My late great uncle Cornelius taught his kids how to mow the lawn as part of their chores at a very young age. They hated it, as one would assume most kids would.
However, one young Black boy from North Carolina actually loves it - so much so that he began his own mowing business.
Quentin Hines Jr., 11, tells CBS News he used to help his father mow their lawn when he was just eight years old. Though barely tall enough to gaze above the bar handle, he happily offered to take over the chore. His favorite hobby off the front yard was parking by Charlotte Douglas International Airport but not to watch the planes take off, to watch the mowers landscape the grounds.
“Sometimes when I would go out there, they would have the mowers out there, so I would like to stay there for a while. My parents would say, ‘It’s time to go,’ but I would say, ‘Just a few more minutes,’ because I would want to watch them cut the grass,” he told CBS.
Only a year later did he pitched the idea to his family to start his own business - QJ’s Professional Lawn Care, which is currently run by his parents, Shirley and Quentin Hines Sr. Since then, he’s been getting business from every direction. The report says he was even invited to the airport to meet the airfield maintenance crew and crash a shift to help mow.
Ultimately, he told CBS that was his dream job. However, the horizons expanded even farther before him after being invited to visit to Carolina Panther’s grounds crew to help mow the Bank of America football field and learn how to prep the ground for practice. As expected, he was able to meet several NFL players.
“This is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. Actually being able to cut the Charlotte airport’s grass, which has always been my dream, just made me very happy. And just being able to experience all of this, now that I know how to do it, makes me very happy,” said Hines via CBS.
Hines said he plans to recruit some of his fifth grade friends to help provide lawn care locally until school picks up in the fall. For the remainder of the summer, you’ll find him cranking up the lawn mower, donning his noise cancellation headphones, sunglasses and occasionally a bandana to help with his allergies.