Manners

I don’t know about any of you, but I grew up in a time where manners and respect were the norm…you know, don’t speak until spoken to…if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all… those kinds of manners.  As an adult, like most people, I developed the habit of being kind and polite to others.  This is a fundamental skill in relating to people, and most valuably, in living together in close quarters with them. 

Marriage is a great example of this kind of attitude, as we all know the adage that love covers over a multitude of sins…dirty laundry, bad breath, and the like, are those things we accept in our partner, as we understand they must put up with ours as well!

My husband and I had to take this a whole level deeper than most, as we shared the cab of a semi for a handful of years early on in our marriage.  He was an over the road truck driver and I was his NAGavator…he bought me a hat with that engraved on the front, lol, and I still have that hat to this day…ya ya, I know, the nagging is a lifetime skill that I have diligently perfected! 

Part of the reality of driving a tractor trailer full time is that you have to eat and sleep sometime, and that means having to park an 18-wheeler, fully loaded down, that cannot be left unattended.  Sometimes, when we were in route and exhausted, the only places available for stopping were rest areas. 

On one such occasion, we found ourselves somewhere in the Midwest, on a highway of endless nothing to entertain us, and we decided to take a break, grabbing a bite to eat and perhaps a nap, if time allowed for it.  We spotted the familiar mile marker signs that signal an upcoming rest area, and pulled off the highway when the exit appeared. 

Once we pulled into an available slip, we turned off the main engine, and started making lunch.  We got a little side tracked…

Now this is where manners came into play, oddly enough…while we were Napping!  Amidst our time of rest, there arose an odor, faint at first, but gaining intensity over time.  In the back of my mind, I thought to myself, maybe he is not feeling well or something…unbeknownst to me, he was thinking the same as I was.

          Long story short, we eventually climbed out of the cab to enter the rest area facilities…all the while, the smell had become rather overwhelming. Stubbornly, neither of us were going to be the one to address the “dirty diaper in the room”.  Just as he shut the truck door to lock it, we heard a long chorus of cows mooing from off behind where the rest area was.

We looked over to see a huge dairy on the hillside behind the stop, and realized where the foul odor had been emanating from. We both burst out in relieved laughter…

He thought I did it, I thought he did it, and with good manners in place, were both prepared to hide it from the other, til the cows came home, I guess…