I can imagine his frustration.? Having to mow the lawn every weekend.? Then, blowing away the grass clippings (or bagging them).? Then trimming the lawn along the edges.? Then fertilizing, or spraying weed killer, if that’s the season for it.? Men in the suburbs spend more time with their lawn mowers than with their wives.
But the worst part would be struggling with each machine to get it to start.? Pulling at the string repeatedly, tilting the machine, wasting half an hour just to hear the puttering of an engine.
Maybe this explains why, when his “Lawn Boy” lawn mower refused to start (probably for the umpteenth time) this Wisconsin guy took out a sawed off shotgun and shot it.
The mower, last heard, was unrepentant.? So was the shooter.
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lekha
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Judging from the title, I thought that the mower shot the lawn boy, not the other way round.
But I really understand him… I sometimes feel that way about my computer. But don’t worry. At least, I don’t own a shotgun.
“Walendowski could face up to an $11,000 fine and six years and three months in prison if convicted.”
Upto 6 years in jail for shooting a lawn mowing machine! Wow, this is a grand victory for the AMLU (American Machine Liberties Union) indeed! Can I hire their lawyer, or am I being too eager because the case hasn’t really gone to trial yet?
Pulling at the string repeatedly, tilting the machine, wasting half an hour just to hear the puttering of an engine.
Reminds me of the good ol’ priya/chetak scooters! Tilting and kicking it always seemed to work!
Is the fine for possesing a gun, or shooting inanimate machinery on his own property, or disturbing the neighborhood? I’m confused….
kalafudra: I agree, the mower should have been allowed to shoot in self-defence
Our machines don’t seem to have any rights at all!
Is that the same computer you typed this on? (So now it knows how you feel about it). Will it go on the blink and mutter about “unsafe work environments” ?
Sujatha: The bigger issue seems to be the shotgun, but I am surprised they are even calling shooting a lawn mower a “misdemeanor”. I mean, you can hunt live deer and ducks and that’s all fine but it’s not okay to shoot a machine?
maxdavinci: This news report says the harsher penalty is for the illegal possession of the sawed off shotgun. But shooting a lawnmower is “disorderly conduct while armed” and is either a crime or a misdemeanor depending on which news report you believe.
Disturbing the neighborhood ? The lawn mower can do that even without getting shot
Oh, and Priya/ Chetak/ Vespa scooters is exactly what tilting lawn mowers reminds me of too
The first time I heard it, a year back, sitting alone, not my house, new country. I baffled, panicked, ran from room to room like some locked up 5 yr old!
The gun repented, and so did the bullet.
The man is a hero.
Adithya: I can understand, it does have a booming noise that sounds like a large truck is careening down the street and is going to crash into your house any moment
aandthirtyeights: How true! The gun recoiled in horror the moment it released the bullet, and the bullet spun away as soon as it felt the lawn mower’s steel skin
Then they both put on their Sunday best and went to church and confessed. Wait, this sounds like we are collaborating on a children’s story here
km: Ah, I see what you mean. Those, I am sure, were exactly R’s thoughts after an hour of mowing the lawn and still getting only the backyard done
six years in prison for shooting a lawn mower? wow, people dont even get convicted here in India for shooting human beings.
@ Xylene
His conviction is partly for owning a sawn-off handgun which is a felony. The misdemeanour is the lesser of the charges brought against him.
Well, at least he got convicted as Xylene said. Its bad thing though!!
ROLF
I wish I could do this with the washing machine, the television, the microwave …hmmmm.
hmm, you write a lot about grass.. wonder what freud would’ve said :p
Xylene: As Shefaly said, it’s mainly for the shotgun!
Suda: I don’t know about shooting the lawn mower, but I hope they say hitting and kicking it is okay. Else, millions might get convicted
Sakhi:
A Cynic in Wonderland:…and especially my laptop whenever IE or Firefox starts hanging
manuscrypts: Yeah, maybe because I see it everyday, any where I go
It’s quite possible that I will start writing a lot about snow in the winter 
@lekhni:
Naw, I would never say such things in front of my computer. The comp I was writing on, was the one at work