THAT'S A COOL FEELING!

Hey everyone!

I just remembered one of the threads I wanted to start.

Everyone's heard the phrase "That's a cool feeling!" Kind of like, "That'll leave a mark!" or "Awkward!" you know what I mean?

So, my idea for the thread is for people to share their experiences, whether negative or positive. That "cool feeling" moment, whether embarrassing or fulfilling!

Here's some of mine that gave me the idea:

1) I was driving along the highway when I saw a train running parallel. He was a good distance away, but not too far. Close enough I could see the engineer in the engine, but far enough away he looked like a silhouette. I raised my arm out the window and gave him a big wave. And he waved back! Man, I had a grin for a long time after that. Made me remember why I love trucking. That's a cool feeling!

2) Saw a blue truck coming the opposite direction. Gave them a big ol' wave. Realized they didn't drive for my company. "That's a cool feeling!"

3) Driving along, a 4-wheeler comes beside me and decides to use me for a wind shield. I can't help it. I get aggravated. I want to do something aggressive, but I'm a professional, so by giving extra effort to be the safe one is how I deal with these situations (usually). Well, I look over and snarl at the driver, who can't see me because he isn't paying attention, but in the back seat I notice a young girl pumping her fist at me, with the biggest smile! Man, I pulled that horn with enthusiasm I hadn't had since I finished my parallel park on my CDL test. The driver jumped and swerved in surprise, which I feel kind of bad about (kind of), but at least he kept control and didn't kill anyone. The girl and I had a big laugh. It was awesome. The driver sped on past me, a safe distance away. That's a cool feeling!

4) I was at a red light waiting for it to change, when I looked over at the car next to me and noticed a young woman texting on her phone. Shaking my head, I noticed a young boy in a baby seat in the back. Young enough he had a pacifier in his mouth. He was looking right at me. I waved at him, and his eyes got wide and he waved back. So I pulled a couple quick tugs on the air horn. Boy, that pacifier popped out of his mouth and he started pointing at me and letting his mom know excitedly (in babyspeak?) with a big ol' smile that truck driver just waved at him and honked his horn. Well, she dropped her phone when I hit the horn, and the light changed about the same time. That's a cool feeling!

5) I was driving along and saw a farmer working his field as I drove by. I gave him a wave. He waved back. That's a cool feeling. I feel like we're all in this together, doing our part to keep this great country great.

Share your stories!

Great topic idea. Will have to ponder it for a while

Hey Button Up, there is a place in Arkansas that I use to go by on a fairly regular basis when I was at Western Express. It was a storage building business, and there was a grown man (with Downs Syndrome) who would often be sitting outside watching the highway traffic and pumping his arm at any Big Rig going by. So one day I blew my horn at him and he started jumping up and down and doing a sort of a jig, or a happy dance! So, I would blow at him every time I was in his area and he loved it. Then after a few times of that he started recognizing me and would jump up and do the dance before I could even get my horn blowing! We had a fun relationship, even though we've never actually met each other. It was fun to provide him with such a simple pleasure in his life.

I was the hardees at Loves in Little Rock. Two truckers were talking aboutvwhere they came from and where they were headed. One mentioned that his Grandfatherbwas a WW2 vet and was in hospice with only days to hours to live. His company was sending him with home delivery but his truck broke down. When he ordered his food his card was declined and he said he didnt have cash. The guy was just broken. So i walked and asked him in honor of your you do for this country and what grandfather did for this country can i pay for your breakfast. When he thanked me he had tears streaming down his face. He said "I Dont know how to repay we will probably never meet up again. I told him Just tell your grandfather thankyou for serving our country amd we will be even.

Then after a few times of that he started recognizing me and would jump up and do the dance before I could even get my horn blowing!

That's a cool feeling! Made me smile!

I told him Just tell your grandfather thank you for serving our country and we will be even.

Awesome story!

So many disgruntled people would just look the other way.

I was having a rough Friday afternoon during training at the last company I worked for. My trainer that day even admitted, I wasn't getting enough practice on things and I was feeling pretty down. On the way back to the terminal , even the back roads were pretty crowded. A convertible full of a teenagers passed us on the right and pulled in front. Only seeing them from the corner of my eye, I missed the hand signals they had given us and I asked the trainer what was up. He said they wanted me to blow my air horn as they were pulling away. I asked him if it was cool to do so and he said, "Yeah, why not?" So I gave it 2 happy notes. The kids in the convertible went nuts, waving, whooping and hollering. The girls in the car were stoked because they could tell that a female was driving the truck, with my floppy bun bouncing above my head. They waved even more enthusiastically than the boys.

That was a cool feeling.

-mountain girl

The girls in the car were stoked because they could tell that a female was driving the truck, with my floppy bun bouncing above my head. They waved even more enthusiastically than the boys.

That was a cool feeling.

-mountain girl

Too cool! Thanks for sharing! Women rock!

Reading through the forum reminded me of a few more stories, although a couple aren't really related to trucking, one is about driving, but one is just too funny not to share!

1) I had finished training and was running team with another driver. One day we were at a Walmart DC, and I was pretty disgruntled. I was still struggling with efficiency in my trucking skill-set, and was feeling kind of down on myself, sitting in the hot cab. Another truck pulled up next to us, and I noticed the driver look at me, got a strange look on his face, then jumped out of his truck and came over and hopped up on the side of the truck to my window. "What now?" I was thinking to myself... After all, it had not been a smooth day, and due to my co-driver's attitude, they were making us wait longer than we probably should have. So I rolled the window down and the next thing I know, this guy is going off on me... about how I helped him in CDL school! He was so animated, thanking me profusely, for helping him on his approach to memorizing the 4-point brake check, and helping boost his confidence on the backing tests. Well, to be honest, I barely remembered him, and inside I was a little jealous, as I had watched him back into the dock a lot better than I had pulled it off. It was a cool feeling, but, more of a shock. I really was happy for him, even though I probably didn't seem that way at the time.

2) I used to manage Radio Shacks before my son was born. We did an inventory every 3 months. We'd lock the door, put the closed sign up, and work all night counting stuff. It wasn't fun. Customers would come up to the door, and even though the closed sign was there, and it was late, they would see us inside and start banging on the door, stomping and hooting, getting all riled up. Glen would say, "Just don't look at them." So we would not look at the door or the person desperately trying to get our attention. Well, about a year later, I had been promoted to the second store of my own, and was doing inventory with my new crew. As usual, someone comes up to the door and starts banging on it. "Just don't look at them," I said, as it usually worked, and how I'd been trained. Well, usually they give up after a bit when they realize we're closed and not going to open the door. But this guy... so persistent, banging and banging, then the cursing, it was too much to keep ignoring. So I look over at the door, and it's GLEN! My old manager! LOL Coming to get a product transferred. That was a cool feeling! I still crack up thinking about it.

3) Another friend of mine at the time managed a different store. He told me one morning about how he was running late to work, and some other driver kept getting in his way, going slow, and being generally aggravating. So my friend apparently did a dangerous pass, flipped the guy off, and sped on down to the store to get it opened. Well, guess who his first customer of the day was? Yup. I bet that was a "cool feeling" lol.

Keep 'em coming!

Walking into CDL orientation and finding that a former customer was the teacher was pretty cool.

Walking into CDL orientation and finding that a former customer was the teacher was pretty cool.

Funny how that works! I am betting you had a good relationship with that prior customer! How's your quest coming along, anyway? Still in school?