On the Road Again 2015 #27

I like the Husky truck stop in Regina. There is a lot of activity both in terms of trucks and smaller vehicles using both the gas pumps and the restaurant. It is also a bit of a waypoint for hitchhikers. Every other time I have been there I have met a couple of folks either going east or west. It has been fun standing around at the exit, chatting, taking our turns. I have never had to wait very long.

I took the opportunity to use their bathroom and I bought a egg salad sandwich. The truck parking lot was full with a couple of "reefers" (refrigerated trucks) running as their drivers slept. I was reasonably sure that at some point in the next few hours - certainly before nightfall - that most of those trucks would be heading out. Logically at least some of them would be heading east. It would be great to get a thirteen hour drive.

Nineteen hours later I was still there. Still standing at the exit, showing my sign - with not one offer of a ride. I think a number of things happened to conspire against me. One is that there are now two exits from the truck parking lot - you can't be at both of them. Secondly, the whole Trans-Canada strip around the east end of Regina is a lot more built up than it was 10-12 years ago and it may be that trucks heading east don't stop at the Husky as much as they use to. They may have other places to get gas or to park their trucks. Thirdly, there were other hitchhikers around who were not playing by the rules. One was a guy older than me, small and sort of bent over. He had a very large wheeled suitcase. He was standing near the entrance to the store that the truckers use and asked everyone if they were going east - I wondered if he sort of turned off some of the drivers; there was also a young guy, with a large, somewhat disorganized pack who was walking around the truck parking lot asking for rides. I know that irritates drivers. Fourthly, a significant number of the trucks parked in the row closest to me, the ones that were there when I arrived, were still there nineteen hours later. I was told that most of them were there taking either their mandated 36 hour break or were waiting for their dispatchers to find them a load. Fifthly, the bright overhead light at the exit was not on... I think people could see me once it got dark, but perhaps not. And finally, while there was a lot of traffic - I suspect that many of the cars were all local. It may have been that the Husky's gas prices were just better than most, or that other gas stations closed earlier. But few of the cars appeared to be going any distance.

But it was not cold standing there. The sky looked reasonable clear and it was quite comfortable except for the incredible wind. I tried to keep my hat on -just so my hair didn't get any dirtier or messed up, but there were times when in spite of the fact that I had on my "chin string" I still needed to use one hand to clamp the hat down on my head else it would have blown away. At one point, after midnight when things slowed down, I got out my sleeping bag and slept for awhile ten or fifteen feet from the road. The grass was soft and by that point I was use to the noise of the constantly running diesel engines. I would have slept longer except it started to rain. I packed up my bag and ran to the covered entrance to the Husky. The older gentleman had disappeared somewhere and I spent the rest of the night sitting on the sidewalk, reading on my tablet.

As soon as it was daylight, I went back to my spot. It was no longer raining but it was just as windy. An  hour or so later, a young woman carrying a small pack came up to me and started talking. She was from Switzerland and had been in the general area all night. She had come from Ottawa the previous day.  Unknown to me there were other hitchhikers in the area who were also canvassing drivers or standing in other spots along the road. She told me that she/they had been told by the operators of the Husky that she/they was not allowed on their property. I suggested to her that they could not enforce that. That they were just employees and that furthermore that they didn't have the time or the energy to walk out to hassle us. I told her that she (as she was going west) was more than welcome to stand where I was. We talked a little bit, but within fifteen minutes a truck stopped, asked where she was going - she told them - and was offered a ride. I was more than a little bit put out. The truck - operated by a company that never picks up hitchhikers - already had two people in the cab. Many of the companies are now using the "team driving" system. That means that one driver drives , while the other one sleeps. It means that except for fuel and bathroom breaks - the trucks runs for 70 hours straight before there is an enforced break. It is against the law to have three people in a cab. The drivers were East Asian. For all kinds or reasons, but primarily because they are told that they will lose their jobs if they pick up anyone - they almost never pick up hitchhikers. She had got a ride for the simple fact that she was a young female. It didn't feel fair.

I was tired of standing there, so I picked up my pack and walked to the highway in the hopes that I could get a ride from someone, going anywhere east of Regina.

It is easy to get frustrated when truck after truck, car after car goes by, looks you over and decides not to offer a ride. Not only is there a temptation to give it all up, but even worse - one can become bitter, negative or even outright angry at those drivers. But if one is lucky, things happen that can reverse or negate those temptations. Three things happen during my nineteen hours in Regina which made the experience, in spite of the wind, the little bit of rain and the lack of rides a very positive one.

Just around dark, I noticed a car had stopped just before the exit. I could see the man rummaging around in the car and in his pockets. He then drove up to me, lowered the passenger side window and offered me a handful of change. He said he was not going out of town but he wanted to help.  I of course, refused the money, but I hope I did it graciously. He was a kind man who wanted to help. I would never want to discourage him from doing so. A few hours later a young East Asian truck driver walked up to me and asked where I was going. I told him and he said he would ask his "elder" (I assume he meant whoever was teaching him about truck driving) if they could give me a ride. I knew what the answer was going to be, but I thanked him anyways. I was very surprised when he came back five minutes later to say no, they were not allowed to. He then offered me a $10.00 bill! I tried to explain to him that I was standing there because I wanted to be there - not because I was broke. I am not sure if he understood. But again, a very kind man - an immigrant - trying to do the right thing. And finally I met an American truck driver who was stuck in the lot for 24 hours while his dispatcher looked for a load going west. He walked by me a number of times throughout the evening as he looked for places to eat or to drink. Every time he walked by, we chatted. He didn't understand why I wasn't getting a ride - he was worried about me. He offered me something to eat and money. There was at least once I think he got out of his truck, just to talk - to make sure that I was okay.

These three men all took the time to offer me help. They could not give me a ride, but they did their best. Yes - I was feeling tired, and feeling grubby, Yes I was frustrated that I could not get a ride. But people cared about me - were concerned for me. How could anyone ever be angry because one couldn't get a ride when there are others who, in spite of all of the sadness and chaos that exists - still  want to help a stranger? I am a lucky person. Perhaps I needed to spend the day in Regina to be reminded of that.