# Suburbia: Why Can't Everyone Mow the Law at the Same Time?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 30, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574 "2002-05-30T17:34:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574/21 "2002-05-31T17:11:25Z")
The ‘endless lawnmowing’ is a problem in my neighborhood, too. Particularly in the morning after I get back from work; makes it hard to take a nap. And When I can’t tank a nap, I get ANGRY :mad: ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574/22 "2002-05-31T17:31:42Z")
You all seem strangely insistant that society be quiet. Personally, I find the sound of a lawnmower (that I’m not pushing) to be a nice background noise. If you are so anal about quiet that you can’t work if someone two houses down is mowing their lawn, then I would say you have some serious issues to work through. If you don’t want to hear the people around, then move to where there are no people. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574/23 "2002-05-31T20:00:07Z")
I’m somewhat confused how other people mowing the lawn even carries into your house. I can barely hear even my next door neighbors when they mow, and it certainly wouldn’t keep me from working or sleeping. Especially working, with three computers in here and two ceiling fans and the A/C going. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574/24 "2002-05-31T22:24:28Z")
Why dont they make mufflers for yard equipment? Is it possible? I pray to God I never live in a creepy King of the Hill burb. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574/25 "2002-06-02T04:15:05Z")
Can you imagine how creepy that King of the Hill 'burb would be if you happened to drive through when everybody was out there mowing their lawns at the same time; which apparently is the desired ideal. Sounds like a movie cliche; maybe from _My Blue Heaven_? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574/26 "2002-06-03T07:14:53Z")
Or “A Wrinkle in Time”, with all the kids skipping rope and bouncing basketballs in synch. And remember what happened to the kid who decided to free-form? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574/27 "2002-06-06T22:27:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ResIpsaLoquitor \* > \*\*Still, I swear that there’s an unwritten rule out there that, in suburbia, at all daylit hours, a lawnmower or weedwacker must ALWAYS be running, preferrably within 2 houses of mine. And on the fastest, loudest setting. I live in an archetypical suburban area – a single family house on a large lot at the end of a cul-de-sac. (An aside – I tend to prefer inner cities, but if I chose the urban lifestyle in Orlando, I’d be facing the commute from Hell – I work in one of that city’s outermost suburbs.) Most folks around me have lawn services; a truck with a clanking landscape trailer pulls up sometime late in the morning or early in the afternoon, a crew of “white males of a rural Southern cultural orientation” pile out fo the truck, and get to work on the lawn. 10 minutes later, they’re gone. This all happens while most are at work, so it doesn’t bother anyone. Personally, I buck the trend in Central Florida. I save the $20 a week, and do it myself. I typically mow and edge the St. Augustine once a week, usually just before sundown when it’s a bit cooler. Neighbors don’t seem to mind. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574/28 "2002-06-06T22:33:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ResIpsaLoquitor \* > \*\*…because it’s unrealistic, that’s why. > > Still, I swear that there’s an unwritten rule out there that, in suburbia, at all daylit hours, a lawnmower or weedwacker must ALWAYS be running, preferrably within 2 houses of mine. And on the fastest, loudest setting. And I hate wearing earplugs, because 1) white noise drives me nuts, and 2) I need to keep my ears attuned to the phone. > > I’m sick with a head cold, so I’m doing my legal research from home on the computer today. Yet every time I try to start typing, SOMEBODY turns on a lawnmower. My own mother just did this an hour ago. (I’d tell her to stop, but she’ll either ignore me or forget that I asked her to stop.) > > I swear, suburbia is an endless cycle of people turning on their lawnmowers. When one person stops, another has to start. When I get my own home, I’m only mowing when someone else is. So there. > > And kudos to whomever invents the **silent lawnmower**. That person will be an engineering genius and a borderline demigod. > > Lawnmowers: fuck 'em. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574/29 "2002-06-06T23:40:46Z")
> [@](#): > > could-e-sack I’m probably being dense, but I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574/30 "2002-06-07T00:35:55Z")
> [@](#): > > a crew of “white males of a rural Southern cultural orientation” pile out fo the truck, and get to work on the lawn. Around here, all the gardeners are Salvadoran. > [@](#): > > I’m probably being dense, but I don’t get it. Extreme Anglicization of cul-de-sac. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574/31 "2002-06-07T02:46:30Z")
[hijack] > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neidhart \* > \*\*Around here, all the gardeners are Salvadoran. \*\* Let me clarify … The crews of guys that go out and mow lawns for a living are mostly very proud “Sons of Dixie.” The guys who roll out your new lawn around here are either rail thin musicians who work at landscaping for their day job, or Mexican migrant laborers. It’s either all or nothing on the crews; you usually don’t see the drummer for “Jesus Choad Machine” slapping down new St. Augustine alongside Jesus Martinez. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574/32 "2002-06-07T02:51:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KneadToKnow \* > \*\* > I’m probably being dense, but I don’t get it. \*\* No, you’re not dense, I just can’t think of the correct spelling for it. It’s one of those little indentations in a neighborhood with 3 or four houses within it and there’s an island of grass and maybe a couple of trees in the middle. Does that ring any bells? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574/33 "2002-06-07T03:30:23Z")
Or, as one non-native-English-speaking friend called it, “cuddle-sack”… jayjay ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574/34 "2002-06-07T04:14:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WSLer \* > \*\* > > No, you’re not dense, I just can’t think of the correct spelling for it. It’s one of those little indentations in a neighborhood with 3 or four houses within it and there’s an island of grass and maybe a couple of trees in the middle. Does that ring any bells? \*\* In the suburbs, it’s a cul-de-sac. In the country, it’s a dead end road. ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574/35 "2002-06-07T12:06:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ResIpsaLoquitor \* > \*\* > Lawnmowers: fuck 'em. \*\* Sounds quite painful to me. But hey whatever gets you off … (Can´t believe noone commented on that yet) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suburbia-why-cant-everyone-mow-the-law-at-the-same-time/111574.md?page=1)