BUBBLE OF PROTECTION

When I stop and think about it, I have been somewhat in a “bubble of protection” the last three years. Most days, we don’t even know what day of the week it is. We get to be surrounded by great scenery, experience the change of seasons, and really, not have a lot of human contact. This is the polar opposite of my life before trucking. My life in law enforcement, for almost 30 years, was filled daily, if not hourly, by life altering situations. I saw the worst of what human nature is capable of doing, and rarely a glimpse of the acts of kindness people would like to do, but find their lives too busy to stop and actually do. Let’s face it, no one ever picked up the phone and called into 9-1-1 to say what a great day they were having and wished the same to us.

So imagine yesterday, after our unload in Mira Loma, CA and then spending the rest of the day at the company yard in Bloomington, ………yes……..wait for it…..…..waiting to pick up bananas in San Diego at the Port this morning, the dose of reality I got watching TV. There was talk of the family of 7 shot and killed, a small plane crash killing 2, the head on collision killing 2 that closed down a major Interstate in LA for 7 hours, not to mention, the police pursuits that they interrupt TV programs to broadcast in the event there is death and mayhem that they can air live.

I had forgotten just how much I was immune to all this while I had worked, accepting it as daily occurrences, and being surprised, and yes, even disappointed, when a day would go by without something dreadful happening. Being in my little “bubble of protection” I realized, has shielded me from what was routine in my previous work life, but it has also given me the opportunity to know what is really important in life. Do me a favor, before this day is over, make sure those important people around you know how much you love them………you just never know when that bubble might burst.