Risky Business

As I entered our neighborhood today, something unusual caught my attention.

Something that has made me do a double-take (and almost given me a heart attack) before.

A man was mowing his yard.  Not unusual, you think?  Normally, no, it wouldn't be.  However, there was something different about his lawn mower.  He was using an electric mower.

Again, doesn't seem all that odd at first.  Except when you stop to think of the reason I could tell, from my car, as I was driving down the street, that his mower was electric.

It was plugged in.  With a long orange extension cord.  Which he would lift up and pull out of the way with each sweep of the mower across his yard.

Now, I don't know about you, but that seems pretty risky to me.  How hard would it be for that mower, in a moment of inattention from the homeowner, to cut across the power cord with an awful bzzzzzt! sound?

It makes me wonder...what is he thinking?

No, scratch that.  Because he's a man, and I do not in any way mean this disparagingly, but there is more than one man out there who would only see the usefulness and efficiency of this method, and remain blissfully oblivious to the risks.  No, the real question is -

What is his WIFE thinking?  Because where a man looks at a lawn mower with a power cord and thinks, "What a good idea!  I'll save money - gasoline is so expensive these days - AND save myself trips to the gas station," whereas a woman looks at the lawn mower with a power cord and all she can hear is bzzzt!  bzzzt!  BZZZT BZZZT BZZZT!

But...maybe he's not married.

Or maybe he won't listen to reason.

Or maybe he has some sort of safety system set up.  Maybe...maybe it's safer than it looks to my untrained and unknowing eye?

I'll just close my eyes and hope it's the latter.