Orange Waves

Double lanes of the corridor intersecting 7800 South

At 8:20 a.m. I roll out of bed, throw on shoes, shove my arms into a jacket (hoping they will actually make it into the arm holes) and drive to pick up my niece.
My niece recently moved to Utah. She moved without a car or a job. It's pretty lucky that she has an awesome aunt like me to pick her up and drive her around.
Everyday I drive the same road to pick her up, 7800 S. in West Jordan. On this road is a great deal of construction. It is the meeting point for two lanes for the infamous Mountain View Corridor and not far away they are continuing to work on 5600 West. In short, this road can have up to six people slowing and stopping traffic.
It's very close to a perfect storm for me featuring both construction and morning traffic.  Lucky for Melissa and I there is one man who makes us smile and laugh every morning.
You can count on him holding the first stop sign going East. He's dressed in your typical construction worker garb: tan construction boots, heavy jeans, sweater/coat, bright hunting orange vest and typically a red hard-hat.  Whether he's stopping traffic for heavy utility dump trucks to drive by or slowing traffic with the orange sign, he always offers a big wave and a smile to every car.  You can see his fingers waggling enthusiastically, even through his thick gloves and he always offers a big smile, proudly showing drivers is gummy smile featuring only two or three teeth.  I love this man for his enthusiasm his happiness, despite working construction and early in the morning. I could definitely learn a thing or two from him.