First, I want to preface this post by noting that I believe trucking is a necessary, legitimate and worthy profession. I also realize truck stop gas stations are important to truck drivers as they are a miniature "home away from home." With the above said, I want to note that I have had my first memorable truck stop gas station experience.... It was a beautiful Friday afternoon as we pulled into an exceptionally large gas station for a much needed break from the monotony of the highway. Most of the car ride thus far had been spent talking, and catching up on some necessary rest. The first of two conferences my sister and I were to attend had just come to a close, and we were making our way home with some very sweet family friends. As we forced our numb legs through the door of the “convenience store", I didn't notice anything unusual about the 400th gas station I have been to in my short twenty year life. Although coming out of the restroom, an announcement over the five overhead speakers began to catch my attention. In a masculine and hurried voice I heard: "Shower number three is ready for Hank, shower number three!" Since I had not seen any showers in the restroom, I hastily assumed the mention of a shower referred to a truck wash and quickly dismissed the loud voice. Making my way into the unusually large snack section of the store, I noticed almost every item was a bogo (buy one get one free) or a recently discounted item. Thinking that this was especially nice of the store to be willing to discount almost everything, I scoured the aisles with utmost attention – always looking for a good deal. After several seconds I noticed with disappointment that everything was King Sized, and since I wasn't really feeling in a huge sweets or snack mood, at the moment, I gave up the hunt.
Quickly making my way over to the drink section, I shortly reunited with my traveling companions. Their I found the shangri-la of all truck stop drink stations. The station spanned most of the wall and therefore was close to three and a half feet long. The blue glow and fake, but realistic, droplets of water on the plastic cover, would make almost anyone feel as if they needed to buy a soda from this gargantuan machine. Not only did the machine have twelve kinds of soda, it also contained four different additional flavors that could be added to the soda, including cherry, lemon, and chocolate. My sister, a "soda junky", stared at the machine in awe and utmost delight. Mrs. M, with whom we were traveling, was reminded of the days when this country had real soda fountains in most every city. "In my town they had a soda fountain that allowed us to put as many flavors as we wanted in our drinks." The dear lady stated in front of the blue glow. “Most girls would put four to five flavors in each drink. My favorite was the cherry." This story was a dear reminder of times past, especially of the rich history of the south, but although sweet, it was also quite hilarious. Here we were in the middle of a giant truck stop with the largest soda machine, this side of the Mississippi, behind us, little taquitos and hot dogs were twirling on their warmer, the loud masculine voice was calling above the din "Shower number four ready for Jeff.", and in the midst of it all, our little party was having a wonderful conversation about soda flavors and times past. After pulling ourselves away from the awe inspiring and memory jolting blue glow we made our way to the register.
I insisted on not buying anything because, as many know, I can be a bit too frugal at times, but in the end the new Mini-Reese's Peanut Butter Cups tempted me to open my wallet. I noticed the " 2 for $2" sign and figured if I bought one package I would only have to pay a dollar, which is a great deal at those sorts of places. Placing the bag on the counter, I greeted the cashier and promptly began to grab $1.25 from my wallet.
"Ma'am are you sure you only want one? They are on sale." The cashier asked kindly.
"Thank-you but I only want one today." “Ok, well that will be $1.75."
"Oh, well I thought they were 2 for $2."
"Well they are Ma'am, but you have to buy two in order to get the deal."
"Oh, ok..." Unsure of what I should do I made the first choice that came to mind, "Well, I guess I'll just get two then. Sorry about that." Grabbing another bag from the bin I quickly placed it on the counter and gathered another dollar from my purse.
"That will be $2.05 Ma'am."
"Here you go." I said, placing the money on the counter, thanking her and stepping away dazed and confused. How could one item cost exponentially more than the second item? After shopping coupons sales for the last year and a half, I could not understand this concept. Generally, to all those who do not shop with coupons, when an item is bogo it means if you buy one of that item it costs half of the bogo cost, which is logical.
After, the sale I was able to take in the rest of the glorious truck stop sight. "Shower number 3, Larry. Shower number three," the strong voice called out for the last audible time. Glancing over I saw on the wall gleaming knives, coolers and guns (I couldn’t figure out what type of animal you would hunt the highway -opossum?), flags, DVD’s, cell phone covers, TV's, and whatever else one could ever want.With one long glance back at the Subway restaurant on the right side of the store, I slowly made my way out of the first memorable truck stop station I had ever been to and it was bittersweet. To this day, I still remember the gleaming drink station, the wonderful soda fountain story, and the sight of Mrs. M gleefully drinking the last dredges of her cherry soda as she left the gas station.
After such an experience, we all hopped back in the car for another hour or two of driving and talking, eating both bags of “King Size” Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
On the road again
Gas stations are my best of friends
The conferences just seem to blend and blend
And I can't wait to get on the road again...
