The ethics of an old man mowing

Walking home from work today I saw an old man mowing the lawn at a fundamentalist church.

The grounds must be at least half an acre and he was using a small mower to cut long, wet grass.

There is no way he would have got more than a third done before it was dark. The mower’s engine kept dying as he pushed it through the long grass.

I’m often contemplative while walking and this presented a few questions.

Q)Was the man foolish?

A) Yes, but maybe he had no other choice. I’ve been silently complaining about that long grass for a week or so now and perhaps he was told to clean it up. The part of my brain that controls order and efficiency dislikes wasted endeavor.

Q) Was there a better way?

A) Probably. Surely someone in the church community has a ride-on mower. If not, he could have appealed for public help or asked a commercial operator to do the job at a reduced price. Maybe the council would do it for nothing.

Q) Was it any of my business?

A) Not really, except I felt frustrated hearing his mower conk out and seeing how much more lawn he still had to cut.

Q) Would I have cared if it had been a sports ground or a vacant block instead of a church?

A) No. I figured they would have been doing it by choice in those cases, or as a matter of personal responsibility with a vacant block. I gained the impression this old man felt a collective responsibility, which made the scene almost pathetic.

Q) Should I have offered to assist?

A) I don’t know the answer to this. My conscience said yes, but there’s nothing practical I could have done. My mower is no bigger than his and I wouldn’t like to take on a futile task that should be someone’s responsibility (in the church). But I didn’t like seeing the old man struggle.