Video showing road workers' down time sparks fierce debate

Mean height. Photo / Facebook

Two road workers' efforts to kill time on the job have sparked a fierce debate online after video of their antics was shared to Facebook.

The clip, filmed near Waihī, shows two road workers engaged in a game of flipping the road cones through the air to try and land them on the base.

The man who filmed the clip wasn't impressed, not by their failed attempts to land the throws, but by what he saw as their lacklustre work ethic.

"This is what our tax money pays for, it pays for these guys to chuck cones around," he said.

"They've been standing there for three hours now, chucking that cone back and forth, flat out these fellas."

Mean height. Photo / Facebook

He then narrates an imagined conversation between the workers, before signing off and telling the viewers that he "needs to go and do some work now".

The man's commentary was slammed by those reacting to the video, with one telling him to "get a life".

"Traffic control isn't an easy job. Some days you could be on the paddle up to 11 hours straight without a break or you're monitoring a site for 12 hours without a break. You do that 5 days of the week and see how you're really feeling at the end of the week," the user wrote.

"When you get your down days, you enjoy them cause you don't know what the next day is going to bring and then you have this guy mocking them to the max? Get a life buddy"

Many commenters said they had taken part in the same activity and called the road workers out on their inability to land the trick.

"Couldn't even land the cone," said one, while another congratulated the men on the "mean height" they achieved with their throws.

Some backed the commentator's stance, saying "this is why road works takes soooo bloody long".

Most defended the pair, however, saying the video didn't truly capture their working day.

"Gummon, they got up out of their warm beds early hours of the fricken dawn (and) left their families behind," said one.

"Two brothers just having a good time at mahi that's all. I'd do exactly the same," said another.

This isn't the first time Kiwi road workers have found fame online, with videos frequently emerging showing workers taking time out to entertain drivers with hilarious dance moves.