Burnt Wienie worthy: Blade blunder

Nominee: Dan Broberg
Nominator: Marion Sprick Broberg
Year: 1981

Listen, my friends, and you shall hear
the tale of a young, budding mechanical engineer.

One May Saturday morning, sometime after dawn,
father Wally went out to look at the lawn.

"Sam, the grass needs mowing," he said, looking dapper.
"Dan, would you service the old Red Snapper?"

So Dan, with a moan and a grunt and a snarl,
took the mower and set out to work a while.

He scrubbed it and cleaned it and changed the oil.
He sharpened the blade -- oh, what toil!

Sam, the mower, looked on in pain --
so happy was he when it started to rain!

It rained for three days. Oh, there were pools,
while Dan sat in classes, now back at school.

The grass grew long. Sam hoped for the sun.
He knew the mowing job would not be fun.

He started the mower -- off with a snort.
Soon something was wrong, he had to report.

With the help of mom Marion, he checked it over,
but could not diagnose it, out there in the clover.

Father Wally came home and surveyed the scene.
He pulled the rip cord -- it started real keen.

Mowing the grass (looking more like hay),
he noticed it was coming out the wrong way.

How he exclaimed with chuckles and frowns,
"Dan put the dang blade on upside down!"