Do You Rake? 1

Do you Rake? By Ryan Robinson

Even though the retailers already have wreaths, trees, toys, and all of the Christmas stuff out, that doesn’t change your backyard. I bet you have leaves in your backyard as you are reading this. So, take a look. Do you have leaves on your lawn? Some of you are just nodding your head, yes, that is true, but others are saying no. “I just got it cleaned,” or “I just raked yesterday.” But notice, the question wasn’t, “Is your yard clean?” It was “Do you have leaves in your backyard?” That may not seem like a big difference, but it is. Clean could be different on everyone’s opinion. “Clean” could be just enough to see the floor. “Clean” could be looking nice, except for one junk room. “Clean” can even be no mess, no junk, perfect and sparkly. But, even though you may have just “cleaned” your backyard, I bet there are leaves out there. You may not see them, but just step outside and take a few steps. I bet in less than 20 seconds, you will find some. It may be one, two, or a whole bunch. The point is, unless you have no trees or a high-end laser leaf killer or something, you will always have some leaves on your yard around this time. The real question is though, how do you get rid of it?

Some people get rid of the leaves the way they are supposed to. People can rake up their leaves, bag it, and put it out on Mondays to have the lawn waste gone. Some choose to use a leaf blower and put the leaves into piles. From there, they could leave the leaves or pick them up. That’s the way it should be. Then you have a whole different class of people who call “cleaning their yard” differently. Sometimes people do things to get rid of their leaves illegally like burning them or using toxic chemicals. But, the one part of this group I want to highlight is the people who want the easy way out. These people don’t care how they do the job, they just want it done and done has easiest possible. I’m not saying I do, or you do, but there is always at least one who takes their leaves and dump it on their neighbors. Wrong, yes I know. But, it is true. Now, even though these people aren’t really doing something illegal, like burning their leaves; they aren’t doing what we should do, raking them or blowing them into piles. In fact, in my opinion, I have more respect sort to speak for the burner than the dumper. See, the burner might be doing something wrong, but they are taking matters in their own hands and getting rid of them. It’s just not the way the Town of Oakland wants it done.

But the “neighbor dumper” sorts of people lack something. What’s that called again? It starts with an R! RESPONSIBILITY! The dumper people can’t say, “Those are my leaves and I need to pick them up.” They say, “Oh, Great! More leaves! You know what, I don’t feel like cleaning them up. I’ll put them over here,” and then they dump it over the fence. Even so, if you are not a leaf dumper, I think every person has some sort of non-responsibility. It could be big like not admitting at work that your idea for the project failed. It could be small, like a little kid not saying he broke the lamp and that it was the dog instead. True, it is part of our sinful nature, but it is STILL WRONG. Think about that. If you blame your sinful nature for you not taking responsibility, that IS NOT taking responsibility for your actions! (Ah ha, I got you there!)

The point though is, that responsibility is very important whether you are just doing yard work, something around the house, or even at work. It is a great characteristic to have and very few people have it. Even the people who have it probably don’t even use it all the time. Referring back to another article I wrote, Bank Pens, it’s an offer that is right in front of you. Do you accept that you weren’t responsible to yourself and to others, or do you still do your actions come fall, winter, spring, or summer every year? It is a very interesting concept to understand, but if you put enough thought into it, it can make a lot of sense.

Aside from this article a little bit, if you like what I write and read them all, most of my recent articles have an interesting story in it; like a pen at the bank or raking leaves in the fall. All of my articles at first always seem to be so simple. Whether it’s a mere part of your day, just a few minutes at the bank, or a full-day activity. But if you continue to read on, there is a hidden meaning to the story. It could be if you take an opportunity and take it, or take responsibility for your actions. I enjoy writing these pieces not just because I like it, but also because there is almost always at least one person who reads an article whether by me or someone else and gets touched by it. Maybe you just lost your job and an opportunity is knocking and you read Bank Pens. Maybe you just raked or cleaned up your lawn and you are a leaf dumper and just read Do you Rake?. I love these types of articles, and don’t worry; there are more of them to come.