Coronavirus 2020 -from a Trucker's Wife's Perspective

I would assume most people are sick of the C word by now so I've debated whether I should even add my 2 cents. But this is a different perspective than what you see in the media... maybe it's actually less about a virus and more about a trip I took this week, disguised behind a trendy title... 

So it's a bucket list item of mine to visit all 50 states in my lifetime. When a business trip to Mississippi came up, just when I was trying to fit riding along with my hubby into my schedule anyway, I jumped for the chance to cross another state off my list.

I now have just 4 states left to visit- North Dakota, Louisiana, Hawaii, and Alaska. 

I maintain that everyone should ride in a semi at least once annually; it just gives you a whole different perspective on sharing the road with those big rigs. Granted there are a few unprofessional drivers out there, but most of them are highly professional and there is a "method to their madness".  Try to remember that the next time you get stuck behind a semi that is slowing down on a hill. Have a little patience and unless you have a death wish, make sure you're not the jerk trying to zip around them on the right or merging right in front of them only to hit the brakes. But that's a subject for a different day.

The farther south we went the greener it got. We normally go to Louisville for the Mid-America Trucking Show the end of this month and it's always delightful to see green grass and the redbuds in full bloom when it's still chilly and brown at home, but the show was cancelled this year due to coronavirus. So being a little earlier in the month, KY was still in Narnia season, but somewhere around southern TN we arrived in spring. Yay!  Good news- they can cancel a lot of things, but they can't cancel spring!!

 So, what is it like traveling across the nation during a pandemic? We didn't run into a lot of difficulty. Slightly less traffic than normal. We saw signs like this in multiple states...

We found all the public restrooms to be cleaner than normal. I took this picture because I have never walked into a truck stop restroom that was decorated for the ladies. They are normally utilitarian only, so I was momentarily stunned when I opened the door of this one at a Petro. 

Fortunately we weren't going east. We heard PA shut down all their rest areas. Farewell, common sense, it's been nice knowing you! I get it that the intention was to discourage unnecessary travel, but pray tell how using port-a-johns is safer for the front-line road warriors who are out there making sure goods -like toilet paper and hand sanitizer- are getting delivered in a timely manner?! Someone didn't think that one through. It's my understanding that someone on the federal level applied pressure and PA reversed that decision since.

Personally it felt to me like there is no safer time to travel than right now, in terms of cleanliness of public spaces. By all means, obey local mandates for social distancing, but if you find it necessary to travel for some reason, there is no need to panic about picking up germs when the whole country is obsessively sanitizing.      

Finding food was not really an issue. Restaurants were open everywhere, but the vast majority of states were restricted to drive-thru and/or carryout only. Being in a semi, we couldn't do drive-thru, so we were a little more limited. From all appearances, restaurants are feeling the lost revenue and were not only willing, but eager to serve. One morning we walked across the street to a tiny doughnut shop with a walk-up window and enjoyed some of the best fresh [think soft as a cloud] doughnuts in MS. 

 Later that day we stopped by a little Mom & Pop gas station that had a small sign posted above the register about pulled pork for sale. Hand-written menu. Delightful southern accents that make you want to keep them talking just to hear it. Folks, this is a smoked rib sandwich! They de-bone the meat and stuff it in a bun, top it with BBQ sauce and slaw. You're just gonna have to take my word for it that it was to-die-for! 

And then there is Waffle House. The proverbial trucker's best friend. They like "never" close, even when the rest of the world is going crazy. They actually were doing dine-in service. No worries about social distancing... we were the only customers there most of the time. Our waitress was pretty sure she was going to die of bleach fumes before COVID-19 gets to her.   

We are hearing some truckers are being subjected to having their temperature taken and/or filling out a medical questionnaire at shippers and receivers, but we did not encounter any of that. It appeared to us that things were a bit more relaxed in the south eg. filling our coffee mug instead of requiring us to purchase a disposable cup. If you read anything in the news about regulations being lifted for truckers, that only applies to those hauling coronavirus-related items, so we have to work under the normal regulations & restrictions. We hauled a couple loads of lumber so we're not in the right lanes to "make a killing" on coronavirus, but we're just happy to still be earning income and not being quarentined at home.  

 Since we were not sick, we took the opportunity to visit friends in AL while we were passing through. He's a trucker as well, so they weren't afraid of us bringing germs their way. 

 Reading... and this... is what I do to pass the time while riding along on the truck.

As an introvert, I feel like I have been training for coronavirus my entire life. Social distancing is my jam, even when we're not experiencing a pandemic. I do feel a mild sympathy for the extroverts though.

Honestly, our lives really haven't changed much thus far. We are going about our business as usual. With the exception of not gathering at church temporarily, and our social calendar clearing. There haven't been any cases in our county yet. I go to town and buy my normal groceries once a week, like usual. I'm not afraid of dying and haven't seen any need to panic. Our daughter, working in retail, is probably affected the most; dealing with nervous people stockpiling food. The way I see it, it's very likely some folks will say afterwards that social distancing was all a hoax- we didn't die. While others are going to argue that it worked- we didn't die! But no matter what happens, our lives are in God's hands and I feel secure there.