Where are the snow shoveling, grass cutting kids?

#1
Where are the kids offering to do work for you anymore?
I understand inflation.
If a kid showed up with a snow blower in tow asking for $20 to blow out my normal length 2-wide driveway, a job that would take 10 mins at best, that child would have a job!

BeeKeeper and myself did this as kids ... and we were not ambitious kids!
 
#2
His parents wont let him out of the house, because he cant find his safety helmet and goggles, and it's too cold, and they haven't checked your home-owner's policy yet. So he's still in his pajamas playing with his X box.

Hell, if I was close by, I'd do your driveway for $20!
 

bikebudy

Banned - Must pay $500
#3
Tried the grass cutting thing with my son for a summer.

Got him a great used push mower that worked fantastic.

Mounted a bicycle basket on the bars to hold a small Gas can, Ear muffs and Safety glasses.

Printed out flyers, and Biz cards. Canvased the area and handed out the adds.

Not 1 phone call.
 
#4
Hell I use to make out good in my neighborhood. There were alot of cool older gentleman who paid very well. Thats how I bought my used three wheeler when I was 14. Even gave my mother money for groceries to help out
 
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bikebudy

Banned - Must pay $500
#5
Times have changed so much from then.

I was blowing out my driveway and noted the new neigbours driveway was full at the mouth.

So I went down the way and blew it out.

Later, about two weeks. I saw him out an said were you suprised to see the driveway blew out ?

He said ya, I thanked the neighbour for it. Realy, Who ? ! ( My other neighbour )

Well I Laughed, he said what ? I Laughed some more an told him I blew it out.

Shocked, he looked at me an said. The Bugger took the credit & Happily !

Then he called him a few names, We still laugh about it.
 
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#7
Tried the grass cutting thing with my son for a summer.

Got him a great used push mower that worked fantastic.

Mounted a bicycle basket on the bars to hold a small Gas can, Ear muffs and Safety glasses.

Printed out flyers, and Biz cards. Canvased the area and handed out the adds.

Not 1 phone call.
I did the same but my kids had grass cutting jobs lined up all over the neighborhood but then they would not even show up to the people's houses. My wife and I wound up cutting the lawns and hedges for the cash money. Cash money is good for me! My Lazy kids don have a clue.
 
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2SlickNick

Well-Known Member
#8
I know the feeling....
I was just explaining it to my daughter the other day. When I was a kid I made good money in the 80's in south Florida washing cars, cutting lawn, raking, cleaning pools, and any other odd jobs for a buck. My friend and I both bought our $200 GT performer bikes in a just about 2 months during the summer.

I have one kid in the neighborhood who after he gets home from school he mows lawns like 1-2 a day,then plays in the garage with his quad. I tell my daughter he is going to do something with his life.
Times have changed for sure...:no:
 

bikebudy

Banned - Must pay $500
#10
Ya, That's like the ones on u-tube that were getting arrested for selling Lemonade at a Kids type Lemonade stand, because they did not have a business Licence.

A bit unreal.!

[video=youtube;mPKUUH7ytUo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPKUUH7ytUo[/video]
 
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#12
I was responsible for 4 yards and driveways n our neighborhood from 3rd grade till we moved when I was 14. All 4 were widows that belonged to our church and never had to call and ask where I was. The yards were mowed & trimmed on time,driveways shoveled ,sidewalks ect. All while I had a paper route too. Every single one had a grandson my age that lived a block or two away and never did any of it. Guess who had a nice mini bike &go kart? ME ! Bought my own Schwinn 10 speed too......hard work pays off.
 
#13
Many neighborhoods are so insular that nobody even knows who lives next door, let alone down the block.

'Stranger Danger' has replaced knocking on doors..
 
#14
His parents wont let him out of the house, because he cant find his safety helmet and goggles, and it's too cold, and they haven't checked your home-owner's policy yet. So he's still in his pajamas playing with his X box.

Hell, if I was close by, I'd do your driveway for $20!
100% correct Dave. I use to shovel snow, mow lawns and rake leaves. Made some good money. These kids now a days don't even go outside.:laugh:
 

fistfullabar

Well-Known Member
#15
Yeah send my son out with shovel in hand so we don't get sued plus it's the law!!! After he speeds thru our little sidewalk i tell him to keep going down the block for his "health" and he always gets a couple of bucks till his friend convinces him to go sledding. I guess coming from florida he can't get enough snow!!
 
#16
I would dig old forgotten mowers out of the weeds,trash,curbs.fix them,sell them,mowed all the peoples grass all around my block when i was 10.Mowed where an old grocery store had been torn down,but the owner of the property did not want it mowed till it was knee high,so the city couldnt fine him.Made good money as a kid.I would hit a brick,bend the blade.So a friends dad made me a blade out of an old leaf spring.I would hit a brick,red dust would fly out.A sight to see.:laugh:
 

la1

New Member
#17
Where are the kids offering to do work for you anymore?
their parents give them a double maybe triple digit allowance. so they do not need to do anything to make money. Back in the 60's when I was a pre-teen my parents gave me 75 cents per week for allowance. One summer a friend and myself collected deposit soda bottles along the roadside getting 3 cents per bottle. we would take them back to High's or a 7/11 till the clerk would say "you have to have bought them here to get the refund" we would move on to a new store. We got around $3 to split between our selves, which we stocked up on bubble gum and sodas for the summer. The last 2 winters we have had two kids come to our door and want to shovel the sidewalk and driveway for $70. LOL I used to shovel sidewalks and driveways for $3. I remember the first time I shoveled sidewalks I just kept shoving the money in my pockets. I got home and I started pulling the money out of my pockets. I counted $33, I thought what am I doing going to school. Well there was one guy , when I went to get my $3 he said "that is a lot of money for a young kid like you" he gave me $1.50. I asked if he knew who I was and he said no and closed the door. I went back and as fast as I could I shoveled as much snow as I could back onto his sidewalk and driveway and then ran. When I was in High school during the summer one year I worked construction off the books breaking reinforced concrete with a sledge hammer. They gave me $25 a day, which was $500 a month ...way more than any of my friends made working at a burger place. of course if I got hurt on the job I would have been out of luck. the things we do when we are young. Now I work IT for the largest contractor to our great country. I hope I did not digress from the topic too much. Oh BTW I still have the B&S powered mower my parents bought for me in 1968. It is the rare side pull type with a pulsajet carb. I remember our first mower my dad had, it had a B&S model N motor.
 
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#18
Well there was one guy , when I went to get my $3 he said "that is a lot of money for a young kid like you" he gave me $1.50. I asked if he knew who I was and he said no and closed the door. I went back and as fast as I could I shoveled as much snow as I could back onto his sidewalk and driveway and then ran.
Hell yes! Do the work, get paid, screw me? Screw you! :censure: :repuke:
If price is the dealmaker/breaker :deal: it needs to negotiated before the work is done.
And $70 is too much unless you have ALOT of shovel-able area.
 
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