Roof Beams

All kinds of people work on weekends. Employees of restaurants or stores are expected to do so, as well as police officers, fire fighters, and teachers with papers to grade. Sometimes it comes with the job, and sometimes it doesn't. It's not rare to see a few business suits walking with briefcases on a Saturday or Sunday, but lately, they've been outnumbered. Donning paint-splattered canvas bell-bottoms, layers of sweaters, and scratched up helmets, dozens of construction workers come in to work on the unfinished buildings on my street alone. When I bike to the grocery store, I pass a crane reaching high up into an apartment building, complete with a pair of workers directing bike and pedestrian traffic around the site. It's a similar scene in other parts of the city as well.
The word around town says it's all related to the consumption tax going up this April. Projects are being pushed along, things need to be done sooner before the cost goes up, which means working weekends for a lot more people. It all starts to make sense, but questions loom. When April does come around, will we see a drop off in the amount of construction work being done? Is that why so many workers are willing to work on snowy Sunday mornings? As noisy and irritating as they can be at times, I can't help but admire their dedication, and hope it all pays off for them.