So yesterday my neighbor a 35ish married dude with two kids is busy attempting to start his pressure washer.... with no success whatsoever. After 30 minutes or so of watching the effort, I cautiously approached so not to frighten him.
I asked if I could assist and he looked relieved with the offer. I started with, When was the last time the engine run? Last year. Did you change the fuel from last year? Does fuel go bad he asked, so no, old fuel. I automatically assumed no stabilizer, no winterization, and probably the same oil and sparkplug from conception.
Apparently no one ever bothered to explain this nor had he ever bothered to read the operator manual. So I spent an hour changing the oil, cleaning the air filter, replacing the spark plug, draining and changing the fuel to fresh, non-ethanol fuel (had to explain all that to him). Three pulls and the engine springs to life to fight another day. Since he only uses it once a year, I will go over this weekend and show him how to winterize a small engine.
What is with this generation that no one seems to understand mechanical things? I suppose with electronic everything these days, the basic mechanical gene has been bred out of them.
The Helpless Generation
