Did You Know?
"A monthly column of facts you may or may not already know"
Seems to me that in our country today we have a lot of unsung hero’s. They
don’t ask for very much, just an honest day’s wage for an honest day’s
work. They are afflicted by many things however. First, a management
regime that continues to demand more without paying more while the
legalities and paperwork continue to expand without any end in sight.
There are good men and women out there trying to do a job with honor and
integrity every day. Yet these fat-cat large companies are hiring
hooligans and criminals out of who knows where to join their ranks because
they know these individuals will do what it takes whether legal or not to
get their pay. So, where does this leave the honorable individual? Out in
the cold. These hooligans have filthy mouths and minds, they are never
satisfied with anything, and are constantly whining and complaining even
when the sun is shining and conditions are good. So, when conditions
finally do get bad and it requires diligence and stamina to survive. These
individuals are the first to fail, complain, and give up. So the good
image of these unsung hero’s is tarnished and dirtied up once more.
Consider this unsung hero for a moment. Let me describe for
you this individual from the core of who he or she may be. Understand that
their sacrifice can never be completely repaid, their life never be
completely repaired, and the time lost never be recovered. They get up
early as they are only allotted a certain number of hours to rest, there
is no such thing as Morning and Evening – only work time and sleep time,
they work longer hours than 90% of us do, they are rarely late as time is
one of the most important commodities to them, they are concerned for your
safety and their own but would rather make the sacrifice than to see
another injured, their diligence of duty is always intact, they sacrifice
personal comfort and family time for duty, they grab recreational time as
they can without interfering with their duty, when ill they are almost
guaranteed never to be close to their family physician and usually become
sicker than most because of their work environment, some of the places
they are forced to travel to you wouldn’t go into in the light of day but
they must transverse it in the dark of night, they are always on call and
usually get only one major holiday a year with their loved ones yet you
never hear their voice in complaint, you never feel the almost arthritic
pain in their back or the ache in their heart from the loneliness of their
work, you never see the weariness on their face - feel the fatigue in
their mind or the burning of their eyes from over work. What could subject
someone to all of this and to top it off their industry hasn’t had a pay
raise in decades. As far as I know not even a cost of living raise. It
just gets split into smaller pieces with these hero’s getting an ever
shrinking piece of the pie as costs spiral out of control and forces them
to work for the fat-cat large companies alongside of the hooligans and
criminals that are tarnishing their good name.
If you would for a moment, step out of your comfort zone and
into the real world where you fight for survival, and look at these
people, these hero’s that take their life in their hands every day simply
by doing their job.
If you have not yet ascertained who I’m speaking of it is the
Truck Driver. The one whose home is no bigger than a small closet. The one
that is at the mercy of so many things such as the elements, the price
gouging merchant that knows he can’t go anywhere else to get his supplies,
the criminals that try to steal his freight or his home or his money, the
women that try to infect him with disease and poison his soul in every
truck stop across this country, or maybe it’s simply you and me the
consumer that complains about paying that one extra penny on an item at
the store so he can make a decent living and not have to work for that
large company that is so disgusting.
BUT KNOW THIS - 99.9% of everything you own they have brought
to you in some form or another.
Even when we went to war they took the armaments, the supplies
required by our soldiers, the fuel, and yes even the ammunition and
explosives to the ships, planes, and trains headed for the battlefield.
When our nuclear waste needs to be transported for disposal
they move it.
When the military moves missiles they move it.
When you go to Wal-Mart and buy a simple little clothes pin to
hang up your wet clothes to dry, remember, a truck delivered it to the
store.
We never seem to think about how it got there.
The only time we think of Truck Drivers anymore is when there
is a wreck and when that happens the constitution is thrown out the
window. In the insurance companies eyes the truck driver is automatically
guilty. They pay people not to go to court with them. No matter the
situation or what will come out in court, they just pay off the party
involved. Thus the drivers insurance goes up. They are guilty until proven
innocent and never get the chance to be proven innocent. They just have to
pay out more in premiums because someone wanted to sue the insurance
company. Whether they are right or wrong doesn’t matter.
I guess what this is all building to is this. I think it’s
time that the Truck Driver got the credit he deserved. He makes sure you
can get the things you heart desires at the stores and the things you need
to stay alive. Just imagine a time with no trucks. There would be a food
shortage along with an everything else shortage. You would remember how
badly he was needed every time you had to wipe your derrière and there was
no paper. (How do you think them trees get to the sawmill to be turned
into paper and then get to the market for you to buy?)
So if I might impose upon you for a moment, I want you all to
write to your congressman, senator, or even your president. Ask them why
they haven’t done something about the cost of being an independent truck
driver. Cause theirs is the next part of the American Dream to go. The
Family Farm is just about completely gone, and the independent trucker is
going to get the axe just like they did. The government lets the cost of
operation spiral so far out of control that the little guy is squeezed out
and can’t afford to operate. Then the corporations take control of the
industry and they say “Well, it creates jobs”. Only by forcing people to
go to work for someone else instead of working for themselves where they
could support their family and not have to live paycheck to paycheck
because the corporation is absorbing the profits from the industry. Of
course, the government will come in at the last possible minute, knowing
full well that it is too late to save the industry, but it looks like they
tried so no one will be mad at them and they loose their cushy jobs.
That’s been the plan all along, to eradicate the small biz and go
corporate. Our government has been supporting the large companies that
have been throwing all of that lobbying money around. Heaven knows the
small guys can’t afford to have their voice be heard. In conclusion, if we
loose the independent truck driver along with the family farm then we all
loose. If this goes unchecked it will eventually make its rounds through
every small business category in America. Then we all go to work for the
corporations and there is no longer an American Dream.
Thanks,
Rattler