Whatever Happened To Kids Who Mow Lawns?

Remember when we were kids and in the Summer we’d all try to do odd jobs in the neighborhood to earn money? That was before we were old enough to work in the Winn Dixie or Pizza Hut. Generally, there’d be a lot of errand running on our bikes or babysitting.

But there would be this one lucky kid who cornered the market every Summer on mowing people’s lawns. He’d rack in the dough.

Where is that kid now?

Seriously.

I totally want to hire him.

I don’t think kids do that sort of stuff any more. I never see kids offering to shovel your walk for so much money or wash your car for a fee, except for school fund raisers. I never see fliers from young entrepreneurs at the grocery store like I did when I was a kid.

Granted, it’s a more dangerous world, I guess. There are dangerous people preying on our children.

Then again, I also wonder how many kids spend their Summers playing the Xbox and ordering pizza on mom and dad’s credit cards rather than worrying about how much things cost.

I saved up for 2 or 3 years as a pre-teen to buy my first television. I earned it with every babysitting cent, every unspent birthday check, every lemonade sold. I had a savings account and I carefully watched it grow until I had enough to be able to watch my own shows in the privacy of my own room.

But that was the 70’s and 80’s. And I get the distinct impression that parents as a rule don’t teach their children to be quite as industrious these days. Or they have other priorities.

Anyway, I’m continuing to look for some kid who wants to make some money washing my car and mowing my lawn. However, I guess I’m going to have to give up on the lawn thing and go buy a lawnmower, which I’ve discovered is not cheap. I should have been saving for one of those instead of a t.v. all those years ago.

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One comment

1. on May 19, 2007 at 12:10 pm

   Barbara Torris said:

   Isn’t real life wonderful. My husband and I…well, I was talking wistfully about the cleaning lady I had when I was working, before retirement when I became the “cleaning lady”. I think the lawn mower kid has gone the way of the “helper occupations” that people use to work at for spare change. So houses are dirty, lawns unmowed and people are doing without TV’s and new lawn mowers. And, yes, children are playing xbox all summer!

   Very good blog incidentally. Hope you can visit me at “Barbara’[s Travels….at home in the world soon”.

   b

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