Back to the original question...
Except in the case of nihilists, we, as people tend to believe that we're here as part of some sort of destiny or calling. We're taught as kids that we're special from everyone else in some way, religions teach us that mankind is put on this earth to have a special place and calling and have dominion over animals, we're taught that we're hot ####, basically.
So, what happens when people find themselves not living up to those expectations? They feel inadequate, they feel insecure. So, they feel a need to compensate. Stories of past grandeur, heroics in the military, anything that'll get them a level of attention to make them feel important. Because, after all, if you've spent the day just driving, and you're surrounded by others who've had a similarly mundane day, well, there isn't really much to talk about there, and they're faced with the realization of, "Hey.. wait... I'm not all that significant, I'm not all that interesting... but that's not how it's supposed to be.. I'm special... I've been told that my entire life to the point where I believe it, so how are the cards not stacking up?". That sort of thing makes people panic, and perhaps they figure that superficial stories they make up in the hopes that somebody will believe their ######## will somehow compensate for their mundane and uninteresting existence. The stories of falsified military valor are a slight against those of us who've been there, but those of us who've legitimately been have, on more than one occasion, overstated what they were, as well... the guy who was a Motor Transport Operator over there (and if you had that MOS in the sandbox, you really DON'T need to embellish anything) is a Ranger when he's sitting at the truck stop counter... the Bradley crew member becomes a Delta Force operator (and ends up driving for the lowest paid entry level carrier when they get out instead of making significantly more working for a PMC), etc. Maybe it's inadequacy felt over what we were told the mission was and what it turned out to be, or maybe because Iraq didn't end up becoming the land of sunshine and happiness we thought it would be after the invasion... personally, I wish I did believe that our reasons for being there were noble than what I believe them to be, and I wish like I felt like the people I deployed with who didn't make it back made a sacrifice for something as noble as what I wished the mission was, but I just don't believe that, and you can go into shark attack mode over that statement if you wish, but it's not going to sway me or change my thoughts on the matter, and I'm especially not going to pay it much mind from people who either were never there or who never left the FOB.
And I think a lot of the same holds true in trucking... we see all these, "truckers move America", "if you have it, a trucker brought it", etc. slogans which make the trucking industry seem like some sort of noble calling... you're not sitting on your ### all day, you're moving America! And, yes, there is truth to it - I won't deny that - but, at the same time, you get into it, you see so many people getting into it as a desperate last resort, you see that it's nothing like these romanticized movies from the 70s, you get to understand the conditions you're working under... you won't find any shortage of people put off by it. And so perhaps there's a psychological need to compensate for it... it's much more appealing for one to think of themselves as a ROAD WARRIOR - A REGULAR KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY EMBRACING ALL THE OPEN ROAD HAS TO OFFER than as a run-of-the-mill, expendable, easily replaced employee of a big box company. When you think about it in the latter sense, it doesn't really do much to make it seem like it's worthwhile, and nobody wants to be left feeling that way after everything they put into it.
So, you make it out to be more than it is. You talk about being a Navy SEAL, and how trucking is so great that you chose that over all the other job prospects such a background would have to offer. And you believe that others believe what you're saying because they don't shut you down right away, not realizing that the reason they don't isn't because they actually do believe you, but because they've heard it all before and have simply grown tired of it. But, hey, if they can pretend to believe you're an ex-SEAL making so much money as a lease op for C.R. England, you can pretend to believe they gave up the life of a rock star to go drive a truck. It's the circle of life. Or circle of ########, rather.
Why do truckers tell stories?
Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by RogerThat72, Feb 27, 2014.
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Hey, cool it with bad mouthing the yellow cake! I happen to like it! Particularly if it has chocolate icing on it, and a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream along with it!
Bet you thought passing a kidney stone was painful, until you passed that Ferrari!
BS-ers come in all shapes, sizes and jobs. I remember clear back in 5th grade, we had a very young teacher that was always telling war stories about when he was in the marines. And the navy. And the army. And the air force. He was the laughing stock of the fifth graders, and I'm sure of the rest of the staff as well.realsupatrucka and Mr Ed Thank this. -
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