Tuesday, September 08, 2015

This Is Not 100% Natural Spring Water

This is pee.

Urine, piss, number one, liquid waste, piddle, pee-pee, tinkle, shi-shi, wee, wee-wee, maker of yellow snow.

A gallon's worth.

I took this picture at a truck stop in Wytheville, Virginia. We backed into our spot and this gallon of pee was on the ground behind the trailer of the truck parked next to us. That doesn't mean it was his pee, but it was there.

It's disgusting. It was still there the next morning when I walked back to get this shot. The asphalt smelled like urine and I disinfected my flip-flops with Lysol before I got back into my truck.

I always wonder what kind of person leaves a pee bottle in a parking lot. Or, in this case, a pee gallon. I see bottles on the side of the road all the time.  Soda bottles, Gatorade bottles, full of yellow liquid, discarded in the grass on the side of the road. It's not even like these guys have a good aim, they can't even get the bottle in the woods, where it wouldn't be seen.

This is what makes truck drivers look like pigs. This is what makes the public think we're disgusting (well, not me, but the men). This is what gives the entire industry a bad name.

I saw this guy in Massachusetts peeing in the parking lot next to his truck. I didn't say anything - I should have - but what was most perplexing about his need to relieve himself, was that after he finished up, he walked right into the travel center.  He could have used the bathroom inside. But instead, he chose to pee between our trucks. He didn't even pretend like he wasn't doing it, like some guys do when the discreetly step between the truck and the trailer, pretending they're "checking" connections or something.  He just assumed a wide-legged stance, pulled out his junk, and drained his equipment.

Who does this? I mean, other than the guy in my photo, who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. What goes through their heads when they're peeing in public, or leaving a gallon of pee in the parking lot?  Or on the back of another driver's trailer. 


These drivers are doing this to us. To their fellow drivers. To others in their industry. And I will bet you a dollar that these people are the first to lament the injustices they face in our industry. How they're not treated with respect. How they're not allowed to use the restroom at a shipper or receiver. How they're not allowed to sleep in a customer's parking lot. This is the reason why.

Unfortunately, this industry still attracts people who can't, don't, or won't ever project professional behavior.  The people who do things like this have the mindset of an individual who doesn't have values - probably a combination of upbringing, education, and life experiences since our parents and the social environment around us determine how our values are formed.

I know when people become adults, they do what they want. Just like I do. But I learned as a kid that it's not right to pee in public. That you should wash your hands after you use the bathroom. That you say please and thank you. That you open the door for others, especially the elderly. I know humans aren't perfect, but you don't have to be perfect to know that peeing in public, throwing pee bottles out the window, and leaving gallons of human waste in parking lots is wrong.

These people show no respect for their fellow drivera, for RVers who may be parking in the rest areas, for families traveling with children. No respect for others at all.

If you're one of these people, get your shit together and dispose of your garbage properly. And if you just can't bring yourself to not litter, at least pour your pee out in the bushes before you leave the gallon on the side of the road or the back of someone else's trailer.


And if I ever catch you, I'm not only going to say something, I'm going to blow the air horn until every head in the truck stop turns in your direction.

Think twice before you piss on my world.




~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2014: Rain Day Delay
2013: That Sunday, That Summer
2012: Heading To The Mountains
2011: End Of Summer Rainbow
2010: UGG, What A Surprise!
2009: Under The El
2008: We Escaped With Our Teeth Intact
2007: Praying In The Jewel Of The South For Over 250 Years
2006: Drive Time Champion
2005: Yukon Bet We’re Far Away

3 comments:

Juli said...

Love this well said!

Ed said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ed said...

Using rubber gloves I poured this bottle into the nearby grass and then threw the empty bottle into a dumpster. This was clearly left by a trucker, however I've been parked in shopping areas where I've left the truck only to come back to a cup of pee that someone has left under one of my tires. The cameras on the truck help in this situation, but I'm not wasting the police department's time to complain about someone leaving a cup of urine near my truck. This is disgusting, it's unfortunate, and as Salena has said, it's a fellow trucker doing this to us .