We all know what to do when life gives you lemons, but what do you do when it gives you roadworks? Celebrate them! Especially when they are one of those that tend to really linger on and try the nerves of the whole neighborhood. But as people in New Orleans, Louisiana go, they embrace the bizarre along with absurdity and frustration and have a good laugh at it.
A young mom, Natalie Naquin Harvey, prepared a real celebration for the one-year anniversary of a dreaded roadwork that is still in process a whole year later. As you may have guessed, the post illustrated with cheerful photos went viral on social media, eventually getting the attention of the local road repair authority. Bored Panda got in touch with Natalie to find out more about her genius idea.
More info: Facebook
Natalie Naquin Harvey baked a celebratory cake, accessorized with a party hat and balloons, and celebrated the one-year anniversary of a dreaded roadwork on her street
Image credits: Natalie Naquin Harvey
2020, for quite a few people, was not the easiest year to cope with, but the ability to reverse a struggle into something positive turned out to be Natalie’s forte. In her neighborhood’s Facebook group discussion, one of the residents mentioned the upcoming 1-year road construction anniversary the following week. So she commented: “Maybe I’ll make a cake!” and the idea took off from there.
Natalie had stumbled upon this recipe online a couple weeks before and thought that “it would be perfect to turn into my ‘street.’” The young mom, who is working as a nurse, shared that baking is one of her passions. “I love to bake, it’s a way for me to cope with stress.” And, of course, some lucky neighbors got to taste the now very famous cake. “I was able to share some cake with some of my neighbors by dropping it off at their house, since we couldn’t have a proper party because of the pandemic.”
She baked a cake featuring the actual road construction scene on her street, complete with 'gravel,' machinery, and builders
Image credits: Natalie Naquin Harvey
Natalie felt that the post would have some potential before even going live with it, at least locally. “Two neighbors stopped me on the street to take my photo while I was out there trying to get my own.” She noted that the response has been great and most importantly, she achieved her goal—to bring in some humor to an annoying situation. “It made my neighbors laugh after a year of frustration, and that’s really all I wanted to do—give them a reason to chuckle at the absurdity of the situation.”
The post has received thousands of likes and shares on different media outlets as well as a ton of comments
Image credits: Natalie Naquin Harvey
The post has received thousands of likes and shares on different media outlets as well as a ton of comments. ”I expected that people around New Orleans would think the post was funny, but did not expect it to be this popular across the country and world. Frustration with construction is truly universal.”
As Natalie is glad to have succeeded to make people giggle after the year we all have had, the post also got the attention of the local road work repair authority, which realized that the ongoing construction has overstayed its welcome. They have responded on the Instagram page that documents the shocking condition of the cracked and sinking streets of New Orleans. Shortly after, the residents of the neighborhood received a letter with the timeline of the project's completion.
Here is the response from New Orleans local roadwork repair authority after seeing Natalie's post on Instagram
Image credits: roadworknola
“New Orleanians tend to deal with frustration and absurdity in creative ways, and by celebrating”
Image credits: Natalie Naquin Harvey
“New Orleanians tend to deal with frustration and absurdity in creative ways, and by celebrating,” Natalie shared her take on the situation. And it seems that this lighthearted (and somewhat passive-aggressive) approach to a frustrating matter can be fruitful, as long as it’s in high spirits with a strong sense of humor.
And here are some opinions that people online have expressed about this humorously ironic photoshoot
