Stupid Commercial

[sudsmonkey]

There's an ad running on the networks now that is killing me. It shows several guys out mowing their lawns with riding mowers accompanied by music that seems more fit for a Harley ad.
I can't tell if the music is meant to be funny, or if mowing the lawn is just a bad@ssed art.
The part that bothers me is that it would seem that we're all so far removed from the Manly Arts, that mowing grass is a manly as we get. I know everybody isn't Mr. Fixit. Not everyone can weld, hunt, do carpentry or woodworking, dig a well, rebuild an engine, etc., but jeeze! Have we come to this?

Maybe I'm just reading too much into it.
I'm getting another beer.

 

[Rick_R]

it would seem that we're all so far removed from the Manly Arts, that mowing grass is a manly as we get.

For some, it is. Heck, I pay a guy to mow mine.

But I do have a shop & tools so I can "get manly" when I feel the need -- and, hey, I make beer!

Rick

 

[sudsmonkey]

Merely being able to add " and I make beer" qualifies us all, even Yooper, as practitioners of the manly arts.
If those guys were riding their mowers with pint glasses, I wouldn't have a problem with it.

 

[BleedsDogFish]

Merely being able to add " and I make beer" qualifies us all, even Yooper, as practitioners of the manly arts.
If those guys were riding their mowers with pint glasses, I wouldn't have a problem with it.

I am not a handyman, but i can hold my own with doing things that men do. I do not feel like less of a man becuase I can't weld or build cars. I do shoot guns, drink and brew beer and watch Bullet on a monthly basis. If you don't know what Bullet is, you are not a man.

 

[Wade E]

I prefer "The Bounty Hunter" myself but thats another subject. I think its part of this computer age where you cant even change a spark plug anymore without removing some big computer on your vehicle and to do that you have to remove the injectors. It has gotten to the point where all we can do is check the oil and tire pressure, OH, wait a minute, theres a computer that tells you your pressure is low already!

 

[Brew Runner]

I just received six pieces of non-running yard equipment today. I spent a few hours and made every one of them run again, including two chipper-shredders. It took tools, gasoline, oil, spare parts, and some know-how to do it too! I even burnt myself on one of the engines. That's a helluva lot more respectable(IMO) than thinking you're a hard@ass for sitting on a riding lawnmower.

On one level I am moderately insulted by commercials like that, but then I think about how utterly clueless the general public is most about everything. Then I cringe at the thought that such an advertisement actually reaches people....

 

[Yuri_Rage]

If you don't know what Bullet is, you are not a man.

It's Bullitt, and Steve McQueen kicks ass.

My wife mows the lawn while I weld, build cars, brew beer, drink beer, and break stuff. Not necessarily in that order.

 

[Brew Runner]

It's Bullitt, and Steve McQueen kicks ass.

Hell yeah, that movie is a staple for classis Mustang owners.(especially '67-68 fastbacks)

 

[Rick_R]

I did reply above, and while I have been employed where I work with tools in jobs in the past, have hunted and do own guns, still own a fairly complete tool set, I have to admit I don't really link "manly" to being able to work on cars, hunt, fish, etc. I'll consider a guy who has soft hands, no tools, no gun, and never hunted or fished -- but takes care of his family -- as a "manly" fellow over the hunting, fishing, engine-rebuilding guy who puts himself first, ignores his kids, and mistreats his significant other.

Hey, I know where you are coming from sudsmonkey, but as I see the latter all the time in my neck of the rural southern woods I thought it worth saying.

Rick

 

[mr_goodwrench]

I did reply above, and while I have been employed where I work with tools in jobs in the past, have hunted and do own guns, still own a fairly complete tool set, I have to admit I don't really link "manly" to being able to work on cars, hunt, fish, etc. I'll consider a guy who has soft hands, no tools, no gun, and never hunted or fished -- but takes care of his family -- as a "manly" fellow over the hunting, fishing, engine-rebuilding guy who puts himself first, ignores his kids, and mistreats his significant other.

Hey, I know where you are coming from sudsmonkey, but as I see the latter all the time in my neck of the rural southern woods I thought it worth saying.

Rick

I have to agree 100% with this post. I'm sure you can figure out what I do for a living from my handle... I can't help my daughter put on tights for dance class, cause my hands will put runs in them. I drive an IH Scout II and can fix most anything around the hose that needs fixin. But I am most proud of the fact that I take care of my family ~ financially and otherwise.

I have known plenty of guys (including my own father) who fit into the later category.

 

[BleedsDogFish]

You guys are ALL right. Despite what you can and cannot do around the house, a man that takes care of his family is a real man......

 

[PeteOz77]

So you can't be a MAN without a family? My mother did a fantastic job of taking care of her family without a man present. She made all the money, fixed what was broke, and looked after her kids better than most men could.

So... I guess that makes her a man?

Now on the other hand, if you are talking about what makes a FATHER, and a HUSBAND.... I'll go along with the "Looking after the family" , and "Putting the family first" comments.

I know a lot of "MEN" that don't have families.

The Big Lebowski: What. . . What makes a man, Mr. Lebowski? Is it. . . is it, being prepared to do the right thing? Whatever the price? Isn't that what makes a man?

The Dude: Mmm, sure. That and a pair of testicles.

 

[BleedsDogFish]

Aw cmon, don't take it out of context.........My comment was a dig on deadbeats, not women or people without a family.

 

[PeteOz77]

Aw cmon, don't take it out of context.........My comment was a dig on deadbeats, not women or people without a family.

Not to worry, I wasn't getting bent out of shape about it.

Hence the Big Lebowski reference

 

[sudsmonkey]

I didn't mean for this to turn into a deadbeat vs. family man kind of thing, though I do agree that a real man takes care of his family first.
The point I was pushing was that where we once would slit open a moose to keep our family warm, we now mow the lawn and call ourselves men.

That being said, I'm going out to ( que up the Harley ad music) mow my pasture with my '54 Farmall. Maybe I'll slit open a moose and rebuild the engine in the family grocery getter on my way back to the house.

Did I mention that I'm brewing tomorrow?