Put A Politician In A Truck
Cuba, MO. After a full day on the road, and a slab of meat loaf about the same size and weight as a brick, I was happy to settle down for a look at the news. Let’s see:
Politicians still lying? Check.
Athletes disgracing themselves? Check.
Ground Zero Mosque proceeding apace? Check
Mosque defenders portrayed as thoughtful and tolerant? Check
Mosque skeptics portrayed as ignorant goons by the thoughtful and tolerant? Check
President Obama’s Excellent Vacation Adventure continues? Check
With a few new wrinkles, everything seems pretty well where it was when I got behind the wheel this morning. Which got me to wondering, what would happen if I could get just a few of these politicians, or athletes, or media elites, to see America from the road? How would they react? What might they learn?
The day began in the mud lot behind a convenience store in Oklahoma, where I managed to back in between some other trucks late last night. Needing to get as close to St. Louis as possible today, I set out on I-40 East which, like a great many highways, has become an obstacle course of construction zones. Whatever the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s shortcomings, it must have been a bonanza for the sign-making and traffic cone industries. I didn’t see many people working in these zones, but the signage, barricades, cones, barrels, etc., are truly a wonder. In terms of creativity, they can only be matched by the narrowness of the lanes in these zones, flanked as they are by concrete barriers on either side which guarantee that any tire blow-out or slight swerve will quickly turn vehicles into pinballs. I think DOT Secretary Ray LaHood should ride in my truck and watch as we maneuver only inches from the concrete on one side and families on the other.
There seemed to be more carnage on the road today than usual. One particularly bad accident involved an SUV that appeared to have traveled across the median into oncoming traffic. Emergency responders were trying to cut the driver out of the vehicle when I drove by. At another accident scene in Missouri, they were placing a gentleman on a stretcher to load him in the ambulance when I passed. Perhaps some politicians could watch these heroes at work and explain why, when voters demand that they function within their budgets, they always threaten to lay off these vital public servants rather than lay off a few bureaucrats?
Missouri seems to have a very enterprising population, as the “Show Me” state has lots to show. Just a few miles from me tonight sits “The World’s Largest Rocking Chair.” It has to be true. There was a picture of it on the billboard and it dwarfed everything around it including the people standing next to it. If I wasn’t driving something the size of a building, I would have gone in search of it to verify. Other billboards advertised a bra repair shop, a tobacco outlet, truck stops, restaurants, motels, and just about anything else you could want or imagine. These signs represent the efforts of small businesses, and they are being crushed. Perhaps some well meaning utopian fathead could stop at one or two of these businesses and listen (for a change) as the owners tell them what it’s like to try and survive the regulatory and confiscatory boot that this government has on their throat.
At the end of the day, after a meal that was a sumptuous feast compared with last night’s beanie weenies, I was approached by a young man with a military haircut and his little son. His eyes were red. Behind him, maybe 20 feet back, stood his wife. She looked miserable too. Pointing toward my hat, he said, “You’re military?” “Retired,” I answered. He looked around as if to make sure no one could hear us, before telling me that he was active duty and moving to a new duty station in Ohio with his family. He had lost his bank card. I asked him if he had notified his bank and he said, “Yes sir.” He pointed toward the gas pumps and said that he didn’t have enough cash to get his family where they needed to go. I’m approached by panhandlers all the time, but this was different. This guy defends the rest of us. As a vet, I’m not turning my back on him. He now has fuel and his family can have a meal. We shook hands and I thanked him for his service, asking him to stay safe. Maybe the politicians, the elites, the people who are only generous with other people’s money, can explain why private charity should be diminished in favor of collective confiscation. Maybe they can explain to that young soldier why he should risk his life defending a Constitution that they ignore. Maybe if they spent some time on the ground with the people that make this country work, they might revisit their grand visions. Then again, maybe I hope for too much.
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Comments:
Aug '10
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
Dave,
I read your post a few weeks back, mentioning that you were in Brownsville, Texas. If you're ever coming through Laredo on I-35, let me know. Your writings are the best ones on this board.
May '10
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
Dave -- Sometimes things are a little more complicated. Client told me this week about this situation in Massachusetts where apparently the thing to do is to go on disability when temporarily on a higher pay-grade. It's possible to be a hero and a source of waste and fraud all at the same time.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/07/14/on_injury_leave_firefighter_stood_out_as_bodybuilder/
But I always love your missives from the road. You should think about a book...
Jul '10
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
Dave, I had a road trip of my own through St. Louis last July. A piker's trip by your standards but... my business partner and I drove from MI to St. Louis en route to Joplin, Mo the next morning. At any rate, this part of your post struck me:
" These signs represent the efforts of small businesses, and they are being crushed. Perhaps some well meaning utopian fathead could stop at one or two of these businesses and listen (for a change) as the owners tell them what it’s like to try and survive the regulatory and confiscatory boot that this government has on their throat."
You see, my buddy's sister had previously lived in St. Louis and she directed us to the best hole-in-the-wall BBQ joint in town. My friend vouched for it, having visited her a few years previous. We spent a good 45 minutes taking (by rough estimate) 273 turns to avoid the construction. We got there; the lot was empty.
A sign on the door said: "Hours: closed Mon-Wed until Hwy X is finished."
There was no one inside. The sign was 10 months old, dated Oct 2008.
May '10
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
Dave -- Sometimes things are a little more complicated. Client told me this week about this situation in Massachusetts where apparently the thing to do is to go on disability when temporarily on a higher pay-grade. It's possible to be a hero and a source of waste and fraud all at the same time.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/07/14/on_injury_leave_firefighter_stood_out_as_bodybuilder/
But I always love your missives from the road. You should think about a book...
