Who's Riding Shotgun?

Delivering furniture can be hazardous. We have heard of drivers suffering back and elbow injuries, but this injury to a driver was new.

We were supposed to get a shipment to fill a special order last Tuesday the 4th. The driver called and said he would be late. He arrived yesterday the 11th and apologized a number of times. I told him everything was ok and asked what had happened. He said he had spent two days in the hospital. Seems somewhere in Utah, two men in their 30's jumped him in a truck stop, kicked him in the head and robbed him of his wallet, pictures of his kids, and $4!

The memory of his close call brought tears to his eyes and he apologized again. He said they kicked him in the head so hard both eyes were bleeding. I asked how he felt visiting a truck stop now and he said it scared him.

"Will you "pack" from now on?"
"It's against the law", he said, "to carry a weapon in a commercial vehicle."
I looked at the size of the lug nuts on the semi and suggested he carry a lug wrench with him. You can always say you were just checking the lug nuts.

Turns out the police caught the bandits with his wallet. That gets them 10 years. If there had been no robbery, just bodily injury, they might get 30 days.

Why am I spending so much time on this trucker you ask? I was struck by his tearing up, almost like post-traumatic stress syndrom. We have come a long way from the stage coach and men riding "shotgun".

Bev & Mike