Pothole Super Heroes
The legal authorities have failed to uphold public order, and the people need a savior. In the dead of night, lone vigilantes take it upon themselves to make things right in the city. They prowl the streets, fixing all potholes they can. Sounds like a plot to a superhero movie, but it’s reality in Montreal. The Canadian city’s streets are in such extreme disrepair that local contractors have started fixing them themselves. On their own money, on their own dime, Saad Tekiout and Anthony Khan are going around Montreal, repairing potholes. They don’t ask for glory, just for safer streets. But just like in every vigilante story, the powers that be don’t like it when residents stop relying on them. Tekiout and Khan have both been warned that what they’re doing is illegal and their actions could earn them hefty fines. Yet, the two don’t care. “I think we deserve to have better roads,” Tekiout said. I won’t sugarcoat it; the roads of Montreal are in an atrocious state. It’s so bad that earlier this year, the city awarded emergency contracts to 10 companies to repair the crumbling pavement.
That hasn’t been enough for Saad Tekiout. The straw that broke his back came after both he and his friend blew a tire on the same pothole in Montreal’s Laval area. Tekiout owns the landscaping and paving company Marquize Paysagement. He had the tools and skills, so he decided to fix the hole himself. Afterward, his family members, friends, and even strangers started asking him to come and fix potholes on their roads. Now, Tekiout roams the city after work hours, patching pavement wherever he goes. He told the Montreal Gazette that he fixes up to three potholes a day. So far, he’s filled about 100. “People are really happy when I do this. It gives a sense that we’re all in this together as a community,” he mused. “This isn’t really my domain, but I’m doing this for the love of my city,” said Tekiout.
The citizens might love Tekiout and Khan, but they have adversaries in high places. Montreal mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada has gone public, saying that people shouldn’t repair potholes on their own. With her official social media account, The Female villain Martinez Ferrada has posted a comment on Tekiout’s videos to cut it off and leave repairs for city professionals. Indeed, Tekiout and Khan are carrying out illegal actions. Filling potholes on your own counts as modifying public infrastructure without a permit and carrying out unauthorized work on public property. Under the law, Tekiout and Khan could both face significant fines for essentially vandalizing public property. But obviously, the city’s efforts haven’t been sufficient to maintain Montreal’s roads. Can you blame the two for deciding they’ve had enough?
Potholes are Them
Frasier and Kareen are driving home from Thanksgiving. After a grueling time with the relatives, tensions are high when Karen suddenly points to a Starbucks and says she wants to stop for a latte. Chad really wants to get home but pulls over anyway. Thirty slow minutes later she finally returns with her $8 coffee. Once back on the road, the car slams into a pothole just as Karen’s taking a sip, and she spills coffee all over herself.
“Didn’t you see that pothole?!” she screams.
“I hit it, didn’t I?” he says.
Why is it when you pass by road construction crews on the highway they are all men except the woman was holding up a sign that says: “Slow Men Working.”
Pennsylvania and New Jersey changed their state mottos today in order to cut their highway budgets. Now they both proudly display “Road Work Ahead. Expect Delays” on their welcome signs to better reflect the status of their roadways.
Today, my friend warned a pedestrian about a pothole.
I guess that makes him a trip advisor.
Birthdays on May 6th
1994 – Naomi Scott, 1996 – Tiera Skovbye, 1986 – Shirey Lazar, 1983 – Adrianne Palicki
1982 – Jason Whitten, 1961 – George Clooney, 1932 – Willie Mays, 1986 – Chris Paul