Leaf Blower = Brain Vacuum

So what is it about the use of an ordinary leaf blower that apparently makes the operator lose their mind? I mean, perfectly normal looking men (and a few women) will do some pretty dumb stuff while holding a leaf blower.

The most common form of “leaf blower insanity” involves believing that grass trimmings and leaves become invisible or otherwise are not your responsibility if you can blow them out of the yard, driveway, or sidewalk you’re working on and into the road in front of the property.

It makes no sense to me.

Would you take a half-wheelbarrow load of lawn trimmings and dump them out in the road in front of your house? Then why would someone think that they can take a leaf blower and blow a half-wheelbarrow load of stuff into the road?

I was driving down the street this afternoon on my way to run some errands and what did I see but one of our neighbor’s lawn contractors standing on the edge of the lawn merrily blowing the grass and leaves across the road into the neighbor’s yard. It wasn’t a big pile of stuff, mind you, but still—what was the guy thinking?

Another thing that makes me absolutely pissed off is when you park your car in a parking lot at an office park or some commercial establishment like a restaurant and the lawn crew comes by with their leaf blowers.

I had a black Nissan Maxima back in the early ‘90’s that I kept covered and garaged at home. It looked brand new for the first four years I owned it. I remember embarrassing myself one day having a “shit-fit” in the parking lot at one of my vendor’s office when I came out after a meeting and found my shiny clean car absolutely covered with dust and grit. To make matters worse, I had left the sunroof open and the INSIDE was full of crap also. The car was parked by itself adjacent to a tall retaining wall that had served to concentrate the dust storm produced by the mindless leaf blower guy(s).

I ran through the parking lot, found the idiots with the leaf blowers, accosted their “boss,” and basically received a big old “screw-you” because they said that their job was to blow off the parking lot. After I calmed down a little I called the company’s owner and threatened to sue his ass off for stupidity and any damage to my paint job. Yeah right…

You know what? After that incident the “leaf blower” guys always came in my vendor’s office and told the employees that they needed to move their cars if they didn’t want dust and debris on them.

Friends don’t let friends (miss)use leaf blowers—they're dangerous to your mental health…