Sounds like a simple question, right? Have you ever driven by a road construction crew and wondered why so many people are standing around doing virtually Nothing? Driving out of my subdivision this morning, I look to my right and see 4 men 'working' on the big construction project going on right now.
Now, I could see if all 4 men had a shovel, pick ax, or other digging tool in their hands - my answer would be "Yes"...but this is what I saw:
1 man in the hole with a shovel
1 man in the hole watching the man in the hole with the shovel
1 man right up out of the hole watching the man in the hole, watching the man in the hole with the shovel
and 1 man on the other side of the street watching the man outside of the hole, watching the man in the hole watching the man in the hole with the shovel.
I'm sure there was a valid explanation why it was really taking 4 men to dig that hole, rather than just the one that was ACTUALLY digging the hole. I may never know (I had to go to work!!!)
There are a couple of problems I see with this scenerio.
First - We (tax payers) are paying for our road improvements, hence we are paying those workers to observe one worker doing all the work.
Second - We (local residents) are detoured around the construction. Not a problem. I understand the need for the current project...in the long run, it will benefit the community. No complaints there....the complaint is - if 1 out of 4 workers are actually working.....what does that do to the timeline? Why is the project slated until December, when 3 out of 4 of the workers is standing around 'observing'....seems we could speed up the project by putting more of the 'workers' to work!
Now, this may have been a one time thing....but I seriously doubt it. I have many many times seen this exact scenario on other road construction projects. I just shake my head.... I can't imagine getting my job done with 3 people standing over me making sure it got done......
OK -back to work everyone!
Now, I could see if all 4 men had a shovel, pick ax, or other digging tool in their hands - my answer would be "Yes"...but this is what I saw:
1 man in the hole with a shovel
1 man in the hole watching the man in the hole with the shovel
1 man right up out of the hole watching the man in the hole, watching the man in the hole with the shovel
and 1 man on the other side of the street watching the man outside of the hole, watching the man in the hole watching the man in the hole with the shovel.
I'm sure there was a valid explanation why it was really taking 4 men to dig that hole, rather than just the one that was ACTUALLY digging the hole. I may never know (I had to go to work!!!)
There are a couple of problems I see with this scenerio.
First - We (tax payers) are paying for our road improvements, hence we are paying those workers to observe one worker doing all the work.
Second - We (local residents) are detoured around the construction. Not a problem. I understand the need for the current project...in the long run, it will benefit the community. No complaints there....the complaint is - if 1 out of 4 workers are actually working.....what does that do to the timeline? Why is the project slated until December, when 3 out of 4 of the workers is standing around 'observing'....seems we could speed up the project by putting more of the 'workers' to work!
Now, this may have been a one time thing....but I seriously doubt it. I have many many times seen this exact scenario on other road construction projects. I just shake my head.... I can't imagine getting my job done with 3 people standing over me making sure it got done......
OK -back to work everyone!
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