Fuel for Thought

Dine and Dry?

Most drivers know about the truck stop lunch counter. Some love it and some avoid it at all costs. Over the years it has become known as a place to not only get a bite to eat, but also to get a heaping helping of embellished stories with a side of outlandish claims and all of it peppered with “hold my beer” tales and a tall glass of bragging about climbing this mountain or having the superior truck.

Then 2020 happened. COVID closed the truck stop counters. Drivers were forced to find other places to sit, eat and tell stories. 

It seems that the only sanctuary for these drivers is the laundry rooms in the truck stops. The laundry rooms had always been a gathering place of sorts, it takes time for the machines to finish and those waiting would strike up conversations. Since all the gathering areas like the TV room, game room, fitness rooms, dining rooms, etc. have been closed, drivers have found the only place left - the laundry room.

Now it has become common to find it as a makeshift dining area. The tables and counters for folding apparently can serve as a lunch counter. 

I didn’t want to bring this up, as drivers who have not found it to use for dining might now consider it too. I bring it up because trying to fold clean laundry on counters where spilled food and drink are left behind is becoming a problem. I know drivers want to sit somewhere when they are not sitting in their trucks (I never have figured that one out), but find a different place to eat or clean up after yourself. If you are a driver, then you should have a CDL. Therefore you must be of adult age. Act like one and clean up after yourself. No one wants to fold clean laundry on spilled ketchup, chicken bones or dropped french fries. 

The lunch counter talk in the laundry room is somewhat expected, but it is a room for cleaning clothes not dining and leaving a mess. Your waitress does not work in the laundry room and neither does the busboy.

See you down the road,

Greg