Fixing A Hole

IN THE ARMY, so they say, when there was a draft and honorable wars and patriotism, one of a solider's duties was digging holes and then moving them. It must have been an activity that inspired a certain existential awareness of the limited significance of human endeavour- probably permanently imprinting the enlisted man's psyche in the process. Apparently, some of the individuals thus psychologically disfigured joined the MBTA following military service and conceived the idea of the Harvard Square extension of the Red Line.

Collective effort has enlarged the size of the hole but the basic concept remains the same. A year and a half or so ago the void in question was somewhere in the vicinity of the Mass. Ave, entrance to Harvard Yard. Gradually it moved down towards the Coop, and most recently it has taken up conspicuous residence between Lehman Hall and the Mug n' Muffin, where it occasionally shifts from one side of the street to the other.

Evidence suggests a certain lack of originality in its present positioning; according to local wisdom, there used to be a subway station in the area that the excavation now occupies.

This leads to the inevitable conclusion that before Perini Construction dug this hole and started to fill it in, they or someone else must have dug another hole of approximately the same size in the same place and filled that once in too. By some standards this would be considered wasteful duplication, but allowing for the hypothetical mental aberration imposed during residency in the armed forces and taking into account the incalculable enjoyment bestowed upon passers-by as they gazed at work-in-progress, the individuals involved deserve praise rather than criticism.

Watching demolition and construction is one of those small pleasures that too often passes unremarked and unappreciated. And the fact that the designers and builders of the T have seen fit to expose visitors and residents alike to the delightful spectacle of men and machines in motion for about four years now is certainly worthy of commendation.

Admittedly, some of the proceedings, though interesting, often suffered form partially obstructed views and were occasionally lacking in scale and range. The present excavation, however, entirely compensates for any prior errors or oversights and is, without excessive risk of hyperbole, the MBTA apotheosis.

SOME CONTRACTORS would have jealously guarded their productive movements behind a seven-foot fence and left those on the street to guess at the marvels transpiring beyond their view. In the case of the T this could easily have led to a dangerous situation of overcrowding in the third floor bathroom of Lehman Hall the splendid panorama is visible through its windows in its entire majestic beauty. Thankfully, Cambridge pedestrians have been spared this inconvenience.

Those wandering by worrying about hourlies, papers, theses, departmental budgets, or whether or not to give six months disciplinary probation can take some satisfaction in the fact that the people in the pit actually look like they're accomplishing something--whether destroying someone else's achievement or creating one of their own. There is simply a certain joy in regarding concrete activity; welders crouched over their work and casting a blue glow from the arcs of their rods; electrician laying out conduit in angular symmetry; and all of them anticipating the deliveries of the cement mixers queued up on Mass. Ave, and waiting to dump their contents into the pumps that will eagerly suck in the grey sludge.

In fact a certain melancholy tempers the pleasure of observing the floors of the T station rising toward the street when one realizes that before very long this whole process will be over, despite the consideration shown by the people knocking down the block of buildings opposite Widener. Perhaps in the interest of softening the blow of the impending conclusion of the T construction those workers have buried a bulldozer in the wreckage of Claus Gelotte Cameras.

IT IS SENSELESS, however, to become mired in depression. At least an entire class will come and go without ever seeing Harvard Square lacking a sizeable hole in one part or another and with a little luck they will carry away an indelible memory of the happiness that was theirs for the taking. Just as the generation before them expanded on an idea drilled into them in their formatives years, in all probability as these Harvard students move into the positions of authority that their education so thoughtfully guarantees them, they will take the opportunity to move bigger holes larger distances and make us all a little happier in the process.