...and that's why you always test a lawn mower

Usually, when prompted by boredom, I will peruse the local adds on Ksl.com. I have at times been lucky and found great items for a great price... Our house, Jenne's scooter, and the occasional 25 cent candy machine.

So, with nothing to do last Saturday, Jenne and I took off to south Provo to look at a lawn mower which the buyer was asking $25 for. Did we need a lawn mower...? Not really, we don't even have a lawn, but for $25, we basically had to at least take a look.

The elderly seller greeted us at the door and ushered us through his gate and into his backyard where the mower was being stored. He then made his pitch, declaring that the mower had been good to him over the past 5-10 years (quite an ambiguous age I might add) but time had come to replace it with a riding lawn mower.

I looked over the 5 to 10 year old machine and while it wasn't anything special... for $25 I really didn't have a choice but to buy. Knowing that my Dad would be disappointed with me unless I found a flaw and saved some money on the mower, I asked the man if I could crank up the engine and give it a test run. He consented and I grabbed the chain and yanked with all my might. It turns out that I am either really strong, or the $25 asking price might have been a little too high because when I yanked... the cord flew completely out of the mower and hit Jenne in the stomach.

There I stood, sweating in the 100 degree July heat, with a wife that had just been slapped in the womb by two foot cord, and an old man about ready to strangle me with that very same cord that I had so violently ripped out of his prized 5 to 10 year old mower. What followed was one of the most awkward conversations of my life. The old man not wanting to lose a sale on a mower that no longer had a start-up cord, and me not wanting to pay $25 for a lawn mower that would no longer start. After what seemed like hours of blank stares and earnest apologies, Jenne and I slowly started to back away until we finally reached the safety of our car. After we turned on the air conditioning to the "max cold" level, we looked at each other with raised eyebrows and just started laughing.


And that's why, you always test a lawn mower.