A Trucker's Adventures in Ottawa
60 pairs of pants, 150 pairs of socks.
Nova Scotia trucker Guy spent much of his time in his buddy’s yellow Freightliner rather than in his own vintage Mack with unreliable heat. “I was sleeping in Mike’s truck” during the three-week Ottawa protest, he explains:
His truck had bunk beds. The first night on Rideau I said, ‘Well I'm getting tired.’ I jump off, fold the thing down, no [expletive] mattress. Believe it or not, within two nights I had enough pillows, overalls, coats, and jackets on me that I had a comfortable mattress.
How did this happen?
We were talking about my heater not working. Whatever, I'll just put more clothes on. Somebody behind me, on the street, heard me. So then, all of a sudden there was this big Facebook thing about the black Mack down there.
I’ve still got brand new pants I haven't worn yet. I was given probably 60 pairs of pants, 150 pairs of socks. Gloves, hats, jackets.
Most of these gifts were stored in his friend’s truck:
I almost had to get a minivan. They kept bringing it. I didn't want to take it, but I can't argue with them.
I'm telling you, there was people, they wanted to help. They were coming from an hour away. One guy, he had a pair of overalls, a pair of gloves. He had a honeybee business, brought me honey. It's crazy what they were doing.
Some of these gifts had unexpected consequences, however. “One night, halfway through,” he says, “somebody gave me a rose with a metal stem on it. So I stuck it down in my dash, right. Well, it shorted the wires out in the dash.”
And set his truck on fire. More about that tomorrow :-)
