This title theme draws back from my last employment, and an emergency deployment. The storm to prepare for was Hurricane Florence, set to hit the east coast between Virginia, and South Carolina. During a previous deployment I had bought a ten speed bicycle for convenience. Now concerning the Florence affair, our trucks were stationed in strategic supply points between the states. My first few days had me parked in Virginia, about 20 miles South of Washington D.C. I then got orders to set up camp down in North Carolina. The drivers’ rigs were aligned in clusters, to where we could be called upon to run their load of fuel when needed, and as there were a group of us, we could stagger our times off to take care of personal matters. Being an old Boy Scout in nature, I went by the motto “Be prepared,” and even though I had a small refrigerator in the truck cab, it still needed to be replenished. I had taken the bike and rode a few miles to the closest town that had electricity, and found a pharmacy and food store that I could restock from. The next problem I had, came up as soon as I reached for a shopping cart. How am I going to get these supplies from here, back to the rig? I first headed to the aisle that had school supplies looking for a suitable backpack. All that was left in stock was a pretty pink girls backpack, (I think it had a unicorn and flowers on it). I said to myself “No Way,” but then need trumped emotion! I soon remembered a seasoned sergeant back at Fort Bragg giving me a retained life lesson in three words. “Never say Never” was all he said. Twenty minutes later, the people in that area were treated to the sight of an old trucker with a fuel man “Hi-Viz” uniform on, complete with a pretty pink backpack riding a bike!
Now, most people will say, “I will never eat that, or do that, or say this or that.” When the going gets tough, the tough may be found in the most unusual places. Just look for the person that looks the most out of place for the circumstances.
(He just might be wearing a pretty pink backpack!)
