Christmas on the road, Stereotypes

Such is the life of a trucker. I decided (willingly) to be on the road for Christmas. I did so in order to allow other drivers with spouses and kids to be home for that day, and so hopefully, I could have New Year's off to spend with my brother.

Alas, I'm stuck on the Kansas side of Kansas City, as my truck broke down. Ultimately, it's a simple fix, but one for which they didn't have the part necessary to repair. Which means I'm stuck here, until the part comes in. I'm hoping I can hit the road tomorrow, and possibly still make it home for the holiday.

As I've gotten older, Christmas has lost much of it's meaning for me. It felt like just another day to me, with the exception of less traffic on the road and an easier time to find parking at truck stops. It did also allow the chance for me to have a more-or-less proper Christmas dinner, which consisted of ham, turkey, roast beef, and all the trimmings, served from a buffet. Not bad, all things considered, since it was all-you-can-eat, and I can eat a large amount of ham & mashed potatoes.

Of course, this meant that I had no idea where I'd wake up on Christmas morning. I found myself in West Virginia, of all places. In my mind, I expected to see a nativity set up, with the three "wise men" (Bill O'Reilly, George "Dubya" Bush, and Dale Earnhart) surrounding the baby Jesus. But I saw none.

This made me think of some of the pre-conceived notions I had about other states going into this job. Not having traveled much outside of the western U.S. prior to taking this job, I didn't really know what to expect. Here are some of my thoughts:

West Virginia Full of backwoods hillbillies. Didn't really turn out to be true. However, I was surprised to find that they had TV there now. But I wasn't too surprised to find that they only have two channels: Fox News and wrasslin'.

Kansas Flat & boring as hell This one turned out to be true. Honestly, I don't understand why anyone would live here. The place sucks. The only thing the state has going for it is "The Wizard of Oz," and that was released nearly a century ago. I don't get why Dorothy wanted to get back here so bad; if I were surrounded by midgets and flying monkeys, I'd have a hard time leaving.

But I do now understand why Wyatt Earp left Dodge City for Tombstone. He was bored out of his mind.

Texas Everything's bigger in Texas More or less true. I saw some football scoreboards at high schools that were massive. The Big Texan Challenge offers a free 72oz steak. But the one thing I don't get is "The Lone Star State." I've seen the stars at night (big and bright), deep in the heart of Texas, and one thing's for sure: that claim is B.S. There's way more than one star in the sky.

Wyoming Well, as anyone who's driven I-80 across Wyoming knows, it's a barren wasteland. So is I-80 through Nevada, for that matter.

For now, that's enough...I suppose. I have more but will save them for a later time. My laundry's done, and I just bought the new "True Grit" on DVD and am looking forward to watching it, during a rare down time for me.