Murphy's World

Messing with Murphy’s mojo

I know this space is usually for venting about bad days (and goodness knows I’ve had plenty), but have you ever had a customer who went over and above to show his appreciation? Once, when I was picking up a load of hay in Roberts, MT, I met a rancher at the town grain elevator to get my empty weight. Before we headed out to his ranch and hay shed, he bought me lunch at the town cafe. A hot turkey sandwich, mashed potatoes and gravy, and boy it was good!
     Later, with my truck and trailer (a 53-foot dry van) parked at his ranch, I needed a clean change of clothes. When I mentioned this to him, he handed me his pickup truck keys, pointed out across a field where his house was, invited me to use his bathroom and be back in an hour. That hot shower sure was great!
           Another time, I delivered a load of ice cream sandwich wafers to Blue Bunny in Le Mars, IA. I had an open appointment and arrived at the plant at 1 a.m. The graveyard foreman directed me to a dock. While his crew unloaded my trailer, he showed me the company break room and instructed me to help myself to orange juice, milk and ice cream. What a treat that was!     

Dan S., Oregon

Dear Dan,
What are you trying to do, mess with our bad mojo? Repeat after me: “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” Of course, being Murphy, we prefer the enhanced version (V2.1): “Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way.”
     All kidding aside, it’s nice to hear that things occasionally go right for truckers. Call me crazy, but the fact is, there are plenty of wonderful people out there, and some of them happen to be customers like the two you ran into. A hot shower and a hot turkey sandwich, mashed potatoes and gravy in Montana topped with some O.J. and ice cream in Iowa? For free? From the customer? Are you kidding me? It don’t get any better than that.
     Unfortunately, we tend to forget all the good things that happen to us every day and focus on the one or two things that go wrong. However, before I get all soft and gooey, let’s remember that this column is called “Murphy’s World” for a reason. So while we thank Dan for reminding us that there’s still plenty of good stuff going on out there – even to truckers – don’t forget the other side of the coin: Ol’ Murph is out of a job if this stuff keeps up.

Regards,

Murphy and Lucky Dog