The plastic thing that is making the news today is a faulty leaf blower part that has been injuring people. The Toro Power Sweeper has a plastic impeller that has been falling apart and shooting out of the blowers. Ouch.
I have never owned a leaf blower. I don’t know if I completely understand the internal workings of a mind that decides that such a gadget is a necessity. I suspect that one piece of the puzzle is a reluctance to rake leaves. I can understand that.
How about a getting kid-size leaf rake for each of your kids? Show them some old long distance phone advertisements or Mormon messages (or whatever they were) showing kids joyfully raking leaves into a pile. There is a chance that one of your kids could spend his time using a virtual rake to pile up virtual leaves in order to earn some kind of virtual currency on an MORPG. That’s great, he will understand the concept.
If you are a master at getting kids to do manual labor, you can get 10 rakes what it would cost you to buy a defective leaf blower. Or you could buy one really good adult-size rake and have enough money left over for some beer.
