Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

Here’s the story. All this AIG bonus stuff is driving me crazy. Wouldn’t we all love to get a check for $1 million dollars. Boy oh boy could I use that kind of money right now. My 75 year-old mother recently ran out of money – what she had in savings and investments “disappeared.” She had to move out of her apartment and give her car “back” to Toyota. I broke down when she called and asked me if I could send her a MacDonald’s gift card so she could afford dinner. With a bonus check I could afford to take care of her, and everyone else in my family that is hurting right now.

Right now, I’m parked at the Home Depot distribution center just outside Hartford CT. Getting here I saw many large corporate offices, lots of luxury cars and plenty of big expensive homes. These “people” certainly know how to do things first class. I can only imagine how many folks around here got all kinds of bonuses over the years on top of their large salaries. While that was going on, myself and a lot of other truckers were wondering how to pay the large insurance premiums on our equipment, our homes and our health. I’m even pretty sure that many managers at State Farm got nice bonuses while cancelling my home and auto insurance, after 20 years of paying them.

Just recently, before all this AIG stuff “hit the fan”, for five years of steady employment,  I got a bonus. It might just be that because of the bailout money, my company, which will get more business from any new construction and building, will benefit. So kinda like AIG, my company got bailout money, albeit  indirectly, and then gave me a bonus. But I don’t feel bad about it. I need that money, desperately. I’m going to happily cash that check. I’m going to send my mother one of those MacDonald’s gift cards and maybe even throw in a Wal-Mart one too. I’m just not going to give the money back. And that’s it. I’m going to take that $100 check and treasure it.

Photo credit is: www.chumpysclipart.com/illustrations/search/money