Lawn all the way to the bank

An older gentleman wearing a straw hat and glasses was sitting on a tall chair in front of his house on a Sunday afternoon. He was waiting for Sevan and Kash who were to cut the grass in his garden. The lawn has not been touched since last year and the grass was as tall as Kash. Mr S who was the man with the hat didn't know how tall Kash was. What is important, he knew that Sevan was an expert in cutting the most challenging grass.

When finally meeting Sevan, Mr S was amazed by his shorts with a built-in back pocket for the mobile phone. If it was slightly disappointing that Kash, not Sevan, was the usual operator of the mowers and strimmers, Mr S didn't show it. He gave Kash the key to his garage where she found two classic cars and a hover lawnmower. Automotive was not her primary interest, so she picked the mower. Mr S was going to sit in the sun, direct Kash and regulate the length of the lawnmower's electricity cord.

There was no other power tool for Sevan apart from a strimmer with a broken cutting string. All three people in the garden found the experience of replacing the line rather frustrating, so the strimmer was rejected, and Sevan could fulfil himself as a versatile user of trowels, rakes and hands if needed. He pulled weeds from the edges of the lawn and from between paving slabs, then put the waste to dry in the sun where Mr S wanted to store the compost.

Trimming the tall grass was as tricky as it had seemed to be. The grass tended to get flattened, so the hovering mower refused to cut and collect it. After some experimentation on how to use a lawnmower with no wheels and the advice from Mr S on using hovering to their advantage, the GoodGymers managed to clear the middle of the lawn and the overgrown path to the garage.

The grateful Mr S offered Sevan and Kash a selection of cold drinks and free financial advice. Mr S used to be a busy banker who travelled around Europe to talk business with hardly any breaks between his trips. Unlike some ex-finance people, he didn't come to the realisation that chasing money was not worth it. Thanks to resourcefulness and investments, Mr S built a solid capital and retired from banking in his fifties to teach Eastern Europeans English. Apart from language classes, he always had life lessons for youngsters about planning for the future. It was the same advice that he gave to the GoodGymers and encouraged them to not postpone their investments.

There's no better time than when you are young!