There’s been construction going on outside of our house now for about a month. The reason for all the noise and breaking up the road and causing enormous traffic jams in an already congested area was to create a zebra striped path for school children to cross the road without fear of being yelled at, honked at, or run over (in NZ the pedestrian, unless at a crosswalk, has no rights it would seem…but I’ll save that rant for another post).
So far so good.
They’ve pretty much completed the work. Efficient they were not, but the roadworks guys sure seemed to have a good time. Every morning I went to my car they were friendly…not American construction worker “friendly” but just nice guys.
Now they’re going to put the electrical cables underground which, I have to agree, is a great idea. To do this they have to rip up our sidewalk and driveway. Fair enough but I’m sure it will go on for another month. This morning as I was getting dressed I heard whistling…joyful whistling…a happy little song, and then I heard laughing and talking. I peeked out the window and there were the roadworks guys again and it occurred to me that these guys really like their job and working together. They work long hours (7am – 6pm), take their breaks when they need to, chat with their buddies, and enjoy being outdoors. And I envy them.
As someone who sits at her desk all day long staring at a computer I wish I had a job that allowed me to move all of my body, not just my fingers and my eyes, buddies to laugh and joke with, a whistle on my lips as I arrived at work.
I really think these guys have it figured out.
