Murphy's World

Somewhere over the rainbow, things still go wrong

Dear Murphy,

It was my very first solo trip. I had driven the same route with a trainer, but driving by yourself is a world of difference. That was the night I learned to READ SIGNS. The directions said to take 29 South, so I came upon 29 South and got off. I went about a block before I realized I wasn't in Kansas anymore.
     Nothing looked right (because I was on 29 Business). So I decided to turn back by going around the block. I turned right. Turned right…right into a cul-de-sac. Damn!
     I had to blindside out of a residential neighborhood with parked cars everywhere at 2 a.m., at a point in my career when I could barely hit a dock straight, let alone blindside out of a tight mess like that.  I must have climbed out of that truck a thousand times that night.
     Silvan
     Radford, VA

Dear Silvan,
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my, what tangled webs we weave when we wander off the beaten path. If they had yellow brick roads to follow in Murphy’s World, then over-the-road professionals wouldn’t have to bother about reading signs. We wouldn’t have to bother with lousy, stinkin’ directions from dispatchers, either. Wouldn’t that be nice?
     Somewhere over the rainbow, there might be such a place, but don’t count on it happening any time soon in this little slice of the surreal life we call Murphy’s World. Out here, every turn is a potential trap for truck drivers, and seemingly innocent-looking residential neighborhoods are booby-trapped with cul-de-sacs.
     You’re right, Silvan. You’re not in Kansas anymore. As long as you’re driving a truck for a living, you’re in Murphy’s World, and we don’t need to tell you all the things that can and will go wrong in our house.
     The day when everything goes right in Murphy’s World will be the day that pigs (and monkeys) fly.

Regards,

Murphy and Lucky Dog