DOUBTERS EVERYWHERE

Guy apparently there's a stereotype that if your a woman and a trucker then you must be a lesbian. Stupid though it is.

When I told my brother I was going into trucking he asked me what kind of tattoo I was getting and was I going to start smoking. When I told a friend I was going into trucking her comment was I didn't know you were gay. I kind of like smashing stereotyping.

Priceless!!!! I cut my hair super short once and went blond (u know after my divorce) started a new job and was labeled immediately lesbian, seriously I DON'T care!!! If your not my friend or care about me, think whatever the heck you like.

When I told my brother I was going into trucking he asked me what kind of tattoo I was getting and was I going to start smoking. When I told a friend I was going into trucking her comment was I didn't know you were gay. I kind of like smashing stereotyping.

Priceless!!!! I cut my hair super short once and went blond (u know after my divorce) started a new job and was labeled immediately lesbian, seriously I DON'T care!!! If your not my friend or care about me, think whatever the heck you like.

Actually sometimes it helps keep certain male riff raff away!

When I told my brother I was going into trucking he asked me what kind of tattoo I was getting and was I going to start smoking. When I told a friend I was going into trucking her comment was I didn't know you were gay. I kind of like smashing stereotyping.

Priceless!!!! I cut my hair super short once and went blond (u know after my divorce) started a new job and was labeled immediately lesbian, seriously I DON'T care!!! If your not my friend or care about me, think whatever the heck you like.

Uh oh!!!! I have short blond hair and I am learning to drive a truck...........

Hey not trying to troll mountain girl but this is not a time for smileys and emojicons. We're serious about are career paths and we have kids. This is no easy time. We dont talk about being in a cubicle or a front line for jokes. We cry about the **** because it is behind us and its time to move on. This man is making a serious career move and I dont think hes here to joke. Im not crashing a party im just being real. This man came here for advice not to joke.

-movingmetal

Read it again.

Eh.

You can always remind them that staying in their stale, boring desk jobs so they can support all their debt, while ignoring their own dreams is even more dangerous than driving a truck. They'll just die slowly, accepting mediocrity, as they never had the guts to try something new and exciting, while stress and a dull lifestyle fill their arteries with plaque and their hearts stop before they realize their whole lives just passed them by.

But no worries. ... ...At least they had good benefits.

LOL ...was that too mean?

-mountain girl

To be clear, I was as serious as a myocardial infarction when I wrote that. I am totally in support of Greg D. and I think negativity (eh-hem) is unhelpful. I actually wrote "LOL ...is that too mean?" because I was afraid I might have come across as being too harsh towards his family.

There is a difference between being humorous and being flippant. That was not flippant in any way, and Greg D. should/could use some or all of what I wrote to fire back at those who are too insecure to accept and support another person's courage. And just because one man inferred it to be humorous does not necessarily mean I was implying humor.

This is a threaded conversation and I'm glad you brought this up because it gives me an opportunity to clarify my intentions which were unequivocally in support of Greg D.

My integrity on the subject is not up for debate here. While I don't expect anyone to know me very well or read my mind, I have a tendency to break tradition, stereotypes, and expectations in everything I do ergo, supporting Greg D. comes very easily to me, because for now, he's doing the same thing, just outside the boundaries of what is considered "the norm" in his family. At the same time, where I come from, humor is a sign of strength and to be able to laugh off the "doubters everywhere" is also to dismiss them in a way they deserve; as in my lifetime, I have stood within inches of Death and joked in his face to the point where even the doctors were confused between my near-death vitals and my (oxygen-assisted) laughter.

I am dead serious when I use humor. I too have many children and am in the middle of enough adversity right now, to bring a freaking lumberjack to tears. But I wasn't even trying to be funny, actually. However, this job is tough and dangerous and as a veteran like me, Greg D. knows exactly where I'm coming from when I offer the very set of arguments I posted. One had better be tough enough to laugh (especially at oneself) if one wants to survive this profession.

Humorous or not, my statements are true. And come to think of it, some statements are so true, they are ... ...painfully funny.

Dismiss all the doubters around you, Greg. Charlie Mike ...Continue the Mission, Continue to March. You got this.

-mountain girl

No worries Mountain Girl, I was in no way offended... You and I seem to be cut from a very similar cloth and I hope that once I'm out on the road with ya we get a chance to break bread together... Being 5'2" I never would have been able to make it to 37 without a GOOD sense o humor. But I really didn't take your comment in any other way then just good advice... In fact I have yet get bad advice on this website and the more I talk to all of you the more excited I get to become one of you.

5'2"? Righton. I'm 9'. Har-har.

Yeah, I look forward to meeting you and as many people on here as possible. And same cloth? Who gots?! I'm also from Philly! There are so many "quakers" on this site, it cracks me up.

And ... Hey! I've been thinking about your post here, all morning. Just got the H*** outta' me insulted by an (older) family member over the phone, this morning. Holy Crud! Talk about being slow on the rebound, I got knocked down several notches this time. Woe. If anyone out there ever watches Futurama, lemme tell ya': Bender's only comment that could possibly out-do what I heard this morning is when he says, "Hey kid! Want some ice cream? Good! Go ask your Mo-om!" ...to an orphan. ... Other than that, the helpful "advice" I received was about as low as it gets, from yet another person who has no clue about this profession what-so-ever.

!!!!!

-mountain girl

Man, Brett, you hit it right on the spot. My mother gave me hell when I told her this was what I was going to do. I could count on one hand, right now, the number of friends and family members who support me in this decision -- and you know what? I DON'T CARE. I just aced my state test today, on the first attempt, and I am on cloud nine right now!

I'm more proud of myself right now than I was when I received my BS in advertising and marketing. Even better, I have a job waiting for me as soon as I get back home! The college I got my degree from can't say the same thing. It's no small coincidence that those who support me are the people in my life that already have friends and family in the industry.

Keep your chin up. Only you know what's right for you.

...My mother gave me hell when I told her this was what I was going to do...

-Snappy

This ... I do not understand about some parents. It boggles the mind. I have very good reason to not talk to my family-of-origin (as opposed to my children) about my passions or this profession. This is mine. It belongs to me. My achievements in this are my own (and my kids' because they support me - 'cause they're cool like that.) They (others) can't put their fingers in this pie if they don't know it exists. When asked who I work for, I'm only going to say I work for "a shipping company." What do I do? I'll probably answer, "I'm in logistics" or "procurement." Now there's an obscure specialty. I think, regarding people like this, "Ok. You get into this tractor and tell me how you're going to master it," and "Oh, by the way, your Harvard degree is not gonna' help you here."

I'm hearing more and more about highly educated professionals (including surgeons) hanging it up and choosing trucking as a second, more enjoyable career. I'm rolling with you guys and people like this.

-mountain girl

When asked who I work for, I'm only going to say I work for "a shipping company." What do I do? I'll probably answer, "I'm in logistics" or "procurement." Now there's an obscure specialty.

-mountain girl

Yeah, I like it. Sounds like a good way to avoid the same conversation over and over with small-minded folk who immediately ask zero questions about trucking, but who seem to know more about lot lizards than I ever care to based on their questions on that subject.