Hey Folks,
This is my most ambitious post yet. It’s going to teach you three lessons.
1. You can be
entertained and informed without the use of multimedia. We always include pictures and usually web links with
our posts but not this time. We’re going
old school. A story. Words only.
2. You’re going to
realize that speaking your mind and following your dreams are what matter most
– even if it rubs others the wrong way sometimes.
3. Lastly, you’re
going to be amazed at the end of this absolutely true story. You’re going to find that the course of
events in your life can follow a path you would have never been able to predict.
With that said, let’s begin.
Back in March of 2014 I, along with a dozen or so other technicians
spread out throughout the country, reported to the gas company in Salt Lake City for the
summer gas line survey. The job kicked
off with a meeting at company headquarters.
A few of the guys and girls I knew, but most I didn’t. We all introduced ourselves to each other,
chatted about past jobs and war stories, and took roll call of sorts on where
everyone was parking their RV for the summer.
Most of us were staying at the KOA in Salt Lake which meant many of us would be calling the same campground home as well as working together.
One of the techs I did not know was a man by the name of Todd. He was new to the company, having worked in Texas for a few months before arriving in Salt Lake. I liked Todd from the start. Quiet at first, he soon came out of his shell
with me and as I got to know him I became familiar with his true personality. Todd’s the type of guy that tells it like it
is. He’s rubbed people the
wrong way but in my mind that’s a refreshing trait. You always know where you stand with a guy like
that – whether you like what he says or not.
As the week progressed we were given our maps for the
neighborhoods to survey and Todd’s assigned area was close to mine. We would meet each morning, along with
another tech, Don, at the local Walmart parking lot. There we would get our equipment ready for
the day and joke around before heading out.
About 2 weeks into the survey Todd said to Don and I that he
was going to quit the company. I was
quite surprised but he had his reasons and in his direct way of talking he told
us why. “I’m a big guy”, he said. “All this walking is just too much for my
knees and hips.” Todd IS a big guy but
in this day and age people don’t usually talk about it so freely. Not Todd.
He’d be the first to tell you because being blunt and honest went both
ways with him. He went on to say that he
wanted to change jobs. He had a line on
a job to haul new RVs from the factories in Elkhart, Indiana to dealers
all around the country. It was something
that really appealed to him. The
adventure of the open road and being his own boss.
He put in his notice and I wished him well. Only when I noticed a few days later that his
site at the KOA was empty did I realize I had failed to get his number or
E-mail address. Oh well, I’d get it from
the company. But, as is the case sometimes, acquaintances move on and aren’t heard
from again. I never did get his
number.
Time went on and all through the summer we surveyed the
neighborhoods of Salt
Lake. Life was good. Great weather. A good group of people. Before we knew it though September was approaching
and the job was winding down. We each
got our marching orders for winter. Some
made a stop in the Dakota’s before heading to Mississippi.
Some went directly to South Carolina or
Alabama. Don and I were both sent to Middle Tennessee
(1,600 miles from Salt Lake) to survey the rural countryside and small towns
east of Nashville.
Checking gas lines in the country is far different from
walking the sidewalk of a cookie cutter neighborhood. There are fields to walk through, fences to
climb and houses are few and far between.
You walk many miles in a day and see few people. That’s how it is in Middle Tennessee. One morning Don and I were surveying up a
long country road way out in the sticks -
deep into a Tennessee holler with very few houses but a gas line just
the same. We were both in Don’s Jeep
driving back to a house with a leak in the front yard that I had come across
earlier in the day. Typically you park
the vehicle somewhere and start walking. If you find anything you return with your equipment
to look into it further. That was the
case here.
We approached this little country house and parked in the
road in front of it. We’re talking a
lane and a half gravel road that leads to only a few houses. I hadn’t seen anyone come along for hours so,
in this instance, parking in the road was not unusual. This place was COUNTRY I’m tellin’ ya. Anyway, wouldn’t you know it. When I got out of the passenger side of the
Jeep here comes a FedEx delivery van, dust boiling behind it, slowing down for
the two clowns in the road. I was
standing in the ditch beside the road at the time so backed further away. Don proceeded to pull the Jeep forward and
into the yard of the house we were returning to.
I waved the driver by.
He didn’t move – just sat there. I couldn’t see him through the glare of the
windshield but heard him calling me over.
“Come here”, he yelled over the idling engine. My first thought was he wanted
directions. People do that all the
time. They see you wearing a bright
yellow high visibility vest and figure you’re in the know. I stepped back onto the road from the ditch,
passed in front of the van to the other side, and approached the driver.
It was Todd.
We stared at each other for what seemed like an hour but was
only a few seconds. “Kevin? Is that you?”
I was speechless but eventually came up with the answer – yes indeed it
was. Six months, 1,600 miles, an
essentially abandoned country road as far back in the boonies as you can get
and here was Todd. Right about now Don
is getting out of the Jeep and sees us talking.
He, for once in his life, was speechless.
It didn’t last long though.
A flood of questions ensued from all three of us. How, when, where? As it turns out Todd made a go of the RV
transport job but it didn’t work out financially. Heading back to Elkhart without a consistent return load was the problem. He traveled all over the place though and
thoroughly enjoyed himself. He and his
wife settled near Nashville
and he got a job with FedEx. He’s doing
well. I have his number now and E-mail
address. He’ll see this post when
everyone else does.
Think about this for a moment. The chances of something like this happening
are astronomical. Don and I are sent to Tennessee - the same area of the country, unbeknownst to us, Todd has relocated to. We just happen to be surveying in Todd’s
delivery territory – which is a huge area.
I happen to find an underground leak at a house earlier in the day and return back to
it just at the right time. We park in
the road instead of the yard, necessitating him to stop. The recipient of the package Todd is
delivering happens to order it at just the right time and delivery is scheduled
for that day. The timing, even down to
the stoplights Todd sat at through the morning, was perfect.
So, there you have it. As the title says, you really can't make this stuff up. I hope you enjoyed the story and take from it those three lessons. We’ll get back to our usual format of picture
stories on our next post. This coming
weekend we’ll be headed to Huntsville, Alabama for a visit with my daughters and granddaughter,
including a stop at the Space and Rocket
Center located
there. They actually have an RV park on
the premises. That, coupled with little
Anna Kate, will ensure lots of snapping of the shutter.
Maybe we’ll run into some old friends as well…….
Kevin
