That old guy next door showed me something about sharpening shovels

Last fall I was digging up some stubborn roots in my backyard and my neighbor Tom walked over, probably sick of watching me struggle. He just stood there for a minute and said "you're fighting that shovel instead of letting it work for you." Then he pulled out this beat up file from his garage, not even a fancy sharpening tool, and showed me how to run it along the edge of my spade. Took maybe 5 minutes total and I couldn't believe the difference - that shovel sliced through the dirt like butter after that. I'd been blaming the ground for being too hard when really my tool was just dull. Has anyone else had a neighbor drop some random wisdom on you like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

dixon.rose14d agoTop Commenter

Wow, I guess there IS a sharp way to ask for help!

gonzalez.phoenix14d ago

Dropped my phone in a puddle last week and had to ask some random guy at the coffee shop if he could help me pop the back off to dry it out. Felt like a complete idiot the whole time but he was super cool about it. You just never know who's gonna be nice and who's gonna make you feel worse for asking.