Work humor is everywhere; don't head to the office without it!

If job situations make you smile, you might even survive retirement! Work humor is definitely life lengthening. It makes SENSE to find sources of amusement on the job.

That job might be in the home raising thirteen kids. It might be working as a roustabout in the oilpatch, slinging heavy chain that can cut off a digit faster than my fourth grade teacher could stuff me into a broom closet for a bad attitude in art class.

Point being, the nature of the job doesn't matter: Work humor is everywhere. I've laughed as a social worker, underground miner, salesman, rodeo rider, and a whole lot more.

One of my favorite places to find a chuckle, though--if not an outright belly laugh--has been in the trucking industry. I carry a CDL (Commercial Driver's License) and have driven both over the road (long haul) and off-road under tough driving conditions.

Want to hear a funny story?

Especially the testing.

In 1981, you didn't even have to actually DRIVE to get a Commercial license (which was originally called a chauffer's license). Pass 25 written questions, and bingo! You were licensed.

Not so in 2001. Testing was tough, PARTICULARLY the driving part, and you had to have at least some idea of what you were doing. Hence the school, which for a group of rookies was pretty much work humor in action.

There were twelve of us who started the course, nine who finished. A very large young man I'll call Tim, some six-five in height and not scrawny, had enormous talent. Though he'd never driven a truck before, he quickly became very smooth at shifting gears.

Smoother than I personally EVER got, in truth.

He scored high on Test Day, as most of us thankfully did. The trucking company behind the school hired us on the spot, and we received our assigned trucks. That was truly a red letter day.

Weeks went by. I was doing well, learning fast on the job, loving it for the most part. But from time to time, I wondered about Tim...because I knew a secret.

About a month down the road, on a swing by the home terminal, I asked somebody in administration if they'd heard how the big guy was doing. They had. And I wrote the following poem:

=================================================================

Not Cut Out For Trucking
Copyright 2001 by Fred Baker

Hey dude
You aced the pile of paperwork
You shifted all those gears
It seemed you'd be the best school graduate
They'd had in many years
But came the day we were to drive
A full trailer headed west
I DON'T WANT NO LOADED TRAILER!
I heard you say beneath your breath

Then came the day much later
When I asked another guy
How's old Tim working out?
He never asked me why
But said you'd been over Lookout Pass
And when you headed back
You parked your truck out in the yard
With a trailer heavy-stacked
Went on home to take a break
With delivery due next morn
But never once came back around
It's like you were never born

Maybe it's not really funny
That the biggest guy we had
Could not deal with loaded rigs
Went and hid like he'd been bad
And yet it made me chuckle
Though I wish he knew I'm still his fan
If you're not cut out for trucking
It don't make you less of a man

=================================================================

Hm. Work humor, or not? Maybe not such a funny story after all. Not from Tim's viewpoint, for sure. Or maybe you just have to have been a truck driver to find it amusing.

Either way, I'll bet you've got a better work humor story in your own memory. If you DO, feel free to pick a link at the bottom of the page that fits your situation...and tell us about it.

Thanks for reading,

Fred

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