Truck...Truck...Goose!

I have a rhetorical question (That’s just a big word that means I don’t expect an answer). So my question is, “Do professionals in a specific field have a responsibility to set a good example for others aspiring to reach the pinnacle of their field?” For example, should politicians, who make laws, have no major criminal convictions? Or should professional athletes mentor younger players? Should orthodontists’ kids have straight teeth? Should a chef be fat? I tend to lean towards…yes! So, if that is the case, (that professionals have a responsibility to be a model of best practices for amateurs) I want to talk about a group who is not keeping their end of the bargain. Truckers.

While most people probably don’t think of them this way, truckers are, for all intents and purposes, professional drivers. Which is why I don’t have a problem with the “trucker’s crack.” If they were fashion designers or butt models I might have a problem with peeping at a smattering of hairy coin-slot. But they aren’t and I don’t. You know what? I take that back, I do have a problem with it, but it is not because they are style icons, but because nobody needs to see that. Like the ancient Peruvian proverb states, “Plumber’s crack is never attractive.”

If they want to leave their trucks running all night with nothing but those stupid parking lights on, more power to them. Have you ever had the joy of being jarred awake at a truck stop in the middle of the night on a road trip and opening the door only to have your hearing permanently damaged by 6000 decibels of diesel engine? It’s not like they won a Nobel Prize for climate something-or-other and are preaching sermons to me about exhaust emissions. So I’m ok with it.

I don’t even blame them for all the horrible 1970’s billboards for strip clubs with free “Trucker Showers.” After all they are not proselytizers and I don’t expect them to have a sterling moral record.

What I do have a problem with, is truckers talking on a cell phone or texting while driving. And using the left lane for something other than passing. And not having their lights on in the rain. And swerving recklessly across 4 lanes before slamming into a bridge abutment and dumping toxic sewer spooge all over the highway. That I have a problem with. And frankly, I’m seeing too much of it. There are generations of drivers that are looking to truckers to be leaders in the world where rubber meets asphalt. So, if you see a trucker who isn’t living up to his or her high calling as a steward of the motorway, just remind them…we’re looking up to them. (And if they are looking down at you…they’re probably looking down your shirt)

As far as the Yosemite Sam “Back Off!” mud flaps go, we are just going to have to agree to disagree, because with gas at $3 a gallon I’m not backing off, I’m drafting.