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A Truckers Story
If this doesn’t light your fire…your wood is wet!
I try not to be biased, but I had my doubts about hiring Stevie. His placement counselor assured me that he would be a good, reliable busboy. But I had never had a mentally handicapped employee and wasn’t sure I wanted one. I wasn’t sure how my customers would react to Stevie.
He was short, a little dumpy with the smooth facial features and thick-tongued speech of Downs Syndrome. I wasn’t worried about most of my trucker customers because truckers don’t generally care who buses tables as long as the meatloaf platter is good and the pies are homemade.
The four-wheeler drivers were the ones who concerned me; the mouthy college kids traveling to school; the yuppie snobs who secretly polish their silverware with their napkins for fear of catching some dreaded ‘truck stop germ’ the pairs of white-shirted business men on expense accounts who think every truck stop waitress wants to be flirted with. I knew those people would be uncomfortable around Stevie so I closely watched him for the first few weeks.
I shouldn’t have worried. After the first week, Stevie had my staff wrapped around his stubby little finger, and within a month my truck regulars had adopted him as their official truck stop mascot.
After that, I really didn’t care what the rest of the customers thought of him. He was like a 21-year-old in blue jeans and Nikes, eager to laugh and eager to please, but fierce in his attention to his duties. Every salt and pepper shaker was exactly in its place, not a bread crumb or coffee spill was visible when Stevie got done with the table. Our only problem was persuading him to wait to clean a table until after the customers were finished. He would hover in the background, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, scanning the dining room until a table was empty. Then he would scurry to the empty table and carefully bus dishes and glasses onto his cart and meticulously wipe the table up with a practiced flourish of his rag.
If he thought a customer was watching, his brow would pucker with added concentration. He took pride in doing his job exactly right, and you had to love how hard he tried to please each and every person he met.
Over time, we learned that he lived with his mother, a widow who was disabled after repeated surgeries for cancer. They lived on their Social Security benefits in public housing two miles from the truck stop. Their social worker, who stopped to check on him every so often, admitted they had fallen between the cracks. Money was tight, and what I paid him was probably the difference between them being able to live together and Stevie being sent to a group home. That’s why the restaurant was a gloomy place that morning last August, the first morning in three years that Stevie missed work.
He was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester getting a new valve or something put in his heart. His social worker said that people with Downs Syndrome often have heart problems at an early age so this wasn’t unexpected, and there was a good chance he would come through the surgery in good shape and be back at work in a few months.
A ripple of excitement ran through the staff later that morning when word came that he was out of surgery, in recovery, and doing fine.
Frannie, the head waitress, let out a war whoop and did a little dance in the aisle when she heard the good news.
Belle Ringer, one of our regular trucker customers, stared at the sight of this 50-year-old grandmother of four doing a victory shimmy beside his table.
Frannie blushed, smoothed her apron and shot Belle Ringer a withering look.
He grinned. ‘OK, Frannie, what was that all about?’ he asked.
‘We just got word that Stevie is out of surgery and going to be okay.’
‘I was wondering where he was. I had a new joke to tell him. What was the surgery about?’
Frannie quickly told Belle Ringer and the other two drivers sitting at his booth about Stevie’s surgery, then sighed: ‘Yeah, I’m glad he is going to be OK,’ she said. ‘But I don’t know how he and his Mom are going to handle all the bills. From what I hear, they’re barely getting by as it is.’ Belle Ringer nodded thoughtfully, and Frannie hurried off to wait on the rest of her tables. Since I hadn’t had time to round up a busboy to replace Stevie and really didn’t want to replace him, the girls were busing their own tables that day until we decided what to do.
After the morning rush, Frannie walked into my office. She had a couple of paper napkins in her hand and a funny look on her face.
‘What’s up?’ I asked.
‘I didn’t get that table where Belle Ringer and his friends were sitting cleared off after they left, and Pony Pete and Tony Tipper were sitting there when I got back to clean it off,’ she said. ‘This was folded and tucked under a coffee cup.’
She handed the napkin to me, and three $20 bills fell onto my desk when I opened it. On the outside, in big, bold letters, was printed ‘Something for Stevie’.
‘Pony Pete asked me what that was all about,’ she said, ’so I told him about Stevie and his Mom and everything, and Pete looked at Tony and Tony looked at Pete, and they ended up giving me this.’ She handed me another paper napkin that had ‘Something For Stevie’ scrawled on its outside. Two $50 bills were tucked within its folds. Frannie looked at me with wet, shiny eyes, shook her head and said simply: ‘truckers.’
That was three months ago. Today is Thanksgiving, the first day Stevie is supposed to be back to work.
His placement worker said he’s been counting the days until the doctor said he could work, and it didn’t matter at all that it was a holiday. He called 10 times in the past week, making sure we knew he was coming, fearful that we had forgotten him or that his job was in jeopardy. I arranged to have his mother bring him to work. I then met them in the parking lot and invited them both to celebrate his day back.
