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SHEARON: Truck completes transition to 'Arkansan' |
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Monday, 24 September 2007 |
 Robert Shearon
I guess it’s sort of like when I moved to Texas. I needed a pair of cowboy boots. Not sure why, as I worked in an office and never got within spitting distance of a horse; there’s just something about living in Texas that demands you get cowboy boots.
But, in Arkansas I have found that I regularly need a truck for one thing or another, and have been lucky enough to have friends with trucks who have helped me out over the years.
When my son graduated from high school, he bought a truck. It was old and pretty much in its death throes when he got it, but he loved it and drove it as long as it lasted, which wasn’t long.
He’s since bought a later model truck, and it is very nice.
Recently, a friend of ours died and I ended up buying his truck — a 20-year-old Nissan.
It’s got everything you buy a pickup truck for, which is mainly a bed out behind the cab.
My wife and a female co-worker have both informed me of projects they’ve got planned for me now that I’ve got a truck. There’s something women like about a pickup man (with apologies to Joe Diffie).
It’s got a four-cylinder engine and five-speed transmission, manual steering and power brakes. I haven’t driven a car with manual steering in years and years, and it’s taking a little getting used to.
It’s had a fairly recent paint job and it looks swell.
I recently got to drive my son’s truck, a Dodge 1500. It’s a beautiful machine. It’s got a five-speed transmission like my truck, and power brakes and a truck bed — and that’s where the similarities end. He’s got a V-6 engine and power steering in his truck, which aren’t bad things to have.
In 20-years, truck technology has evolved a bit. Particularly in the area of cup holders.
While my truck has no cup holders, my son’s truck has at least two (there may be some I haven’t found). But they are the most amazing cup holders I’ve ever seen. They adjust for size and are spring loaded to hold your drink firmly. That’s some pretty advanced cup-holder technology. I may have to find a way to retrofit a cup holder in my truck.
He’s got a radio-CD player in his truck, which he uses to play an amazing variety of music. The kid likes everyone from Johnny Cash to Kiss. My truck has a radio-tape player, which at present isn’t working. I may upgrade to a CD player, then at least one of the vehicles in my driveway will have one.
My truck has multiple tie-down spots in the bed. Sam’s truck ... well, actually, his truck doesn’t have any. Apparently truck-bed technology has moved backwards a bit.
My wife and I have several vehicles: A motorcycle, car, SUV and a pickup. “We’ve got a full set now,” my wife informed me. Any more rolling stock and the neighbors will probably complain.
However, the truck has great personal significance to me — it’s the first four-wheel vehicle I’ve owned in five years. The car and the SUV belong to my wife. They were purchased before we were married. I had an SUV when we married, but it was such an expensive vehicle to maintain ($250 a month, every month, for one reason or another) that we finally ditched it, leaving me with just a motorcycle in my name.
That’s always left me feeling a bit uneasy, despite always having a car at my disposal.
It’s just un-American not to have your own enclosed vehicle.
So, now I’ve got a truck and I feel a part of the American mainstream again.
Plus, the truck serves as a constant reminder of J.T., who was a super nice guy. Since we’ve lived in Benton, he’s loaned his truck and his time and effort to several projects, including hauling wood and furniture. J.T. will be missed by all who knew him.
Robert Shearon is news editor of the Courier. His column appears weekly.
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