Years ago I resigned to the fact that I am "that guy". I am that guy who asks city workers, and generally people out in the streets doing their job exposed to the public, exactly what it is that they're doing. Generally people in these types of occupations are nice to me and they don't mind answering a few dumb questions. Specifically, here are a few stories that we've published due to this breed of curiosity I harbour:
- Tracking the City's 138,000 street trees HERE
- Painting traffic lines HERE.
- Bumps in the sidewalk repaired HERE.
- Snowblowing bugs out of trees HERE.
Recently I saw a dude wearing a BC Hydro t-shirt and BC Hydro shorts on the street near our office in Chinatown, on Pender. He was fumbling with THE HUGEST SET OF KEYS I HAVE EVER SEEN, so I had to stop and ask him what the deal was.
He told me that he was one of the guys who goes into the buildings downtown and reads the electricity meters each month before the bills get sent out. He also told me that this set of keys you're looking at is one of hundreds that look just like it, and that those keys represented only two blocks worth of buildings they access every month. The thought that there are gas people and cable people and phone people who also have similar sets of keys in their possession, for similar reasons? That kinds blows my mind. There are a lot of keys floating around out there.
