Fellow Human

by American Trucker
(Ohio)

Proud

Dear Fellow Human,

You think we're horrible people because we drive big trucks and there are accidents on occasion. What you didn't read is who was at fault when the car cut me off and then slammed on their brakes, not realizing I can't stop in one foot.

What you didn't see is the drunk driver turning head on into me, and me trying to ditch it (that is, slam the truck into the ditch) before he hit me. You didn't see the person spin out on an icy road right in front of me while I had nowhere to go.

I got out though, and I cut him out of his seat belt, and pulled him to safety right before his car caught fire. I stayed there with him until the ambulance came and took them to the hospital.

You hear 18 wheels, you think 18 brakes. I hear 80,000 pounds, I think a couple football fields are needed to brake.

You think I'm a womanizer due to certain movies. You didn't see me call my wife and spend the whole night between when I stopped my truck to when I went to sleep talking to her.

You didn't see me stop and ask my fiancé and co-pilot to get out because a beaten woman was standing in the middle of a highway at 0100 to get away from her abuser and get help. My fiancé handled the situation, and got me to help when it got deep. She's a former beaten woman.

When I took her on she was bruised from head to toe, and it still makes me sick to remember how she looked like when we met. You missed me getting in between the gun of a jilted lover and his ex, having help from another driver to keep his car at bay so she would be safe.

You think we don't care about others. You missed Wishes on Wheels, where we make money for Make-A-Wish to grant wishes for children. You missed where I gave money to Trucking Santas, making sure needy children get toys.

You missed where I hopped on my motorcycle and did another toy run on top of that. You didn't see me peering through Truckers Against Pedophiles to ensure I knew the faces of fugitive pedophiles, or when I watched the educational video for Truckers Against Trafficking, to help save human trafficking victims.

You say I'm a drug addict. That I'm an alcoholic. You didn't see when I let the cops use my truck for drug stings, knowing that the issues need to be cleaned up. You didn't get a chance to see me call 911 when a 4 door sedan's driver was drunk and swerving all over the road.

You don't see the real me, yet you think you know the real me. I'm not saying there aren't bad people out here, I'm just saying that a vast majority of us are really good people.

Sincerely,
American Trucker
C.Smith