The struggle is real...

[Daniel Meyer]

Outside my office window this morning...
1 guy working, 5 guys supervising...

Kind of like being a taxpayer...

[Bigwolf]

That's about right!  Often, the guy in the hole is the only one that truly understands what needs to be done and is just slowed down by the comments and demands of the others.

[The emperor has no clothes]

But at least they shovels to lean on. 

[Wizzard]

That looks just like our light and power company at work 

[Jess from VA]

It appears he is only a lowly apprentice, who has to dig enough holes by himself, before he gets his safety fanatic vest.

[John Schmidt]

Wonder if that's the same crew that had multiple injuries on the job. Seems it happened when four guys tried to lean on the same shovel at the same time when the handle broke. 

Down here we used to bug the guys in the DOT....."what's big, yellow, and sleeps six?  A DOT truck."

[Gryphon Rider]

That's about right!  Often, the guy in the hole is the only one that truly understands what needs to be done and is just slowed down by the comments and demands of the others.

As the guy doing the design and producing the drawings, I can tell you that while the guy doing the digging (or welding, or framing, etc.) may think that's true, it's not rare that it is a misconception on his part.

[sheets]

The pic – at 1/250th of a second – is seemingly worth a thousand words. What about the remainder of their eight or ten-hour day for the next twenty or thirty years. Would you rather see three or four workers stuffed into one little hole? You'd have to spend a few minutes on the business end of a shovel to understand the concept. Having spent 40 years out where the rubber meets the road between a water utility company and the road department I'd hazard a guess they guy in the hole is the newest lowly apprentice, or they are each taking a turn in the proverbial barrel. If it's a water leak – sans backhoe - you dig the smallest hole possible to get the repair done. Been there – done that. And the safety fanatic vest . . . I had the pleasure of cutting one off a coworker to do a primary survey for injuries after a vehicle ran through the lane closure and hit the guy. Consoled him for an hour in the road while waiting for an ambulance.  And then rode in the ambulance with him for fifty miles to the nearest hospital. He was off work for six months. The pieces of safety vest hung on the wall in the crew room for years. Where I come from the wheels on the colorful truck don't stop turning long enough for anyone to sleep. In Cali, there is a worker memorial at the State capitol each year remembering those who have lost their life working on the highways. For all you guys who make a living by the sweat of your brow, this Bud (as in Budweiser) is for you!     

[DirtyDan]

See the guy on the left ?

He looks...... different

Dan

[NewValker]

Guy on the left is the engineer, plans in his hand and the safety gear & rules don't apply to him.
Craig

[Daniel Meyer]

Stuff..... 

Made my living in the trades for more years (and injuries) than I care to remember...

That aside...you-sir...take the internet entirely too seriously...this was a real pic...the "obvious" conclusion from it is a stereo-type/meme thing that nobody with any critical thinking ability actually believes...well...except for those of us that HAVE worked in the hole...of the 5 guys there, perhaps 3 will actually work...at least 2 are there to critique and guide each shovel-full...