We noticed the lime green shirts first. A group of men across the busy street were poised with a large cable over their shoulders—and another was setting up a bamboo ladder on the already-overloaded utility post opposite us.
When the light changed, they all raced across the intersection, dragging the cable and hoisting it up to the guy on the ladder. He scampered up into the tangle of wires already on the post, snaking the end through the clump. Then he dangled the end of the wire down, enabling the team on the ground to grab it again and pull it so it wouldn’t obstruct the traffic—all this was somehow accomplished while the “walk light” was green!
The “wire jockey” on the post then had to find a way to secure the new cable. Standing on the existing wires, he managed to tie some sort of loop to hold it, then clambered down to repeat the procedure on the next post.
Continuing our walk, we soon discovered the roll end of cable, where a man was tending the loop, ensuring it wouldn’t snarl as it was being pulled along the street.
As can be seen in the pictures, an ever-present billboard of the King was smiling down on the team as they performed their tasks. We did think his Royal Highness looked a bit sceptical mind you… Like the other “farang” (foreigners) witnesses,we were enthralled by the performance. It would certainly be in violation of any number of safety and code regulations in Canada!
I also wondered how the electrical utility could possible manage the supply of their services. Perhaps they can’t…
No wonder we’re all embracing a wireless world!
