Thank you Drmad7 for taking the words right out of my mouth. Well said.
Did the old woman know the mower
wasn't broken? Was she in her right mind? What about finances - did she buy the mower herself (on a limited budget) and is now throwing it away because it's the only way she knows of to get her yard mowed??
If you'll notice in my post, I wrote what "I" would probably do in that situation. There's no mention whatsoever of me trying to force anyone else to be the same way. There's a lot of ways to "take advantage" of someone. Being an auto mechanic at the time and seeing an old woman throwing out a brand new lawn mower because she can't get it started - in ""my"" book, that's taking advantage. In other words, ""I"" would have trouble sleeping knowing I had simply taken the lawn mower. Do I think the mechanic was wrong in what he did? Nope. I was just sharing what "I" would have done. Nothing more.
Once upon a time, long, long ago, I was visiting an elderly couple that I knew from church. The husband was ALWAYS in good spirits and their income had never really been "put to the test", but he also had crippling arthritis....not that any of that matters. Anyway, they were going to throw out a Weed Eater string trimmer for the same reason as the woman in the OP. I asked if I could look at it - they said sure. I went over and in just a few minutes I had it purring like a kitten. So I went back and asked if they wanted to keep it or still get rid of it; but it was just too difficult for him to use. So I made a deal with them. I would mow and string-trim their small yard for the trimmer. I didn't have to make a special trip there, I had the time to do it, so why not? When I was done, I took the trimmer home and used it myself.
The trimmer was far less valuable than a self-propelled mower, and it also was not brand new - though was still in good condition and had been taken care of. That said, I don't think badly about what Stevei48 did. I was just mentioning what I probably would have done in that situation - not meaning or implying anything negative to Steve or anyone else.
...Maybe one day I'll learn to keep my mouth shut. ............NAH!!
