Well, it’s one of his sources of income. His other? Don’t worry, it’s legal.
For the sake of remaining anonymous, I’ll just say that he’s a well-educated professional too -- all the more reason that his trucking intrigues and fascinates me. He truly loves driving.
He tells me anecdotes about the time he spends on the road. His stories are always interesting or amusing. At times I crack up with laughter.
He’s on the road for a few weeks right now. I spoke with him this morning.
He was telling me how he …
“… decided to pull into an IHOP parking lot to get a cup of coffee. I was glad to see the parking lot was okay for me to pull the truck into because it’s always easier getting in to park versus getting out.
There weren’t that many people in the IHOP. After a few minutes one of the servers approached me, “Hi. Table for one?”
I said, “No. But, thank you. Can you tell me what kind of a cup you use for a cup of to-go coffee?”
Side bar: My boyfriend hates Styrofoam – cups, plates, whatever. He tells me that food just doesn’t taste right when it comes on Styrofoam.
My boyfriend continued …
… The server responded, “Ah, yeah, well, let me go and see.” He went into the kitchen.
Over a minute went by and he still hadn’t returned.
Then, the hostess came up to me and asked, “Can I help you?”
I answered her, “Well, maybe. I asked one of the servers what kind of cup you use for a to-go cup of coffee. I think he went into the kitchen to check.”
She said, “Okay. Let me see.”
As she walked towards the kitchen, several IHOP employees came through the kitchen doors and she stopped to talk to them. The server who approached me was among the group. There were five of them standing in a group, all wearing red shirts, discussing what seemed to be a pressing issue, as if I came in to tell them that I was about to bring in a party of 50 people for pancakes and waffles.
I stood there for a moment and the thought occurred to me, “Get out. Get out now while you can!” But, I really wanted another cup of coffee. So, I waited.
Eventually, they disbanded and went in various directions – to do what I’m not exactly sure.
A few more minutes – okay, maybe seconds – passed and the server walked up to me with a to-go cup of coffee. I smiled. Even though it was a small cup of coffee it was a paper cup.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome,” he replied and added, “That’ll be $2.80.”
I thought, “Almost $3 for a small cup of coffee? Yikes!” However, I was already too far down this rabbit hole. So, I decided to just give him the $3 and take the cup of coffee.”
… So, with his small cup of coffee in a paper cup, my boyfriend walked out of the IHOP, got into his truck and drove out of the parking lot onto his next destination.
