Truckers

On Thursday September 12th, my son and I hit the highway, bound for North Carolina, for his ordination as an Anglican priest. Who knew we would be winding up, then down, and next through, mountains? Seeing the men working construction had me feeling very grateful and appreciative of the strenuous contributions they make that allow safe and almost effortless passage. I admire men greatly, and have always found it irksome, to hear women say nonsensical things, about not needing men: Did you know the term for hating or distrusting men, is labeled misandrist? Ya, I didn't either, but women are misandrists when they hate on men, and it is shameful ... because God knows most women can't figure out how to use the TV remote, let alone design and build highways, houses, malls, and skyscrapers!  

While on the road, my son and I saw some signs that made us curious. These signs repeated in intervals, followed by steep and long hillside inclines. We put two and two together before long, and my soul did a little terrified shiver when I realized what the signs, coupled with the hills, represented. I have included pictures! Do look now. Mind you, the incline in my pictures does not look intimidatingly steep, but dear reader, make no mistake, the grade upward was crazy!

Now maybe you have seen these before, or heard about them? but Matthew and I had never been exposed to the concept of a truck driver needing someplace to slow and stop his runaway truck when his brakes failed, and when he found himself picking up unstoppable speed while rolling downhill. Think with me, how many lives would be at risk, if this brake failure, on mountains, were a common occurrence. Isn't that a yikes inducing idea? Men build and maintain trucks, and some really smart men built stop 'em ramps, for the occasions trucks endanger lives when disabled from slowing to a safe stop. When I think of how many accidents do not happen, I am humbled to a grateful heap of wonder. When we see cars crushed or spun backward on the roads we regularly travel, we all slow down a little out of curiosity with one question coming to mind: Is everyone okay? It isn't long after the rubber necking, that people pass and pick up speed again, as though they never really considered the reality, that the next accident waiting to happen, could be the one they find themselves in. But for the mercy of God, go I, and you, and them too, dear reader. 

As I consider the work truckers do, I glow with a gratitude attitude. My son pointed out that the population of America is massive, and the trucks travelling to and fro across the country and into ours too, feed the masses, clothe the masses, supply and remove and provide and and ... I know this is not a new concept, but man alive, those Run Away Truck Ramp signs, and those Run Away Truck Ramp hills, sure did give me cause for pause and consideration. These drivers risk life and limb daily, and I am thankful for their contribution to the life we all live.

Our stay

The first hotel we stayed at was near a truck stop. Prostitutes were entering and exiting some of the trucks parked for the night. Work takes men away from family, for days on end sometimes, and I am confident that many a man, in the loneliest of situations, resist temptations, and remain faithful to their kin. There is an underbelly in boardrooms and back allies, there is an underbelly in pulpits and the pews that are occupied by would be saints ... and there are those that resist, those that can be counted on to take risks that the fear filled and fleshly will not take, risks that preserve us in our unaware states of being. 

Truckers do an extraordinary job. They are the keepers of the keys of safety and provision. We owe them a debt of gratitude ... I recall a flat tire in the middle of winter, changed for me by a trucker that pulled over immediately upon seeing my little red gulf stopped on the side of the 401 highway. There were four of us in that car that day; my son Matthew was one of the passengers, and was a tike at the time. I didn't have a cell phone, or roadside assistance ... we had a trucker act as guardian angel, and dear reader, this is a tribute to all those guys out there that deserve a big Thank-You, for all you do for our benefit, whether we realize it or not.

Men are wonderful, and God made them. Truckers are currently my favourite sort of unsung hero, praise be to God Almighty, for all they do for little old me and you.