Good Neighbor: John Canant loves his job

Published 8:23 pm Thursday, July 17, 2014

Messenger Photo/ mona moore John Canant holds a Little Caesar’s sign on South Brundidge Street. Canant says he loves interacting with passersby and jamming out to music while he works.


John Canant holds a Little Caesar’s sign on South Brundidge Street. Canant says he loves interacting with passersby and jamming out to music while he works. (Messenger Photo / Mona Moore)

Drive down South Brundidge Street between the hours of 4 and 7 p.m. and you may catch a glimpse of John Canant’s jumps and air guitar riffs as he rocks out to Andrew W.K.

“I won’t swear to it, but there may even be some head banging,” he laughed.

Canant, 25, has worked for Little Caesar’s Pizza, for five years, waving to customers from the sidewalk and drawing business to the strip mall behind him.

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With the exception of the muggy weather, Canant says he loves his job. His favorite part is the interaction with passersby. “I love all of the wonderful people that wave and honk and make my job easier being out here. I love it when people do that,” he said.

The music also helps. Canant tends to match his moves to the beats playing in his ears. He has a mix that includes Zedd with Foxes, Don McLean, Kenny Chesney, Chvrches, Colbie Caillat, Cake, Jimmy Buffett and “The Epic Rap Battles of History, ” which he says is hilarious.

Of course, there are other places Canant would like to be. He recently took a trip to Beech Mountain, North Carolina, and had a great time. One of his favorite places to go is Seaside, Florida. He found a bookstore there that he loves to visit.

“Sundog Books. It’s a fantastic little store. Small, but it has a great selection. Upstairs, they sell music and have a lot of vinyl records,” he said.

And it combines two of his loves, books and music. Canant is currently reading “The Fault in our Star” by John Green. “I love it,” he said.

Some of Canants other loves include video games like World of Warcraft and Mass Effect Server. He also likes a game called “Go.”

“It’s an old board game played primarily in Asia,” he said.

Canant was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon when he was a student at Troy University. The fraternity got him in to doing charity work. One that stuck was ringing the bell for the Salvation Army’s Red Pot campaign. “After I graduated, they just kept calling me,” he said.

Canant earned a degree in political science. His job search has been a tough one, but he hopes to someday put it to use as a congressman.

There is one more thing that would get him to wave at traffic any day of the week and that’s bulgogi. “It’s Korean barbecue,” he said. “That would be compensation enough. It’s delicious.”