There’s a multi-story office building going in right next to my light rail station. It’s about 7 stories tall and the structure is largely complete. The light rail stand is level with the third floor.

Nearly everyone waiting at the station watches the construction workers build away. At any given point in time, nearly half of us are turned around, facing away from the tracks, to gaze at the new building. Why?

Is it because construction is fascinating? Definitely. It’s neat to see a collection of materials and labor turn into a tangible object.

Is it because we’re bored and would like to watch construction workers rather than highway traffic and a empty set of rails? Of course.

But I also think, deep down, a lot of us sit here waiting to ride 40 minutes to Denver, to start our 9-5, to do the work that only sometimes speaks to our strengths, only sometimes makes us feel fulfilled, and only sometimes produces something tangible that we can point at and say “look, that’s something I did!”

Something tells me I’m not the only one that envies the construction workers.