What a good group of people. Growing up, we had an elderly couple as neighbors. Their adult children lived across the country, so they couldn't help out. The husband, Mr. Peterson, used to mow his lawn every week like clockwork. Then one day, he didn't. The man was getting older and just couldn't do it anymore. As was usual, my brother and I's Saturday chores were to mow the lawn, edge, and sweep up the walkways/driveway afterward. However, one day, our dad added mowing Mr. Peterson's lawn.
Mr. Peterson at first said no, that he was going to get to it. We at first relented, but it went unmowed for another week. So, we mowed it despite his protests the next week and edged his lawn/swept his walkways, etc. We did this for a few weeks before he insisted he pay us $20 to do it (wow, we thought, that's a lot of money!). Our dad, upon hearing this, collected our twenty dollars. We were a little upset about having that hard-earned money taken away, being young and a bit selfish. Then my dad explained that they were on a fixed income and that that $20 was too much for them to be paying us every week. So, his plan was to save that money for the next two years.
At the end of that time, our dad told us the goal his plan. We bought Mr. Peterson a new riding lawn mower. He could not have been happier. The first time he mowed his lawn again, he was absolutely delighted--he couldn't stop smiling. He mowed that lawn until the day he died (we continued to do the edging). I look back fondly on that. I feel like the experience and the altruistic ideals my dad instilled in us made me a better person. Of course, young me really wanted to use that money to go to movies, get a new baseball bat, etc.
Ayy_2_Brute on May 25th, 2018 at 10:53 UTC »
The man who founded it, Rodney Smith, is originally from my home in Bermuda. Love seeing him pop up for his amazing work.
WastedKnowledge on May 25th, 2018 at 11:55 UTC »
IIRC they bring children along (with parental consent) so they can help out and learn
bobsp on May 25th, 2018 at 13:16 UTC »
What a good group of people. Growing up, we had an elderly couple as neighbors. Their adult children lived across the country, so they couldn't help out. The husband, Mr. Peterson, used to mow his lawn every week like clockwork. Then one day, he didn't. The man was getting older and just couldn't do it anymore. As was usual, my brother and I's Saturday chores were to mow the lawn, edge, and sweep up the walkways/driveway afterward. However, one day, our dad added mowing Mr. Peterson's lawn.
Mr. Peterson at first said no, that he was going to get to it. We at first relented, but it went unmowed for another week. So, we mowed it despite his protests the next week and edged his lawn/swept his walkways, etc. We did this for a few weeks before he insisted he pay us $20 to do it (wow, we thought, that's a lot of money!). Our dad, upon hearing this, collected our twenty dollars. We were a little upset about having that hard-earned money taken away, being young and a bit selfish. Then my dad explained that they were on a fixed income and that that $20 was too much for them to be paying us every week. So, his plan was to save that money for the next two years.
At the end of that time, our dad told us the goal his plan. We bought Mr. Peterson a new riding lawn mower. He could not have been happier. The first time he mowed his lawn again, he was absolutely delighted--he couldn't stop smiling. He mowed that lawn until the day he died (we continued to do the edging). I look back fondly on that. I feel like the experience and the altruistic ideals my dad instilled in us made me a better person. Of course, young me really wanted to use that money to go to movies, get a new baseball bat, etc.
Edit: until the day he died, not the day he died