“That’s a pretty handy gadget you got there.” I looked up from my computer. “Yeah, I’m a big fan of laptops and wireless…and coffee. So lucky for me Muggabeans has a wireless connection and good, strong coffee,” I remarked smiling.
“In my line of work, some of the guys have GPS systems; but I find it easier to just use a map,” he laughed. One again I looked up from my laptop. Ummm, I thought to myself. This guys must really want to talk…or maybe he just needs someone to talk to? I slowly shut my laptop and reached for my piping hot cup of caffeine.
“Are you a driver?” I ask. “Yeah, I drive a truck for an outfit out of Spencer (a nearby town). I mainly just drive throughout the Midwest: Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, sometimes Colorado.” After a brief pause, he adds adamantly, “but I try to avoid Chicago at all cost.”
“Are you from here?” I ask. “Or just passing by?” “No, I live around here,” he says. “But most people don’t know me. It’s hard to make friends since I am not around much.”
He continues on, “I love being my own boss though. I love my freedom. I do not have a wife or kids. I work Monday through Thursday. Drive 2-3,000 miles and then I am home for the weekend. And I like money; I can easily make $800/wk just for driving four days.”
“You probably get to see a lot of beautiful countryside,” I inject, thinking back to my past road trips. He laughs, “We’ll I can’t really just pull of the side of the road anywhere, but…Yeah, I love driving along the mountain ranges of Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon. I’ve been to a lot of places and big cities that most people only read about. Especially people from small towns…they dream a lot, but not many actually get out to see the world.”
Without pausing, he changes the subject. “I lived for a while in Hawaii also. I was a beach bum and surfed a lot. My friends want me to go back out there, but it’s so expensive. A one bedroom apartment cost $2,500/mo. to rent. And it cost $300-$400 on average to go on a date!” I wondered outloud, “That must really cut down on the dating?” “Actually,” he says, “It doesn’t stop them whatsoever. It’s kind of ridiculous. But, in comparison, they make about $70/hr working.”
Then there was a long pause. The awkward kind when you don’t really know the person or know if the conversation is over. Should I ask him another question? I felt like maybe he had more stories that were just waiting to be told. Then I tried to think of other things that we may have in common to keep the conversation alive. He likes to travel…maybe he would be interested in hearing about the World Race? So, I mentioned how I was leaving for a year to travel internationally. “What will you be doing?” he asked.
“Missions,” I eagerly reply. “I’ll be learning from, living with and serving alongside the people in each country.” With that, he got up out of his seat. “I have to go get my haircut now,” he mumbles as he heads out the door.
I sat there for a second, gripping my coffee cup. The coffee that remained was cold. Did I scare him off or offend him, I thought to myself? Or did he really have to go and get his haircut? I was jotting down some notes from our conversation when you know who walks in the door again. And guess what…he had a new haircut!
(Please continue reading this story in my next blogs,
More Life Lessons from a Trucker Man and
The Trucker Man Trilogy comes to an End)
