Yesterday morning, a city crew in orange bibs blocked off our street with barricades, preparing to “work”. Over the course of 12 hours, I watched as in assembly line fashion, a group of men first dug into the boulevard with a powerful machine that easily and quickly gouged out a hole. Step two was to place the dirt into an awaiting truck which hauled it down the street. Step three involved placing a tree, its roots wrapped in burlap, onto the boulevard, its new home.
I counted 8 workers including truck drivers, a shovel carrier, a bobcat driver and dirt dumper, a hole digger, a guy who walked around looking in charge and another who walked around looking lost and kicking at the dirt from time to time.
Step four was to pick up the unplanted tree and haul it away.
Step five: Send the bobcat guy and dump truck back to fill in the hole and make a mess on the street in front of my house, leaving bald patches where the grass had been.
Observationz: Make-work projects are effective but leave it to the city to leave things in worse shape than how they began.
Insight: I need to start watching more TV.