May '10
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
Dave -- Sometimes things are a little more complicated. Client told me this week about this situation in Massachusetts where apparently the thing to do is to go on disability when temporarily on a higher pay-grade. It's possible to be a hero and a source of waste and fraud all at the same time.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/07/14/on_injury_leave_firefighter_stood_out_as_bodybuilder/
But I always love your missives from the road. You should think about a book...
May '10
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
Dave -- Sometimes things are a little more complicated. Client told me this week about this situation in Massachusetts from a couple of years ago where apparently the thing to do was to go on disability when temporarily on a higher pay-grade. It's possible to be a hero and a source of waste and fraud all at the same time.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/07/14/on_injury_leave_firefighter_stood_out_as_bodybuilder/
But I too love your missives from the road. You should think about a book...
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
Trace, excellent point. Years ago, when working as a private detective, I helped bust more than a few who were collecting workman's comp. from jobs that included the sort I mention in this post. My point, perhaps badly made, was that when pressured to live within their means, politicians routinely hold the fiscal gun to the wrong heads. Where I live, for example, a 1/2 cent sales tax is being pushed for education expenses, the thought of reducing overhead never having breached the craniums of the decision makers. It's the same nonsense the teachers' unions attempted in New Jersey. Rather than make the tough calls to reduce bureaucratic lard, they threaten the first line employees and try to scare the public into submission. It's a shameful practice. Fortunately, people like Gov. Christie are finally fighting back. We need more like him.
About writing a book, ...I've been mulling over the idea. Thanks for the kind words.
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
And Trace, your comment posted several times, reminding me of that part of the movie Airplane, when the guy repeatedly enters the cockpit saying, "I just want to wish you both good luck. We're all counting on you." Can't get that line out of my head now. Gee thanks....
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
Mac Sledge, thanks very much, but I wouldn't take anything away from the stellar cast of writers, both contributors and members, who congregate at this site. I'm just happy to be in the mix. And I do travel to Laredo pretty consistently, so I'll give you a heads up next time I'm there for any length of time. If I have to overnight there, I stay at the TA Truckstop on I-35. Since overnight parking there is not free, it's not as crowded, the place is kept clean and much better place to rest. I'll treat you to some coffee that isn't laced with brake fluid for a change.
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
Palaeologus: "My friend vouched for it, having visited her a few years previous. We spent a good 45 minutes taking (by rough estimate) 273 turns to avoid the construction. We got there; the lot was empty.
A sign on the door said: "Hours: closed Mon-Wed until Hwy X is finished."
There was no one inside. The sign was 10 months old, dated Oct 2008. · Aug 19 at 9:43pm
That's change we can believe in, eh?
Jun '10
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
I do wish a trip to the central states could make my east coast friends more centrist, but they only seem capable of seeing & hearing whatever shores up their preconceptions.
According to an actor I know, who returned from a tour last week, the entire middle swath of the U.S. is populated by nothing but sweet simpletons and some toothless extras from "Deliverance." When I reminded him that I'm an Okie, he congratulated me - - for being smart enough to get out.
"You know," I said, "when I decided to move here, my grandparents were the only ones against it. But I couldn't really blame them - - totally insulated, surrounded by like-minded people, suspicious of anyone who thought or looked differently than they did . . . . You understand that, right? Because you sound just like them."
Btw, Dave, if you ever roll through the hometown of said grandparents - Salina, Kansas - do NOT roll back out again without a bag of burgers from the Cozy Inn. Trust me.
Safe travels.
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
kelsurprise: According to an actor I know, who returned from a tour last week, the entire middle swath of the U.S. is populated by nothing but sweet simpletons and some toothless extras from "Deliverance."
...Btw, Dave, if you ever roll through the hometown of said grandparents - Salina, Kansas - do NOT roll back out again without a bag of burgers from the Cozy Inn. Trust me.
When these "simpletons" send their hard earned dollars in this actor's general direction, does the actor view that as proof of their ignorance or just momentary enlightement?
Thanks for the advice on the Cozy Inn. I've only been through Kansas two or three times, and was surprised that it was in color since all I had to go on was a certain movie...
May '10
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
Dave, be careful there on I-44. I've driven that stretch between Ft. Wood and St. Louis more times than I can count, and very little of it is, um, ideal.
Anyone want to name the politician that would be the most useless pain in the neck if he were to join Dave in the cab of his truck? Early candidates that come to mind are Barack Obama, Nanci Pelosi, John Kerry, Joe Biden (a formidable choice), Harry Reid, or my darkhorse favorite, Charlie Crist.
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
Matthew, I can assure you they won't be useless. I'll put 'em to work. Might be the first honest day's labor they've had in a long while.
May '10
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
I don't know, Dave - I have no doubt you'll make use of them. Whether they turn out to be useless may be a whole other ball of wax.
Jun '10
Re: Put A Politician In A Truck
Dave Carter
When these "simpletons" send their hard earned dollars in this actor's general direction, does the actor view that as proof of their ignorance or just momentary enlightement?
I've only been through Kansas two or three times, and was surprised that it was in color since all I had to go on was a certain movie... · Aug 20 at 4:58am
Actually, according to my East Coast experts-on-all-things-Red-State, there ARE rare sightings of elightened people, "stuck" out there in Hicksville. Some have gone native, but a brave few are still trying to drag their states, kicking & screaming, into the 21st century. (Hey, all my kinfolk got ejjicated and lernt to use tools, so anything's possible.)
That said, some old-timers do hate change. They were dead set against colorizing Kansas at first, but once they saw how nice it looked, most of them came around.