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I was asked the other day “What makes a really good truck stop”?
And it took me a little while to gather my thoughts, you see, it doesn’t matter where in the world you are; Good truckstops have one thing in common, there open. Great ones are two hours from home.
Some are so big that forty trucks can fuel up at the same time, but it’s often the little ones you remember.
It’s been ten years since I’ve sat in the Redruth Café at 3 am. I know its still there; the boys still use it, and it’s still talked about with the same feelings, you know the feeling, your tired, bone tired, your peddling up from the south and over the horizon you can see the lights of a medium sized town on the coast of the South Island, the very first shop on the left hand side is the Redruth.
Yeah, that’s the feeling I mean.
Friends come in and friends go out, people you can trust when it hits the fan.
English is our common tongue, although our heritage is diverse.
It’s mostly bullshit that’s spoken at that hour, up to ten at anyone time, subconsciously entertaining each other and recharging the batteries.
Fools aren’t tolerated in the back room of any truckstops anywhere in the world, drivers and guests only and not too many guests either. Political correctness, if you’re going to start that carry on, then you can go and sit back in the truck, someone else’s truck..
The smell of delicious food cooking mixed with the sounds of pots banging and the trucks warming down, gruff dry voices drenched with fatigue. The hot food in your belly is probably not doing your heart much good, but it will get you through the night.
The coffee needs three requirements, hot, strong and plenty of it.
I’ve got a bit of night work coming up soon and I shall stop and say hello to an old friend, mourn some others and make some new ones. As a building, my old friend’s probably past her use by date but as a place for hungry truckers to stop and recharge the soul, I’ll bet she’s still in her prime and would leave the rest for dead.
You see it doesn’t matter whether a truckstop is lit up like a Christmas tree with all the bells and whistles on it or a little old café that happens to be in the right spot. What matters is that truckers want to stop there; the food and coffee is good, cheap and hot, the atmosphere friendly and inviting, parking must be secure and plenty of it, with plenty of opportunity to relax and catch up with your friends.
What makes a really good truckstop, buggered if I know mate, I only called in for a cup of coffee and a pee. God almighty, which one of you idiots allowed that twit in here and said it was okay for him to conduct his stupid survey.
But then, that’s “Just an old trucker’s point of view”
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