Today’s award goes to a contractor in Townsville, Australia. A tip o’ the hat to reader Snoggeramus for telling me about it.
A Townsville City Council contract crew have been forced to rethink how they clean artificial grass after they became the butt of jokes for using a lawnmower.
The crew were photographed this week by motorists mowing the fake grass on the median strip outside Supercheap Auto on Charters Towers Rd, Hermit Park.
They created a social media sensation, with residents claiming it was proof of the council wasting taxpayers’ money.
A council spokeswoman, however, confirmed the contractors were not mowing the grass, rather they were cleaning it to remove cigarette butts.
. . .
“So they’re not actually mowing grass, as much as people would have laughed and pointed it out, they were using [the lawnmower] as a vacuum to suck up the butts.”
A Supercheap Auto Hermit Park staff member, who did not want to be named, said the clean-up crew had supplied many belly laughs for colleagues and customers.
“We’ve all been getting a great laugh out of it,” she said.
There’s more at the link.
It must be an Australian thing . . . I mean, over here, if you want to vacuum something, you use a bloody vacuum cleaner to do it – not a lawnmower! If I tried to vacuum our carpet with a lawnmower, I’m sure Miss D. would have several things (several very Australian-sounding things, actually!) to say to me about it . . . What about it, Snoggeramus, mate? Any ideas?
Peter
I have used my lawn mower as a vacuum to pick up leaves (and it bags them too). Faster than raking or using the vacuum attachment on my leaf blower.
-Steve_in_CA
I use my mower to pick up and bag the empty seeds under my bird feeders.
I, also, have used a lawn mower to suck up and bag leaves. Back when I was responsible for lawn care…
Oh, I'm sure you would be treated to a demonstration of that American favorite, the irate Southern woman accent. I hear it on occasion, and it does wonders for keeping me on the straight and narrow.
Leaves, yeah; chops them up, bags them, easy to take to the compost heap.
But for what they're describing? Seems like a vacuum would be much better. Unless the turbulence from the blade shakes things loose better?