Anyone who has travelled highways in the USA has undoubtedly seen this (or some version of it) on the side of the road, at rest stops, in parking lots and anywhere else a trucker might have passed though. I’m disgusted every time I see one of these trucker piss bottles littering our great country. It didn’t used to be this way. What happened? This one was in a parking lot next to McDonalds this morning. I took a picture of it as I was walking Tigger.
It seems that truckers are too lazy to put these piss bottles in the trash. I have no problem with truckers pissing in bottles and throwing it in the trash (even though that’s pretty wrong, considering they aren’t recycling the plastic and they’re creating a biohazard in the landfills) but when they just throw the bottles anywhere… that’s when I get pissed.
The last time I had the RV washed, I was talking with an owner/operator truck driver about this and he had some strong words to say about his fellow truck drivers.
He said that truckers used to be “the white knights of the highway” but now everyone hates them. I agreed. Remember the movies and TV shows glorifying trucking and drivers back in the 1970’s and 80’s? BJ and the Bear, Convoy the movie and I’m sure many others? We all had CBs back then and as kids would pull our arms whenever we saw a trucker… hoping he’d blow his air horn.
America loved the truck driver. Now we sort of despise them.
They’re generally rude, dirty, drive like a-holes, throw their trash and piss bottles out their windows wherever they feel like it and their trucks contribute big-time to our worsening air quality.
Another reason to dislike truckers… if you live anywhere near a hill on a truck route (like Herman and I do), you despise truckers for their loud jake brakes.
I would love to see a nationwide advertising campaign aimed at truckers specifically about not littering. It’s just common sense but somehow they don’t get it. America can start appreciating the trucker instead of looking at him with disgust if truckers would just stop littering. It’s pretty simple. Throw the litter out when you fuel up.
Do you all remember the crying Indian littering TV commercials back in the 1970’s? Sadly, that’s what we need now… but aimed at truckers. They’re really ruining the scenery on our nations highways. If you don’t believe me or think I am exaggerating, google the subject or go take a ride on a highway and count the piss bottles.
Like everything in life, a minority ruin it for the majority. Not all truckers have un-muffled exhausts, throw their trash and piss bottles out the window and drive like maniacs. But, those that do, make ALL TRUCKERS look bad.
Crying Indian trivia: Iron Eyes Cody was of Italian ancestry. He was once seen throwing a piss bottle from the passenger window of a tractor-trailer. It made him cry, though.
ReplyDeleteLOL I read that he was Itialian. I hope you're joking about him littering?
ReplyDeleteWell said!
ReplyDeleteMy Uncle Tom (real name) was a truck driver his whole life. I went with him on a long haul one summer. I think I was 11. Back then, those guys were professionals, a tight community coast-to-coast. It was a completely different world than it is now. Uncle Tom is definitely crying, probably rolling over in his grave.
ReplyDeleteDon - what did you think of the Hill Country? Did you take the route I emailed to you?