Because people *do* stupid things!
Can you honestly say you've never used a screwdriver as a pry bar? Makeshift chisel?
We have lots of clay in the soil. Coupled with the lack of regular rainfall and organic material, the hardpan can be almost like concrete!
Anyone who does any work in their yard has a "caliche bar". This is just a heavy (mass is the key aspect!) metal bar with a pointed or "chiseled" end (usually one or the other). You essentially THROW it into the soil (letting the mass/inertia do much of the work -- instead of trying to "press" it into the soil) and break up the solid layers of clay (caliche).
For example: mine has a wider blade that comes to a decent "cutting edge" (so you can slice through the clay and lift it out of the hole you are digging).
Neighbor came to borrow mine, one day: "Sure"! (heck, no need to give INSTRUCTIONS for something this simple, right?)
Later, I hear metallic sounds from his back yard. Walk over to see him using it to try to cut through (break) a cement footer!
"WTF?? Now you've dulled the edge! It's for cutting SOIL, not CONCRETE/cement!"