the man under the bridge

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about a mile from work there is a strange little hiccup in the road where it goes under a bridge crossing the canal. you can see it in the picture here. it's just a quick bend in the road, but people drive on this road faster than they should and egyptians have no qualms about overtaking around blind turns, so this is actually a dangerous part of the road. due to the speeds people travel this road, i consider this a blind turn. there is a man that stands under this bridge most of the day directing traffic. i believe his family helps out in shifts letting you know whether it is safe to barrel around this turn or telling you to stop because an insane truck driver is coming from the other direction balls to the wall. i learned that this man does this because his son was killed at this turn several years ago. he wanted to do something to make it safer so, apparently, he took it upon himself to diligently stand there all day helping to make this dangerous part of the road safer. most of the drivers for this site and other people who take this road regularly tip him a pound or two ($.50) when we pass. our driver does it faster than most. you can't see the actual handoff in this video because it happens so fast, but it's like a 40mph high-five! you can hear the smack at the end. i don't know how both my driver and this guy still have rotator cuffs left due to the daily collisions, but i found it interesting enough to share with you.