A truck driver brought it.....

Hi, my name is Claudia and I am worrier. Yes, I hate to admit it but I worry. A lot.

I worry about the environment and the world we are leaving behind for our children. I worry about the kids and how they are growing up and whether I am doing everything and anything necessary to make sure that they have all the tools they need to be happy. I worry about road conditions and the weather. I worry about my stepson. I worry about my mother. Heck, I even worry about the cats.

But more often than not, I worry the economy. I don’t worry about the economy in the sense that will the markets collapse? Will capitalist life as we know it cease to exist? I worry about whether or not it will be enough; whether I will have enough, whether there will be enough. I know, I know, any good metaphysic student worth their salt would tell you that I am manifesting lack; or any bible reader would tell you that God assures us that all of our needs are met.

But I need more reassurance, so I turn to my husband.

My poor husband.

He does not need to be told what is wrong, he can already tell by the sound of my voice…


~Hi!
~Hi!
~What’s wrong?
~Nothing is wrong, God, just because I call, it doesn’t mean anything is wrong. ~No, I didn’t say anything was wrong because you called; I just meant that there is something wrong because of your tone of voice.
~Oh! Well, yeah, there is something wrong…..
~What is it Claudia?
~Can you say it for me? Please?
~Again??
~Oh come one, pleaasssee?????
~Everything is going to be ok baby.
~Promise?
~Yes, promise….
~What did it this time?? What got you so upset and paranoid?
~I was at the school and there are some kids that are talking about their parents losing their jobs and about them being hungry, it’s scary.
~It will be ok baby, I will keep rolling and we will be ok.

Pheeewww!!!!

I know he can’t guarantee that he will never break his promise. I know that in the unstable times that we live, we are all at the mercy of what happens in our economic market. However, I know for a fact that goods will always have to be moved, taken from the producer to the manufacturer and then to the end consumer. I know that as long as there is production and consumption my husband will have a job. I know this because everything, absolutely everything that you come in contact with everyday has been brought to you by a trucker.

We played this game once. He said name one thing that you use that was not at one point or another in the back of a truck. Me, being the smarty-pants that I usually am, had thought of something way at the beginning of the conversation, because I knew where this was going and I told him my answer, feeling smug that he would not be able to knock it down…..

“The vegetables I buy at the local market!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He gave me “the look”; I knew I was in trouble….

“What about the seed? Where did the seed come from? What about the soil? What about the tools that you use to work the soil? What about the fertilizer?”

“Uhhhhhhh!!!! Well, there is the sunshine….. “

“Whatever!!” he responded

I knew I had lost this argument…

The seeds, the soil, the fertilizer, the hoe, the farming instruments, all of it. They have all, at one point or another been in the back of a truck.

Take a shovel, for example. The wood is produced somewhere and then processed and shipped to a factory for manufacturing (trip one). Once they are done treating it and shaping it and doing whatever else they have to do to it, it is then shipped to the assembly company where it will meet up with the metal part of it and be put together and tested for quality (trip two). Finally, it will be loaded up for it’s third trip onto a semi and taken to the store where the farmer will pick it up and take it home to air the land to plant the seed that he picked up in the store to give you tasty locally grown veggies and fruits.

OK, ok, so that is not totally accurate, I still have not gotten any calls back from the tractor supply store to ask them where their hoes came from, (don’t think that I will ), but it gives you an idea of how many times a truck driver is involved in the products that touch your life.

The life of a truck driver is not easy. He wakes up, eats, bathes and goes to the bathroom based on the demands placed upon him by his load. He can be out on the road for 2 days, 2 weeks or even 2 months. I know of those road warriors that have no home, other than their truck.

They spend hours away from family and friends delivering the goods that we consume, battling the same traffic that we do, and anticipating the errors of those who underestimate an 80,000 lbs piece of machinery.

However, this they do. They wake up, get their truck in gear and they get to where they need to go and they keep rolling, and they keep moving. There are 3.5 million truck drivers in the US, according to the DOT. These trucks generate an estimated 255 billion dollars of revenue on a yearly basis. Truckers will continue to roll and the products that you expect in your usual stores will continue to show up. Rain, snow, ice, no matter what the weather condition is, a trucker is still expected to roll and roll he will. Next time you see a truck driver roll next to you, wave at him and thank him because he is a sign of a still-alive economy, he is a sign that manufacturing and producing plants are still operating and creating jobs. They are a sign that there is still a demand for products in the stores and retailers will hire and goods will continue being sold.

Thank you baby.

Yeah, I think we will be ok.