They call ‘em the dog days of summer.  Can’t say I know why.  There are hotter places around so I don’t know why people get to actin’ so crazy around Salt Lake this time of year.

Yesterday afternoon I’m headin’ northbound on 400 West, going at good clip but still well within acceptable speed parameters when I see a young professional lookin’ fella mozyin’ across the street.  I use the term “professional” loosely since he had himself a pink striped shirt with no tie.  I remember a time not too distant when a man wouldn’t leave the house without proper neckwear.  Bet then I shouldn’t get started on the general lack of formality nowadays or we’ll be here all day.  To get back to what happened, I thought it was strange how this guy would be walkin’ so carefree across the road when a truck full of dry cleaning was bearin’ down on him.  After a second I realized he was in the crosswalk so I pressed the ol’ brake pedal and decelerated my equipment post haste, bringing the truck to a stop just short of our lazy walkin’ friend. You should have seen the look this boy gave me!  As if that weren’t enough he had the audacity to call me a name not worth repeating here on the internet.  Lucky for that little man my Jenny has insisted I keep my temper under control, she happened to have reminded me of it that very morning.  Can’t say things would have ended without incident had that not been the case.

I guess I should remember I’m just a grumpy old man, but if you say somethin’ somebody can hear, I think you should be prepared to defend your statement.  In the end discretion is the greater part of valor but this old boy still gets riled up from time to time.

Comments Off

Introductions

Published under Gunny's Driver Blog on 07/06/2010

Ladies and gentlemen of the World Wide Web, please allow me to introduce myself, seeing as this is my first foray into the so called blogosphere. My name is Gunnery Sergeant William T. Sherman but everybody calls me “Gunny” so I guess y’all are welcome to do the same. My daddy, Edward T. Sherman, took advantage of our common surname and named me after the famed Civil war general who burned a swath of earth a mile wide right through my home state of Georgia. Can’t say I was the most popular kid growin’ up.

Maybe it was all the guff I got as a youngster, or perhaps it was my namesake, but I joined the United States Marine Corp the moment I was able and enjoyed every day of my forty years of service. I’ve driven every kind of vehicle you can think of on four different continents so I guess it should come as now surprise that I gravitated toward my current occupation as a driver for the finest dry cleaning force this world has ever seen, Prestige Cleaners.
You see, my wife fell in love with skiing while I was stationed in Colorado back in the 80’s so I promised her we’d move to a snowier climate the day I retired. That good woman never broke a promise to me so I made good on that promise to her and moved us to Utah a few years back. I’m a Georgia boy born and raised, so the transition wasn’t easy, but even I’m getting to like the snow.

The entire concept of retirement never quite sat right with me, so after my time in the Marine Corp was finished and we moved out here, I set to huntin’ for something an ornery old cuss like me might enjoy doing. That’s when I met this smiley fella’ named Ryan Fish. He told me he owned a free pick-up and delivery dry cleaner right here in Salt Lake. When I heard “free pick-up and delivery” I couldn’t believe I’d wasted all those years running all over town to get my uniforms cleaned every week when there were companies like Prestige Cleaners around. Ryan and I got to talkin’ and he told me he happened to be in need of somebody who knew how to handle a vehicle. Well there aint nothin’ I like better than clean pressed clothes or driving a truck with precious cargo aboard so that was that.

Five years on now and I’m still pickin’ up all your wrinkled blouses and pants and returning hot pressed perfection twice a week. I’d do it more but I have to at least pretend I’m retired or my wife, her name’s Jenny by the way, will get after me. It’s been a real pleasure makin’ your acquaintance and I look forward to tellin’ y’all about my adventures. You might think driving around town with your clean pressed skivvies isn’t exciting, but take it from someone who’s seen a few things in his day, when you spend all day on the road in this city, you see plenty worth talkin’ ‘bout.

Comments Off

« Prev