Tuesday morning quarterbacks

I walk down Mass. Ave. every morning on the way to the subway. Mass. Ave. is easily the most-traveled road in Cambridge, passing through all the major city centers and leading to Boston in one direction and the suburbs in the other. Wouldn't you know it, it's also Construction Disaster Road No. 1.

Cambridge Common is a nice park right on the way to Harvard Square. Or at least it was a nice park before the mysterious and endless underground project overtook its northern corner back in April (and ever since). Sometimes you walk by a construction site where nothing's happening and you say "Well it's raining, so I wouldn't want to be doing that kind of work right now either." Or, "It's wicked muggy today, I wouldn't want anyone to be killed by heatstroke." But I'm convinced the past two weeks have given us the absolute greatest weather of all time. It was perfect for two weekends in a row and every day in between. So each of those days I thought "Why don't they wrap up this goddamn eyesore already?" I can only hope that whatever they're doing fixes the drainage problem that for the past few winters has reproduced Lake Winnipesaukee with every snowmelt.

It's common knowledge that construction workers time their coffee breaks with rush hour so they can gawk at the ladies on their way to work. As pathetic and shiftless as this is, at least it looks like they're taking a legitimate break. Stick a man on a park bench to mentally undress every woman who walks by and he's a pervert. Put a thermos in his hand and he's a union man.

This morning topped even that. Possibly inspired by Vick and McNabb last night (if you can call that game inspiring), three workers were tossing around a football during their break, not ten feet from the work site, and over the heads of people walking by on the sidewalk. Bright orange vests, hardhats, steel-toed boots… full construction uniform. Now I don't have a problem with them playing catch—it's their break, let them do what they want. But come on guys, kid me into thinking you're having a productive day, that this is a finite project. Instead they're announcing that everyone can eat a dick. Fucking Cambridge.