The Boogey Man Virus

Being on a dedicated account, I oftentimes go to repeat customers. Some of them I go to enough that they know me by name. Everybody has new procedures and protocols in place now to accommodate this whole "social distancing" experiment.


One of my customers had a sign up telling us to un-tarp and un-strap after driving into the building, and then lay our paperwork on the bed of the trailer. They would then unload it, sign the bills, and leave it on the trailer. It said, "Do not get out of your cab until the fork lift driver signals you with three short beeps on his horn." Then we were allowed to get out and grab our paperwork!


At the Hydro plant in Cressona, PA I headed for the guard shack just like I've done for the past five and a half years, and I find the door is locked. The guard comes to the glass door and shouts through the glass for me to stand back eight feet and he will bring my bills out and set them on the table just outside the door. Then I have to wait until I hear him lock the door back before I can advance to the table and sign my bills! He then waits for me to leave before gathering them up.


I'm about sick of this "Boogey Man" altering our everyday behavior. Before the guard closed the door behind him, as he returned to his protective lair, he looked back at me saying, "Geesh Dale, whoever thought it would get to this? I feel like I'm playing a part in a science fiction movie." He is right - that's kind of how it feels. I feel like I'm re-living an episode of "The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers."


I seriously question this whole approach to battling a virus. It seems most healthy people can deal with it successfully. If more of us could be exposed, then more of us would develop anti-bodies. That seems to me the fastest way to eliminate the threat. Why can't we concentrate on protecting our senior citizens and other highly vulnerable people while the vast numbers of healthy people develop a natural resistance to this? Avoiding a virus doesn't eliminate it. Developing an active defense mechanism kills it.


What do I know about fighting the "Boogey Man?" Nothing! I'm just a dumb truck driver who still has some modicum of common sense.


Once we have a significant part of our population with effective anti-bodies we could harvest their blood plasma and give it to the vulnerable folks. OMG, that's just too simple isn't it!


I'm not scared of the "Boogey Man," but these nut jobs in D.C. are literally frightening.

I'm Hearing Voices!

I ran through the night last night and around 0400 I parked my rig at the Harrisonburg Travel Center in Harrisonburg, VA. After sleeping for about six hours I got out of the truck to check my load and take a walk. As I was putting my foot down to the bottom step on my tractor I clearly heard a nearby and cheerful female voice say, "Good morning!"

I looked to my right - nobody in sight. My truck's open door is blocking my view in the other direction. I climb on down and close the door expecting to see the source of this voice, and there's nobody. I'm puzzling over this now and not sure I want to move out into the open. Where did this voice come from, and why haven't they revealed themselves to me? I know I heard someone greet me - where are they?

I pause for a moment, tuck my shirt into my pants, and turn around facing the side of the reefer trailer attached to the truck that parked "nose in" next to me. I'm still bewildered as to where this voice is coming from, when I hear it again saying, "Don't let me startle you." At this point I just blurt out with, "You might as well give up on that. I'm always startled when invisible people start a conversation with me." I figured that would bring them out of hiding!

Then the phantom lady says, "I'm down here. I didn't want you to be surprised if you spotted me." So, I look down, and there she is. She's laying on the ground underneath the reefer! She's an owner/operator laying underneath her trailer repairing a leaking air line! I gave her a hand and was relieved to know that I wasn't "hearing voices."

It was funny to me. Just last week one of my son in laws asked me when I was going to retire. I told him, "When I start talking nonsense and soiling my pants, I believe I will go home and be as much trouble as I can to my kids!" Then all of a sudden I'm hearing voices in the truck stop parking lot. I thought, okay my time may be getting near. I'm happy and relieved to know I may have a few more years left in me to keep chasing that white line.

Keep trucking my friends, and just ignore those voices if you're hearing them.