Stevie was thinner and paler, but couldn’t stop grinning as he pushed through the doors and headed for the back room where his apron and busing cart were waiting.
‘Hold up there, Stevie, not so fast,’ I said. I took him and his mother by their arms. ‘Work can wait for a minute. To celebrate you coming back, breakfast for you and your mother is on me!’ I led them toward a large corner booth at the rear of the room.
I could feel and hear the rest of the staff following behind as we marched through the dining room. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw booth after booth of grinning truckers empty and join the procession. We stopped in front of the big table. Its surface was covered with coffee cups, saucers and dinner plates, all sitting slightly crooked on dozens of folded paper napkins. ‘First thing you have to do, Stevie, is clean up this mess,’ I said. I tried to sound stern.
Stevie looked at me, and then at his mother, then pulled out one of the napkins. It had ‘Something for Stevie’ printed on the outside. As he picked it up, two $10 bills fell onto the table.
Stevie stared at the money, then at all the napkins peeking from beneath the tableware, each with his name printed or scrawled on it. I turned to his mother. ‘There’s more than $10,000 in cash and checks on that table, all from truckers and trucking companies that heard about your problems. ‘Happy Thanksgiving,’
Well, it got real noisy about that time, with everybody hollering and shouting, and there were a few tears, as well.
But you know what’s funny? While everybody else was busy shaking hands and hugging each other, Stevie, with a big, big smile on his face, was busy clearing all the cups and dishes from the table.
Best worker I ever hired.
Plant a seed and watch it grow.
I had a dream last night that I was running through a field of daisies, just as free as I could be, with the wind blowing across my face tickling my eyelashes and the sun caressing my wrinkles, oh I mean skin. No pain at all in my leg and running like a dear with no limp. Boy, I felt so good when I woke up that I jumped out of bed, well, I tried to jump out of bed. Seems I had this big thing attached to my leg that quickly brought me back to reality when it hit the floor with a big thug. My first thought was oh quick, lay back down and get back into the dream! Didn’t work, my brain was up and it was already getting vibes from my leg that there is pain going on in that part of my body. Oh well, sure was fun while it lasted! One day, I am going to do that running through that field of daisies, anyone want to join me?
I am learning that you can do more things with your teeth than I thought possible!
I have also learned that doggie treats are NOT that desirable and asked my girls why they liked them so much. Didn’t get much of an answer just wagging tails waiting for their treat to go from my teeth to their tummies.
I have conquered heating some food up in the microwave and by using my teeth managed to get it from the microwave to the kitchen table, using those disposable plastic containers of course.Maybe I’ll get friskie and do some teeth exercises to build them up and try a plate later! Okay,okay,maybe NOT! Sure glad we have a small kitchen. I balked at that when we bought the house not knowing that one day I would be grateful for it!
This morning I heated up some left overs and put the container in my mouth to take to the table and whew baby I got them hot! Didn’t know your eyeballs could steam up like glasses!! I practically tossed that bad boy plastic container on the table! If it had hit the floor I was gonna tell the girls to go for it! It was some good eatin’ though once it cooled off!
Alan turns the TV on when he leaves sometimes and I have been watching this commercial about the new fully loaded nachos from Taco Bell. You seen it? The one where these guys buddy is being chased by a bull and they won’t help til they get an empty chip?
Well, I couldn’t take it anymore! I called Alan at work and said” YOU GOTTA STOP AT TACO BELL AND GET ME THOSE NACHOS!!!!!”
So at 11:30 that night we were chowing down on some fully loaded nachos, man they were so good! I’m sure because I was craving them so bad!
Well, my main man just got home so I’m gonna hang out with him.He’s been a true gem and I sure am thankful to have him!
It’s 6:00 in the morning!! What in the world am I doing up when I should be taking advantage of being in bed?!!!
Oh, yeah……I’m in need of drugs! My lower leg seems to have control of my life these days and I BETTER do what it tells me to do, mainly take more drugs! Kinda like that plant in the Steve Martin movie, was it Little Shop of Horrors or something like that, where it says “FEED ME!!”
These little brown bottles that have become my close friends both say in bold letters “TAKE WITH FOOD” so I have to not only make my leg happy, I must please my tummy too or it will growl at me and send nausea waves up my throat. Well, that sure messes up the pleasure of being able to go back to bed!
So, I have had a plethora of different early morning tummy fillers. This morning it’s probiotic yogurt, left over cheese straws from the baby shower and a few olives that Sandy left here. Oh,yeah and water. I’ve drank enough water to build a new lake outside in our back yard.
There are a few things I have learned about living with crutches.
It’s not good to put one crutch on a rug that slips real easy and the other crutch on the solid floor. That makes for an interesting move they might could incorporate on Dancing With The Stars!
It’s not good to take on the motto of the little train that could.
“I think I can” a few times has turned into “well, I thought I could”.
Things I could do on crutches when I was 22 yrs old….well, I have put on a few extra years and several extra pounds, enough said there!
