Mowing Mayhem

Above: Sophomore Paul Moellers runs his mowing route during these hard times.

 

It came as a surprise. Like others, my working situation completely changed with the rise of the COVID-19. While one of my jobs actually benefited from the pandemic, I ended up completely losing the other.

Ever since I was 13, I have mowed lawns in my neighborhood. My eldest brother started “Mark’s Lawn Care” back in 2013 and generously passed his business onto me when he left for college. Over the past few years, my small business (now known as “Paul’s Lawn Care”) has changed significantly. 

My lawn care originally started with four lawns. My brother wanted to enjoy the summer of his senior year, so he decided to downsize his business. He helped me learn how to mow, edge, and trim. After that, he was off to college.

The last months of that year were the hardest I can remember. Between juggling school and work, I always felt so overwhelmed. The upcoming spring was just as difficult. It seemed like I was never going to have any free time. 

I finally figured out how to create time for friends and family in the summer of my freshman year. It was this year I began to pick up customers. I also picked up a job as the assistant coach on a neighborhood swim team. Even so, I still felt as if I had more free time than ever.

This year started out the same as last year. I still had seven customers and I was going to be the head coach on the neighborhood swim team. Then came the notorious corona virus. I instantly receive two phone calls from neighbors who wanted me to start mowing their yard. “Our lawn guy just stopped mowing,” said Anastasia Blaylock. Her husband suffers from bad allergies and she really needed a lawn service.

Although I wanted more business, I wasn’t sure if I had the time. Then I received some more news. The neighborhood swim team was going to close.

This news was somewhat shocking. I thought that the virus was going to die off in the summer, but it appeared as if it might not. With this latest news, I decided to take on the two new customers. Although I knew this meant the end of my sophomore year would be harder, I also knew I needed the extra money without my second job. 

In reality, I would count myself as blessed. If I only worked as a coach then I would have some small financial problems to figure out (like car payments and some expensive hobbies). Even so, compared to the thousands of families without any income, my problems are insignificant.

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