There are a lot of people in the transportation industry, some are more involved than others. There are the truckers, the shippers, the companies, but I think sometimes we forget to thank the people that clean up after us on a daily basis. The janitors and custodial staff of truck stop and rest areas.
One cold and windy afternoon we were taking a break at a rest area up in the mountains of Oregon. I was on walk with my son and I had the opportunity to speak with the rest area attendant as he was shoveling gravel.
"What are you up to?"
"I'm finishing up a new temporary room to house the rest area staff during the winter. It gets so damn cold every year. We mostly end up huddled in cars in the parking lot trying to keep warm during out shift. It will be nice to keep warm and have a hot drink."
"I imagine that will be nice. I can't imagine being outside in the snow all day especially up here in the mountains. I love the rest areas up here in Oregon, they are very well maintained."
"yeah, we do try."
"What happened to your arm?"
"I used to work out on the farms and I got it stuck in a corn husker."
"That must have hurt."
"Not really, shock cut in pretty quickly and I woke up with my arm gone. It itches like hell sometimes though."
"What brought you to this line of work?"
"I didn't have a lot of options. The farming industry won't hire amputees so this was all I could get. It's not bad though. Very relaxing except for winter and whenever there's problems with the rest area."
"Do the truckers give you much trouble?"
"Not really. If there is any trouble it's hard to tell the difference between the car people and the truckers. Most of the time it's a bit of both."
So, remember this winter that a lot of these hard working people are out there cleaning up after us. Thank them if you see them and let them know they are appreciated!
One cold and windy afternoon we were taking a break at a rest area up in the mountains of Oregon. I was on walk with my son and I had the opportunity to speak with the rest area attendant as he was shoveling gravel.
"What are you up to?"
"I'm finishing up a new temporary room to house the rest area staff during the winter. It gets so damn cold every year. We mostly end up huddled in cars in the parking lot trying to keep warm during out shift. It will be nice to keep warm and have a hot drink."
"I imagine that will be nice. I can't imagine being outside in the snow all day especially up here in the mountains. I love the rest areas up here in Oregon, they are very well maintained."
"yeah, we do try."
"What happened to your arm?"
"I used to work out on the farms and I got it stuck in a corn husker."
"That must have hurt."
"Not really, shock cut in pretty quickly and I woke up with my arm gone. It itches like hell sometimes though."
"What brought you to this line of work?"
"I didn't have a lot of options. The farming industry won't hire amputees so this was all I could get. It's not bad though. Very relaxing except for winter and whenever there's problems with the rest area."
"Do the truckers give you much trouble?"
"Not really. If there is any trouble it's hard to tell the difference between the car people and the truckers. Most of the time it's a bit of both."
So, remember this winter that a lot of these hard working people are out there cleaning up after us. Thank them if you see them and let them know they are appreciated!