That's not a power-washing -- the water's dribbling out of the hose. As you can see with the two bits of junk to the right of the planter in the foreground, it didn't clear stuff off the sidewalk. The worker watered the sidewalk all the way around the building -- with some quick-and-dirty math, roughly 6,000 square feet of sidewalk.It's a waste of water, sure. But really, my critique here is an economic one, not an environmental one. Is it really worth paying someone to spend an hour doing this every morning? Or any morning?
What we actually need to do is create MORE of these jobs in order to lower the 5.7% unemployment rate. That would really make economic and environmental sense!
ReplyDeleteOn a serious note, what would this gentleman be doing if that job were not there?
Actually, Arlington's unemployment rate is 2.7%. Yes, I'm a shameless pitchman for Arlington. So you're suggesting we create a New Deal-style program to put millions of Americans to work keeping our sidewalks hydrated?
ReplyDelete2.7% is quite impressive - chalk up another A+ for Arlington. As an attorney, I could definitely see the benefit of eliminating that 2.7% - the more hydrated the sidewalks, the more slip-and-falls and suits against the cities of America. JUST what we need to rev up the economy.
ReplyDeleteI do recall when our national unemployment rate was at its lowest - the effect was quite evident, and not really in a positive way.
rmm - Do tell.
ReplyDeleteGreen Miles: You work for the County. Can't you get someone to issue a notice to the owners of the establishment to stop wasting water? Or at least to suggust - heaven forbid - using a broom?
ReplyDeleteGoogla, I don't work for the county, I work for the National Wildlife Federation. I just volunteer in Arlington and rouse as much rabble as I can. If we were in a drought with water restrictions, I'd definitely raise the issue. But I'm actually working on a different water issue on that very same block. That's my next post - we'll see if it gets done today or tomorrow.
ReplyDelete