It's National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. Take the win.
Anytime anyone wants to celebrate your contributions, don't take it as an opportunity to air your grievances. Instead, enjoy the moment. You still have more than 50 weeks to not only justifiably moan and gripe, but also feel begrudged, betrayed, and underappreciated.
Besides, I am more than happy to do most of that moaning for you.
You are entitled to better working conditions and facilities. That includes cleaner rest areas, well-lit locations to stretch your legs, and more parking spaces. You deserve fewer regulations on you, more watchdogs with real teeth for the people who prey upon you, and a playing field not tilted toward those who legally take advantage of you.
There need to be more public service announcements that prioritize you. There should be commercial spots demanding better driving from the general motoring public when they're around you. Those spots, by the way, should be played during NFL games. Let's get the Ad Council on this. More of that and less angry entitlement directed your way from the very folks who obliviously enjoy all the things you bring to them. Some of these people need to find a good therapist, because it isn't your problem they suffer from semiochophobia.
I know you have got a list of stuff that our public servants need to knock off. So do I.
Let's give you a break when it comes to imposing higher mandatory insurance minimums. Let's put an end to the silly conversation about speed limiters. And can we please, for the love of all that is holy in the universe, not allow the insidious feeling of learned helplessness to take hold of the conversation around the issue of detention? It's a fixable problem that should never become an accepted reality. Detention is not, and should never be, death or taxes.
Speaking of taxes, let's all agree an end needs to come to the policy of "don't tax me, don't tax them, tax the truck around the bend." Penalizing the principal means of getting all our stuff by turning it into a piggy bank seems a tad counterproductive, does it not?
I could go on. I might go on. Give me a listen tomorrow or Friday on the Dave Nemo Show, and I'll throw a few more body checks on your behalf.
But as a gift to yourself, put aside the reality of the phrase I used earlier: learned helplessness. That is a particular condition when people accept a bad situation as the state of things and reconcile that nothing can be done about it. Life becomes a Bruce Hornsby song where that's just the way it is and this terrible thing will never change. If that is the case, the only thing left to do is work on your complaining skills. You are left crafting the "Po' Widdle Ol' Me" narrative. The answer to the awful question of, "Why bother?" becomes, "You shouldn't."
I'm sorry, did I say "you?" Forgive me. I know that isn't you. You see the world as a righteous place with the capacity for positive change. I meant the other guy. That driver coming around the bend. That guy is always complaining. Let's deal with him.
If you run into the guy who runs with learned helplessness as his copilot, stop him the moment he complains about National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. Don't let him get started how it's not enough, is lipstick on a pig, or an insidious plot to distract from all the things I have just written about.
Here's what you should tell him:
"What a great opportunity National Truck Driver Appreciation Week has given us, brother! When someone thanks us for all we do, tell them 'you're welcome,' and then tell them what they can do next. Anybody wants to really thank us can become a leading voice for common sense safety campaigns that focus on more flexible hours, better-appointed areas of rest, and more parking. Let people of goodwill know, if they're serious about helping truckers, they can use their influence at work to accelerate departure times from their docks, so drivers are able to slow it down on the road. Thank the diner owners for the free meal, and then ask them to use their influence with their local politicos to help truckers lift burdensome regulations and not to tax and fee owner-operators into oblivion."
Having told them that. Here is something else you can tell that driver. But I want you to tell it to yourself as well, because you deserve this.
Take a moment to reflect on all the wonderful things you've accomplished behind the wheel of your truck. And appreciate yourself. Because I know a whole lot of other people in this country do as well. Focus on them. We spend too much time looking for affirmation where it isn't. Take the win right in front of you.
There are millions of Americans who do appreciate the goods and services that allow them to enjoy the highest standard of living in the world. That standard allows them to do the stuff they love with the people they love. Don't think for a moment they don't know exactly how they got it. You made that happen. If you need a voice, a helping hand, or just an attaboy, ask for one. You won't be asking a favor, since they know they owe you.
I know this, because I am one of them. Enjoy the rest of the week.
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