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Log inLife is a highway for veteran traffic flagger
Life is a highway for veteran traffic flagger
by Outspoken on Tue Jun 24, 2008 5:58 am
Life is a highway for veteran traffic flagger
By Diana Graettinger
Staff Writer Bangor Daily News
ROBBINSTON, Maine - When Richard Taft is on the job there's no question that he is in command of Route 1.
Wielding his reversible slow-stop sign, Taft is a traffic flagger at construction jobs, and a man who loves his work.
In fact, Taft does his job with so much aplomb he has developed a following Down East, even though he doesn’t live here.
His home is in St. Albans, and he works for T&E Safety Services of Lisbon, and has traveled the state.
"I’ve been a flagger in Jackman, Fort Fairfield, Robbinston, Bangor, Old Town, Orono," he said.
Flaggers start work around 6 a.m. and remain on the job until sunset. Taft, who sets up in temporary lodgings near work sites, usually bums a ride to the site from another flagger — he doesn’t have a driver’s license, and said he never wanted one.
Taft is renting a room in Robbinston, and with all the construction on Route 1 in the Calais area in the past few years, he has become a familiar face — unlike a lot of flaggers who frequently come and go. One man quit the job after just four hours.
Taft dresses in a fluorescent yellow vest, sweat shirt and bluejeans. He wears a white hard hat that covers his long, chestnut-colored hair. He has an impressive beard that he clips in the summer and lets grow longer in the fall.
And his bearing on the roadway commands respect — like Gen. George Patton or Napoleon Bonaparte.
Going too fast? You’ll get a steely stare.
Not paying attention? Expect a shake of his head.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=166198&zoneid=500
(Bangor Daily News/Diana Graettinger)
By Diana Graettinger
Staff Writer Bangor Daily News
ROBBINSTON, Maine - When Richard Taft is on the job there's no question that he is in command of Route 1.
Wielding his reversible slow-stop sign, Taft is a traffic flagger at construction jobs, and a man who loves his work.
In fact, Taft does his job with so much aplomb he has developed a following Down East, even though he doesn’t live here.
His home is in St. Albans, and he works for T&E Safety Services of Lisbon, and has traveled the state.
"I’ve been a flagger in Jackman, Fort Fairfield, Robbinston, Bangor, Old Town, Orono," he said.
Flaggers start work around 6 a.m. and remain on the job until sunset. Taft, who sets up in temporary lodgings near work sites, usually bums a ride to the site from another flagger — he doesn’t have a driver’s license, and said he never wanted one.
Taft is renting a room in Robbinston, and with all the construction on Route 1 in the Calais area in the past few years, he has become a familiar face — unlike a lot of flaggers who frequently come and go. One man quit the job after just four hours.
Taft dresses in a fluorescent yellow vest, sweat shirt and bluejeans. He wears a white hard hat that covers his long, chestnut-colored hair. He has an impressive beard that he clips in the summer and lets grow longer in the fall.
And his bearing on the roadway commands respect — like Gen. George Patton or Napoleon Bonaparte.
Going too fast? You’ll get a steely stare.
Not paying attention? Expect a shake of his head.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=166198&zoneid=500
(Bangor Daily News/Diana Graettinger)
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
