Niece Rule

Roughly 93% of over the road truckers are male. It gets easy to act as if there were anly men out here. We shouldn't. The other 7% deserve to be treated respectfully. Almost every female trucker that I have met over the years has been as capable as their male counterparts. It goes beyond that. They also have the ability to put up with our baloney. They shouldn't have to. Unfortunately, men my age did not have "awareness" classes that taught us to treat women with respect.

I have become more senstive since the "face licking" incident. While working at a show, I helped a woman with a computer issue. She thanked me. Then she asked if she could give me a hug. I said OK. As she leaned forward she licked my face. It was gross. I immediately left the area to wash my face. What was that woman thinking? Did she think that I would like it? I didn't. It has changed the way that I interact with people at truck shows.

Since becoming a team run smart pro, I have had the opportunity to work with more women. They can be drivers, owners, engineers, or executives. Their position really shouldn't matter. I prefer a good old fashioned handshake. It might be generational. I don't know. Truthfully, I was a little taken aback the first time one of them greeted me with a hug. I really was unsure how to react.

I reflected. My tendency with everything is to over analyze. The more I thought about it, I decided on a simple guideline. Treat them the way that I treat my nieces. Rox and I have been blessed with 9 intelligent, beautiful and wonderful nieces. I may be slightly biased. They are all adults now. We had the privilege of watching them grow. Each niece is different. Some of them hug us as soon as they see us. Others seem to like to banter back and forth. Doesn't matter. I simply interact with them the way that they interact with me.

It isn't complicated. Treat women with respect. As a matter of fact just treat everyone with respect. That makes life less complicated.