Staying Clean

We have all seen them. Or rather smelled them. Long haul truckers who have only been around only themselves for awhile. The stereotype in our head is that they are overweight, slovenly, dirty, and less than intellectual giants.

Everything that Dan was not.
One of the things that Dan learned in long hauling was that you had to know the GOOD truck stops. It didn't just have diesel. It didn't just have a restaurant. It had to have showers. And good showers at that. Nothing with just lukewarm water.  They had to be clean and well attended. No mold in the corners for Dan.

It constantly amazed me that grimy, moldy showers were the standard fare. I began to understand why Dan would wait a day or two to take a shower because he would have showered a pet snake in most of the places on the road. Actually, some may have been living there already!

So when ever he found a good place he would try to make sure it was on his next pass through the area. If he had to miss it, he would not socialize with people until he could get a shower. He was kind of sensitive about it.

He wouldn't even let me hug him when he came off the road until he had a shower. And he cleaned up really well.


Here is the last picture ever taken of Dan. It was taken in the rest stop where he died. He had just taken a shower and was taking a picture of himself in the mirror. He was really clean.

All Clean.