It’s not good to lean the metal part of the crutches against the table, when they slide and hit the floor with a big calamity type bang, timid little dogs let out a squeal as they jump 2 feet in the air and you don’t see them for about an hour. Finally they come slowly back into your vision all crouched down.
Yesterday was a banner day in the Hunt household…”Gimp” had her first bowel movement since surgery and yes, Diane, it was soft thanks to your advice!! So, you don’t have to come out here and take care of any impacted junk! Thanks for the offer though, you’re so kind! 
UCK! Did I really have to include that part?
We also tackled a bath and it sure felt good to get in a tub full of nice hot water with bubbles! We laid a crutch across the tub and wrapped my leg in my patient’s belonging bag and propped it on the crutch. It worked real well. Alan washed my hair for me, you can imagine the entertainment that developed from that ordeal! Not sure who got the biggest kick out of it, me or him! Well, I am sure…he was laughing much harder when he poured a whole big cup of water on my face instead of my head. It was fun though.
He brought me home a dozen beautiful roses and was frustrated when he could not find a vase for the flowers so he got the pitcher to the blender and it makes quite a handsome vase of roses on top of the entertainment center! It has been an attraction of humor for visitors that have stopped by! I love it!
Is that the sun coming up? Oh, man, it’s time for me to go back to bed!!!
Every time I wrote the date 11-14, I thought of my Dad and how special he was to me and my siblings. Nov. 14 was his birthday. He died in June, 1986 at the young vibrant age of 56 from a massive heart attack, totally unexpected, totally catching us all off guard. I can say vibrant to describe him because he lived each day like it was his last and savored each moment he was alive and breathing. Maybe he knew something he never shared with the rest of us. He died coming back from a deep sea fishing trip with some of his best fishing buds. They had a blast on that trip. I can’t help but think he died content.
Thanksgiving Day, 1973, I was cruising down the road on a Harley Davidson Sportster with my boyfriend before indulging in a delicious turkey dinner his mother was preparing for the family. We left the house with smells of the festive holiday meal teasing our nostrils. We never made it to the dinner table that day. We were hit head on by a drunk driver, both suffering injuries, mine being the most severe. I broke my back and both my legs.
Thanksgiving Day, 1974, after my Mom cleaning my left leg up from wearing a cast for 10 months just a few weeks before, was looking forward to a more peaceful Thanksgiving that year. She unexpectedly died that Thanksgiving morning of a disease that took over her body and killed her in 2 days.
The next two Thanksgiving Days I had siblings in hospital Emergency Rooms with health issues.
I sit here now, just days before the big “bird day” with my post injured leg of years ago in a cast from surgery to try to mend stabbing arthritis that has made walking somewhat unbearable. My good Doctor tells us that he was pleased with the results of the surgery and feels I will be also once the next 3 months of healing is complete. I can’t wait!!
The leaves on the trees have been stunning these last few weeks here in the South and the weather perfect. I have soaked it all in as God’s gracious creation. It has been a tender reminder to me that He is always near us no matter the trials we may go through and have gone through in our life.
One of my favorite verses in God’s Living Word is James 1:2-4. It is my pleasure to share it with you.
“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have it’s perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” NAS
In all these trials me and my family have faced, just as most of you have faced your own trials, we can find peace knowing that our faith will be made stronger when we trust our Heavenly Father to pull us through the trials and create an endurance in our lives that that is given to us by our faith in Him.
November…a time of thanksgiving and I have much to be thankful for this year.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Psalm 118:24
A few things I’m so thankful for on this election day, regardless of the outcome:
*We live in a democracy where we have the right to a vote and a voice. We have the God-given responsibility to use both wisely and in the way that best reflects what God conveys through Scripture.
*God “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will” and “according to the plan.” Ephesians 1:11
*Not only does God work out everything in conformity with His will, He has promised to work out everything for the GOOD of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
*God sets up kings and deposes them and gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. Daniel 2:21
*We, the beautifully diverse family of God, are never – not at any time – powerless. Nor are we ever victims of a system. Believing prayer takes us through doors we’ll never be invited to enter and into judges chambers we’ll never grace. Take a look back at Genesis 18 once again with astonishment over the dialogue between God and His servant and friend, Abraham. Rejoice that God is ever mindful of a faithful remnant. The Judge of the Earth will always do right.
*Even if persecution should await believers in Christ or harrowing circumstances hound us, God will use hardship to bring unity and purity to a people who need it desperately. The best of circumstances do not always produce the best in the Bride of Christ.
*The living God is firmly established upon His Throne and there at His holy feet we can always find grace and mercy in our time of need.
*No matter what happens today, we are GOD’S elect. He has elected us to show His heart and to walk in His ways in the culture that surrounds us. We are called to walk in the challenging balance of grace and truth.
May we be filled with Christ’s Spirit today and our mouths given to praise and to believing, receiving prayer. God IS faithful and He has us firmly in His hand. We will not fear. We will not doubt. We will not hate.
“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders.” Deuteronomy 33:12
I remain your servant,
Beth
