"Git 'er done, son"

Why write about certain things, and thus not others? And why should I imagine that this or that story or subject will appeal to anyone? Well, I have to keep asking the questions, it feels good to know that people do read what is written here. Community is extremely important to me, and the people of my community are critical. Some are more interesting than others, and some that have captured my interest are hardly people who are generally attractive to others, for example a long haul truck driver.

Tom would show up in the garage of a neighbor, they enjoyed drinking and telling stories; the neighbor sometimes drove truck for the other man, and a times helped him with mechanical problems. Both had considerable experience in trucking, all weather, long distances, lots of stories, of course. But the story which really got a hold of me was the trip that Tom took as a passenger with his trucker father, Don, which included many miles on the West Coast.

It was late one night, the day had been long in miles and Don was extremely tired. It seemed they would have to stop, but there were many miles to go. Don looked over at his young teenage son and made a decision, it was time for him to take the wheel. We are talking about a truck that would be considered an antique by now, one which not only had eighteen gears (and, of course, no automatic transmission), and took considerable strength to steer, not to mention shift. "Git 'er done, son, was the advice as he stopped the truck and turned the wheel over to Tom.

Don's been retired for awhile, and my desire is to talk with him sometime about that night when Tom took over for him continues. His was a considerable act of faith, to say the least. And presumably Tom did not miss a shift or disappoint his Father. With today's laws, trucking regulations, insurance restrictions, one wonders if Tom might turn the wheel and gear shift over to his son, if he had one (?). Perhaps we will have "Git 'er done, son" II one of these days.