When we first had our house built, we needed to put in a lawn. Of course, since all we had for a yard were rocks and building debris, we needed to do some serious raking. And for serious raking, we needed a serious rake. We needed a garden rake. Since all we had for rakes were the springy leaf kind, we headed for the hardware store to buy, well, a garden rake.

When we returned from the hardware store with our garden rake, we began raking the yard. And all was going well until all of a sudden, the rake broke. Now, I am not talking about the head separating from the handle. I am talking about the metal rake head breaking in half.

I returned to the hardware store with the broken rake expecting a replacement and an apology for the defective product. Instead, I was given a replacement rake and a stern warning not to use the garden rake in the garden.

Don’t use the garden rake in the garden? What am I supposed to do with a garden rake if I can’t use it in the garden?

Maybe it is ornamental only. Perhaps I just hang it in my garage to give the garage that garage look. I’ll put it right next to my ornamental shovel and my ornamental hoe.

Well, since I needed a garden rake and since I purchased a garden rake, I used my garden rake in the garden. And, since I did not heed the warning in the store, this rake also broke. Fortunately, a friend of mine had a welder and welded it back together for me. It worked just fine after that.

I suspect that there was a design flaw in the product.