Take a moment to examine the picture above. It doesn’t look like much with a line trimmer and some mess and yet it turned out to be my most controversial Facebook post ever.
Why?
Because this was an incident sent to me by a friend and I recounted it exactly as he sent it to me. I thought it was funny; and a brilliant teaching moment.
Funny
The landscaper picked up her line trimmer, checked her fuel tank and to her horror realized that it was full of straight gas. Small engines like this run on exact gas and oil mixtures. Straight gas would crush the engine beyond repair.
Panicked, the girl dumped the gas on the asphalt. I thought that was funny. But my female Facebook friends nearly took my head off. Why did I have to say that it was a girl? Suddenly my Facebook friends started dropping off, without any ill effect, I should add.
I would have reported it the same way if the landscaper had been a guy. It wasn’t anything sexist. I still think her reaction was extremely funny. Clearly her foreman had some training to do.
Training
Oil
If your small engine gas tank is full of straight gas then just add some oil to the tank. Don’t worry if it’s not an exact ratio. While I don’t recommend you fake it all year, once in a while it’s fine. Add some oil and start working. I do it sometimes when I don’t feel like mixing up a new jerry can. I just don’t advertise it. I’m confident my boss is too busy to read my blogs this far down.
Disposal
Straight gas is expensive and it’s a pollutant. So not only did she waste money, she also polluted the site by dumping out the gas on asphalt.
Now we have time consuming clean up to do which kills productivity. And it looks horrible for clients accessing the back walkway.
Knotweed
Just behind the visible truck ramp is a large patch of Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica). The city of Burnaby eventually bombed the area with RoundUp so this would have been a good place to dump straight gas. Again, I don’t recommend this but it beats asphalt disposal.
Conclusion
Train your workers completely. Cover everything, including small engine gas and oil mixtures. And if you discover that your small engine is full of straight gas then just add some oil and start working.
My posts always aim to educate and entertain; they will never be sexist. Train, train, train!
