The Worst Problem

One recent morning Shelly came in from a stroll around the acreage with the dogs to report there was a loud noise coming from the machine shed I should investigate. Stepping into the main room of the shed I was surrounded by a continuous high pitched shrieking alarm. At first I thought it was coming from the ceiling, but as I moved around the shed it seemed to be all around me. Walking back outside I wondered what the noise was and how could I make it stop. Shelly suggested I ask our neighbor who happened to be out mowing the ditches along our road with his tractor. I could see he was coming our way so I walked down the driveway to flag him down. The driver turned out not to be our neighbor but a county worker I had never met before. He stepped out of the cab and introduced himself. I apologized for bothering him, explaining I thought he was the neighbor, but since he was here I figured I might as well ask him if he had ever encountered a mystery noise like what was coming from my machine shed. A little reluctantly he agreed to take a look, and I can only imagine what he was thinking about this strange situation. We walked up the driveway and entered the shed. He stood for just a few seconds, then walked over to the riding mower and turned the key from auxiliary to off. The noise stopped. I had no idea the mower had an alarm. We looked at each other and chuckled, and I admitted that I felt pretty stupid. He said, “Well, if that is the worst problem we have to face today I think we are doing okay.” I thanked him as he walked back down the driveway to his tractor to continue mowing.