This week I had an interesting experience which doesn’t happen too often anymore. It took me back to the days of the past in my earlier career when drivers used to talk to one another.
Today, in our hustle and bustle world with all our technical gadgets, we don’t often look up to speak to a stranger any longer. While being out on the road, it was nice to meet new people and have chat times along the way. It seems today that our computers and smart phones have taken away some of the socialization which happened in the truck stops/travel centers. Today, if drivers are eating in the restaurants they are utilizing these modern conveniences to work or call home. They have their advantages for sure as we are better able to say connected while we’re away. However, the down side is that we don’t tend to communicate with one another too often.
On Monday, as I entered a travel center restaurant, I noticed there was only one man in the restaurant eating at the time. He looked up to me and said “if you don’t want to sit alone, you are welcome to sit and talk with me.” I walked over to him and replied “sure, I’ll sit and we can chat over our breakfast.” We talked about our trucking careers, family and our growing up years. An hour had flown by before I knew it. It was time for me leave, we shook hands and said our goodbye’s.
As I drove away, I began to reflect on my morning meeting this stranger. We will most likely never meet again, however it was nice to meet someone new. This reminded me of earlier in my career when drivers would often times sit together during meals and chat. In those days, drivers made lifelong friendships over the road. Meeting new people and developing a social network over the road was important as it can get lonely out on the road.
I plan on taking this drivers lead and inviting someone I don’t know to sit with me sometime soon.