It started with a letter to the White House, which read:
Dr Mr President:
It would be my honor to mow the White House lawn some weekend for you. Even though I’m only ten, I would like to show the nation what young people like me are ready for. I admire your business background and have started by own business. I have been mowing my neighbors’ lawns for some time. Please see the attached flier. Here’s a list of what I have and you are free to pick whatever you want: power mower, push mower, and weed whacker. I can bring extra fuel for the power mower and charged batteries for the week whacker. I will do this at no charge.
Sincerely,
Frank
So 11-year-old Frank from Falls Church, Virginia, came to the White House on Friday the 15th and mowed the White House lawn.
Frank was so intent on doing his job that, when approached by President Trump, he kept calm and carried on.
From TheHill.com:
Boy gets his wish to mow White House lawn, refuses to stop for Trump
by Judy Kurtz
Not even a chat with President Trump himself could stop an 11-year-old boy from fulfilling his wish of mowing the White House lawn.
Frank Giaccio, of Falls Church, Va., had written to Trump earlier this year, saying it would be his “honor” to “mow the White House lawn some weekend for you.”
In the letter, shared by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders at a press briefing last month, Giaccio said he would cut the grass “at no charge.”
Giaccio was seen making good on his mowing offer on Friday after the White House invited the 11-year-old to spend the morning alongside a groundskeeper at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
In videos posted on Twitter, Giaccio — sporting a red shirt and shorts — is seen pushing a lawnmower in the Rose Garden as Trump approaches him. Laughter from onlookers is heard as the boy doesn’t stop mowing, despite the president standing on the grass right beside him.
On a second pass, Giaccio did indeed stop long enough to shake the president’s hand before continuing with his yard work.
Of course, something as simple and honest as this couldn’t be allowed to stand by certain Leftists, could it? Of course not.
First there were these responses amongst many others.
Then from Twitchy.com:
Why Trump won: Former NYT labor reporter thinks boy mowing White House lawn sends a bad signal
As Twitchy reported Friday, an 11-year-old from Virginia who had volunteered to mow the White House lawn did exactly that this week, pushing a mower around the Rose Garden while the press took pictures.
Frank also met President Trump and was invited to the Oval Office; to us, it was the feel-good story of the week. But we were warned …
We compiled quite a few tweets from critics, but it seems fitting that the New York Times’ former labor reporter should be given special consideration. He thought it was a great display of patriotism and the work ethic that made America great, right?
Yeah, no.
Greenhouse has written a lot about kids being hurt by machinery. It’s a good thing, then, that no parent in America would let a child under 21 operate something as dangerous as a push mower out in the back yard, let alone pay them an allowance rather than an hourly minimum wage.
Steven Greenhouse doesn’t stop there. He refers someone to a website called the “Amputee Coalition” whose headline is this:
Lawn Mower Accidents Cause Needless Amputations
More Than 600 Children Undergo Mower-Related Amputations Each Year
More attention needs to be paid to lawn mower safety to avoid accidents to the operator and children. Needless limb loss accidents can be prevented by taking simple commonsense precautions. (See the checklist at the end.)
Depending on where you live in the U.S., you may mow your lawn 30 times or more this year. Every time you start your mower, you are dealing with a dangerous and potentially deadly piece of equipment. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission statistics are shocking: Each year, 800 children are run over by riding mowers or small tractors and more than 600 of those incidents result in amputation; 75 people are killed, and 20,000 injured; one in five deaths involves a child. For children under age 10, major limb loss is most commonly caused by lawn mowers.
Without a doubt, parents, it’s time to start dressing your children in gigantic Nerf suits before sending them out the door. Better yet, keep them inside the house wearing the Nerf suits. Who knows what could occur when they leave your home. Wait! Don’t most accidents occur in the home?? Oh no! Now what should GOWPs do??
Here … if you don’t believe child labor is dangerous, read this website about amputees who lost a limb to a lawnmower. Actually, don’t read it — just get rid of your lawnmower and put the time you save mowing into getting them banned. Hell, start a lobbying group called Everylawn for Mower Safety.
Greenhouse couldn’t stop there. What does the American Academy of Pediatrics say about the terrible situation President Trump not only enabled but encouraged, the ignorant bastard?
Lawn mower injuries send 13 children to the emergency department every day
On average every day in the United States, 13 children receive emergency treatment for a lawn mower-related injury. That adds up to almost 4800 children injured each year. A recent study from the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine shows that, while there has been a decrease in the number of children injured by lawn mowers over the last few decades, this cause of serious injury continues to be a concern.
Run for your lives! Briggs & Stratton, Toro, Honda and Craftsman all exist to do nothing more than power child-eating machines!
But wait, there’s more. Maybe we should, in the end, ask Frank what he thought about the whole affair.
“It was really cool.”
Best summary I could envision.
BZ
