A Tribute to Road Workers

Every 4th of July, I like to ask myself "Are you feeling independent today?" And I like to answer myself: "Yes." Usually that's about all I do for the holiday until it's time to climb up on my roof and watch stuff blow up.

Today, though, is my daughterée's birthday, so I went out to the parade--and I didn't even take a book to read, which makes me proud of myself. The parade was quite enjoyable, as it turns out, and reminded me of great American values like giant plastic creatures, Clydesdale horses, and people trying to advertise stuff. There were also some soldiers, who I genuinely appreciate: it's truly wonderful to live in a country where the soldiers are so uninvolved in daily life that we need to be reminded about them.

One thing I missed, though, were the construction workers I would have liked to see in the parade. Good roads are such an important part of what it means to be American--the parade couldn't even happen without the road built and maintained by that orange-clad core who fuel our freedom. So I hope you all take a moment on this fine Independence Day (by which I mean the day after when you actually read this blog) to be thankful for the road workers who make America great, no matter how much we curse at their traffic cones.