before that hmm i know make sure there's fuel in the tank and check the oil even before that make sure judy's in the house oh well that's nice that you think of your little sister but uh before that i mean even before you leave the house even before you leave your room what your toes my toes they're naked but dad it's hot outside my feet love to breathe john your feet are going to bleed if you don't dress them in a pair of substantial shoes i mean you could uh slip back out of those sandals and step on a piece of glass or pull back on the mower and vargo your toes okay okay now let's see you start the mower okay dad i'll go get it uh john no john wait uh we don't need it yet let me see you start um this more one more this more right here how do you start it my boy easy all you have to do is set the throttle and pull the starter open okay let's see you do it dad the neighbors will think we're crazy we'll think i'm crazy john there's no one looking the coast is clear go ahead let her rip okay daddy uh mower is running just fine here let me reach over and turn the throttle down just a tad so you can hear me this is weird dad never mind that and you're about to be tested now look i want you to mow forward and cut the grass around that flower bed okay dad and john why are you pushing the mower how else am i gonna get it to go forward this is uh this is a self-propelled mower you have only to squeeze the levers to the handlebar and the mower will pull itself forward okay dad i'm squeezing everything yeah that's my boy i knew you could do it all right now doing very well here you're mowing along see everything's going real well and all of a sudden judy runs out behind that bush stopped that was very good you see by releasing the upper lever you disengage the mower blade and by releasing the lower lever stop the drive wheels good reflexes but uh always hold on to the handlebar don't give up control that was tricky dad you know why your little sister isn't allowed out here when you mow because she does dumb things sort of but you see she probably doesn't think about that more blade whipping around inside there it could catch a stone or something and shoot it out of there like a bullet that's why we have a strict rule no innocent bystanders get it got it good now uh let's see you mow around that tree first i better tell julie stay in the house until i finish mowing you're weird i'm weird but dad it's your game [Music] oh emergency emergency now what the mower is clogged what do you do now first i stop the mower get a stick shove it into the mower and get rid of the clog and if the blade is still going the stick gets wet and go shooting through a window or something oh that's right the engine's still running okay first i shut off the engine and wait for it to stop running then i what and then you take a stick and dig out the clog except without more you uh have to remove the bagger first but if the engine's off why can't i just reach in and pull out the clog because you're my son and i hope i haven't fathered a nincompoop you know anything could happen under that that's all made of metal and you're made of flesh superman could stick his hand under there and he'd dent the blade you stick your hand under there and the blade will more than dent you okay i got rid of the clog the emergency is over now what your next mission whether or not you choose to accept it is to mow around that tree oh i forgot about that all the excitement now the important thing in mowing around trees is not to walk into them walk into a tree sure you know the hot day and you're daydreaming and wham you run the mower right into the tree which hurts the tree or whap you walk into a branch and the tree hurts you okay i'll watch out for trees [Music] now your next challenge is uh the slope let's pretend this is a steep slope like the one we have out in our backyard uh how are you going to mow it piece of cake you just walk up and down not so easy what happens if you slip on the way down i guess i fall on the mower right right and that means another ouch so with a walk behind mower you always go back and forth across the slope not up and down so you only go up and down the slope if you're on uh riding mower or a tractor dad how long does it take to mow the yard with a walking mower i don't know uh your sister takes quite a while but then she doesn't like to hurry it might mess up her hair how long would it take to mow the yard with a riding mower oh i see you want to cut the job down so that you'll have more time for doing your homework or doing other chores around the house or uh making some money i thought that if we get a riding mower then i could make some extra spending money this summer by mowing the neighborhood lawns well you could do that with a regular lawnmower but i couldn't do as many lawns or make as much money and it'll teach me how to drive and give me experience on handling a steering wheel and clutch so i can become a better driver when it's time to get my license of course i see yet you're telling me that if i buy you a writing more you're going to become a world famous uh financier and grand prix racing champion huh no no no no no i'm saying that if you invest in a riding more then i can earn some money for college and be a better driver etc etc uh john john come here walk over here with me here just uh sit right down there beside me all right now uh this is your driver's test for your new riding mower all right take the wheel now we'll assume that you've already read the operator's manual you know where all the controls are and how to use them now we're cruising right along mowing the grass the first emergency i got you you already flunked the test never take passengers that's not fair you're not a passenger you're my father you're giving me the test you know what i mean okay i'll overlook the infraction this time but never let your friends or little judy ride on the riding more one slip and you're both in trouble i promise i'll never let anybody ride the new mower that we don't even have yet good now you see that uh row of bushes up there all right you're going to have to stop and back up how are you going to do that don't get carried away here go into reverse back up aha but you're forgetting one important thing always look back before you move back and keep looking back just in case there's someone back there and then go forward as soon as possible because it's easier to see where you're going when you're mowing forward than when you're mowing backwards because your eyes are up here and not back here okay i'll tell you what let's take a walk around in the backyard and i'll show you some very difficult mowing situations [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] you