Not too long ago, I had something of a turn around issue. Once I was saddled up and driving our rig, I did not – under nearly any circumstances – turn around.
U-turn? Not me! Backtrack? Forget about it! This truck was pointing forward for a reason. If you want to see what’s back there, look in the rear view mirror.
In fact, it was nearly impossible to turn our truck camper around. I don’t mean it was physically hard to turn (it wasn’t), or that it was hard to find places to turn around (also not an issue). The issue was squarely between my ears.
Further complicating my clearly questionable psychological state, I have an unquenchable thirst for records. I don’t horde every piece of vinyl I find, but I jump at any opportunity to search through a pile of LPs. My favorite places to look for records on the road (other than your collection – hint, hint) are thrift stores, garage sales, and flea markets. Record stores? That’s cheating!
So there I would be, driving our rig into the future before us… and I’d see something. Yes, it’s a huge thrift store! I could almost smell a mint condition copy of Beggar’s Banquet, but – oh no! It’s already behind us. They probably didn’t have any records anyway. Onward!
“Did you see that enormous thrift store?” Angela would say from the passenger’s seat. “I could almost smell the records.”
Okay, Angela didn’t actually say she could smell the records, but she would point out that big honkin’ thrift store we just passed. There it was, in the rear view mirror, shrinking by the moment.
For many years, I just kept going. In my mind, if we passed something, it wasn’t meant to be. If the universe had wanted us to visit that thrift store (or whatever it was), we would have seen it sooner.
The problem was that I started complaining to Angela, “I haven’t found a single record yet on this trip. We are not going back until there’s at least a dozen LPs in the hold. And that’s final!”
“Well, if you would turn the truck camper around when we see a thrift store you might actually find a record or two. It’s your fault.”
She was right of course. I probably would have found some good records – if I only turned around.
So, starting about a year ago now, I have turned my attitude around. It goes something like this… We have a “Go Anywhere” truck camper because it can (wait for it) Go Anywhere – including turning around behind that Waffle House so we can turn around (gulp) and back track (double yipe) a half-mile (for the love of cats) to the huge thrift store we just saw – and look for records.
And wouldn’t you know it, I’ve found more records. You might say I’ve done a complete 180 on my no U-turn policy, and its paid groovy dividends.
This week’s Question of the Week is, “Do you turn your truck camper around when you see something, or do you keep on truckin’?”
This QOTW is now closed. Click here to read about reasons truck campers will turn their rigs around.
