Lawn maintenance/moral dilemma

KYKevin said:

I was mowing lawns at that age. And I can tell you people would tell me if there was something not to their liking or if they wanted something done differently. This is a good time to help teach him.

Now if I can find some 12 year old sucker to mow my yard and get rid of this poison ivy I got. Bloody vines on the trees out back are the size of quarters and growing up the trees like trees themselves. And brush killer just makes them angry.

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Try using bullets or a hatchet. What we always did was to chop out an inch of the offending vine and wait for it to dry up/out and start falling off. All the same, the oils that itch in poison ivy are essential oils of the wood, and will remain. Use care to prevent inhalation during shredding or burning.

I've learned a few things over the years the hard way. Two of those are poison ivy and battery acid. Modern battery acid is dilute, but I have learned to notice when my hands start itching after handling batteries or other possibly contaminated materials and respond with washing my hands immediately in a basic solution and/or water. Poison ivy is something that I become aware of in the same fashion, so my response is to watch my hands with a degreasing soap, like GoJo or Dawn or a degreaser (TCE, Brake Cleaner, Alcohol), then follow with ordinary soap.

The smart thing to do after that is to apply some hand lotion, because your hands are extremely dry after a wash in alcohol or TCE.

Patriot2A said:

So ST, should i do it myself from now on and have it pretty much perfectly how i like it, or should i keep paying this kid to do it, and give him some pointers along the way on how to do a better job? I cant knock a kid for earning his money in stead of being a spoiled brat, but i really dont want my lawn to look ****** either.

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Kids don't enter the work force at any age knowing or being capable of doing a perfect job. I didn't back when I mowed lawns, and I did have a few customers who'd do an inspection and give me points.

I got better.

I suspect if I'd simply been terminated, I'd have become discouraged, so help a kid out, and give him some points. Graciousness goes a long way towards helping build future workers and leaders.

tl;dr (too long; didn't read) young kid mowed my lawn, did ****** job. let him do it again or do it myself?"[/QUOTE]

I take it there's not a dad in this boy's life?

If you've got the time and motivation, you might actually have run across the one kid in ten you could get started on being a productive member of society...if you'll work with him, show him what needs to be done and how to do it, encourage him, motivate him and reward him (monetarily and emotionally) for a job well done. Do the right thing and give this leadership/mentorship concept a whirl.

C'mon dude= we were ALL that kid once. That level of frustration I could see if maybe you'd paid some experienced older kid-16,17 for knowingly doing a crap job but..
Nah, cut the kid some slack-ask him to come back over,show him what he missed,give him a pointer or two and another shot at it.

At the least the kid will be trying to earn something-rather than so many of these kids today who expect everything to be handed out. Or-at the other extreme, showing up with a pistol in hand demanding your stuff.

eye95 said:

I would see this as an opportunity to help build a man--and jump all over that chance. Someday, I will have to depend on that man--or on another one similarly built by another patient adult. I hope he is there and has been built.

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This sir is VERY wise advice.