GC
Well-known member
Funny true story that is kinda off topic, but relevant to a certain post... It can also be dangerous to pour gas down a hole. Many years back as a young teenager looking to make some bucks a friend and I partnered in a lawn mowing business. We got a clientele built up and would pedal our bikes with push mowers in tow and cans of gas tied on top of the mowers all over town on our route of lawns to cut. We got hired to mow a lawn that hadn’t been cut in awhile, the grass was pretty tall. We set to work and when we got around back suddenly there were snakes all over the danged place. Snakes were slithering everywhere but seemed to be coming from a particular clump of grass. The old lady that lived there was nearly housebound and didn’t get out much. When we told her about the snakes it scared her really bad and she asked us to “do something about them.“
We parted the grass with a rake and after sorting around some discovered an old cement block, the kind with the three holes in it, holes pointed up, and buried just under the ground. There must have been a dozen snake heads poked through the holes peering up at us. To a couple of goofy teens this was now a certifiable adventure of the highest order. My buddy immediately went on a “seek and destroy” mission fetching one of the gas cans and began pouring gas down the holes in the concrete blocks over the snakes. He borrowed a book of matches from the old lady who lived there and after several fumbled tries he finally got a match lit and dropped it down one of the holes. Something told me to back up…
I guess there was an old cistern under the block and the pause while he fumbled getting the matches lit allowed fumes to build up from the gas. When the lit match dropped into the hole there was a loud “BOOM” and the ground seemed to erupt as if a mine had exploded. Turf was thrown skyward along with various pieces and parts of concrete block and sundry snake parts. My bud was standing overlooking the hole at the instant of the explosion. He slowly turned to look at me with a stupefied shocked look on his face. He had pieces of grass, dirt, and snake stuck all over his upper body and face. His hair was blasted back in what would later become a popular punk rock look. His mouth was working slowly but no words were coming out. I stared at first with a hint of worry about his well being, then the giggles hit and I began to laugh so hard I doubled over. That snapped him out of his coma and he threw some obscene remarks my way as he headed for his bike and home. Fond memories of an ill spent youth… LOL.
We parted the grass with a rake and after sorting around some discovered an old cement block, the kind with the three holes in it, holes pointed up, and buried just under the ground. There must have been a dozen snake heads poked through the holes peering up at us. To a couple of goofy teens this was now a certifiable adventure of the highest order. My buddy immediately went on a “seek and destroy” mission fetching one of the gas cans and began pouring gas down the holes in the concrete blocks over the snakes. He borrowed a book of matches from the old lady who lived there and after several fumbled tries he finally got a match lit and dropped it down one of the holes. Something told me to back up…
I guess there was an old cistern under the block and the pause while he fumbled getting the matches lit allowed fumes to build up from the gas. When the lit match dropped into the hole there was a loud “BOOM” and the ground seemed to erupt as if a mine had exploded. Turf was thrown skyward along with various pieces and parts of concrete block and sundry snake parts. My bud was standing overlooking the hole at the instant of the explosion. He slowly turned to look at me with a stupefied shocked look on his face. He had pieces of grass, dirt, and snake stuck all over his upper body and face. His hair was blasted back in what would later become a popular punk rock look. His mouth was working slowly but no words were coming out. I stared at first with a hint of worry about his well being, then the giggles hit and I began to laugh so hard I doubled over. That snapped him out of his coma and he threw some obscene remarks my way as he headed for his bike and home. Fond memories of an ill spent youth… LOL.
