Beech Tree News Network

My friend, Greg, is always moving stuff from point A to point B, usually on a trailer he pulls behind his pickup.  He rarely secures anything before he takes off on these trips.  His mantra is “It’ll ride.”  Sometimes, the stuff he’s hauling doesn’t get the memo and fails to ride the entire trip, choosing instead to become airborne and land on the road side or in someone’s yard.  I, personally, have witnessed him losing a mattress, a bar stool, and a load of some sort of metal pieces; but the thing is, there are hundreds of things he’s hauled that haven’t come off that trailer.  More times than not, his risks pay off.  My life would be so much easier if I could adopt the “It’ll ride” attitude, but I tend to be one of those people who secure everything before I go, both literally and metaphorically. 

When I was a kid, my sisters and my cousins and I would ride in the back of our uncle’s truck.  Riding unencumbered with the wind whipping through our hair gave us a sense of incredible freedom.  My uncle was like Greg.  He never tied us to the truck—although in my case, he probably should have—and not one of us ever became airborne and landed on the side of the road.  Heck, he probably never even looked back to make sure we were still there until we got to our destination.  Trust just comes easier to some people than others.  They see success, not imagine failure.  I think my trust gene developed glaucoma at an early age.

Any time I see random pieces of furniture strewn by the road side, I think to myself, “Greg must be moving.”  I saw a yellow shoe on top of a mailbox a couple of days ago, and I thought, “Looks like Greg lost a shoe.” (You know, I should probably mention that to him, although I can’t imagine him in a yellow shoe.)  I smile when I think these thoughts, and although I kid him about his losing stuff off of his trailer, I have tons of admiration for him and all of the stuff he makes happen while I’m busy worrying over and securing what’s behind me.

I did catch Greg looking back once, though.  It was recently while he was hauling some sort of jack with a long yellow handle over to New Image Car Care.  I was behind him in my car as he took a curve at a velocity that caused the jack to roll to the other side of the trailer, which caused the handle to protrude through the rails of the trailer and into on-coming traffic.  Quicker than you could say “Kyle Busch,” Greg whipped the truck and trailer right then left, which put the jack back in its original position.  He pulled into the parking lot of New Image like it was no big deal.  I guess that’s the key, knowing when to look back then keeping your cool when something goes amiss.

In the meantime, if you see any errant furniture or small mechanical devices on the side of the road, you know who to contact.