The Veteran’s View: By Dennis Mitchell The last days of summer are fading fast, and those anticipated cooler nights are finally coming. The outside temps are slowly receding back to a livable range and, hopefully, the electric bill will not need to be paid with a Brinks armored truck full of cash anymore this season. Seriously folks, this year has been extremely hot, and I’m ready for those cooler nights, sitting under the stars next to the highway, watching the traffic stroll past. There have been many nights when I was rolling down life’s highway, perched between the windows at 379 Peterbilt Lane, watching people sitting in their yards or on their porches, watching me drive past. I always wonder what they are thinking – are they wishing they too could be flying down this ribbon of concrete toward the sunset, or are they upset because I disrupted their lives with my obnoxiously loud Jake brake? Either way, it’s my life, and I’m living it one mile at a time, with both hands on the wheel, and giving it my total and complete concentration. If along the way I get the opportunity to influence someone else to reach for the stars, then my aspirations have been fulfilled. I’m sure every driver has had that “Ah Ha!” moment when they saw the spark of inspiration in another person. Someone who has, at that moment, realized they have the ability to reach for their fullest potential. But just because you can, doesn’t mean you should! Your child or grandchild may have been accepted into one of those very expensive name brand schools in a faraway city, but that doesn’t mean it’s their best opportunity. Okay, I just lost a few of you, so bear with me as I try to gather some of you back up. We may not be able to save this year’s new freshman class, but I must try. September is that time of the year when young children return to school and older ones head to college, the military, or join the workforce. Welcome to the rest of your life – you’re only young once, but you will be an adult for a very long time. Those big yellow school buses are once again back in our lives, collecting kids on the local route. It’s also the time when young, newly minted “adults” start off on the next chapter of their lives. I bet your first thought was college, right? Harvard, Yale, Cambridge or some other school with prestige and status? Hold up, not so fast, there are other options for our young people today, as well. Years ago there were only two options: the military or the workforce, since most of us common people could not afford higher education. However, in the modern era, “kids” have additional choices. Trade schools, apprenticeship programs, OJT (on the job training), state universities, junior colleges, and the list goes on. Yes, all of us want our children to be more successful than we may have been during our lifetimes, but at what cost? Is it realistic to expect them to assume hundreds of thousands of dollars on education costs just to find work as a barista for Starbucks? A few of you smiled at that thought, but it’s not a joke. Four years at a well-known college can easily amount to $200,000 or more of debt, and with no guarantee of any future employment. You may get a PhD, but you can’t find a J.O.B. Every year around this time I bring up the subject of traffic and school bus safety at the beginning of the school year. Most of us are hurrying about in our own bubble, huddled behind the windshield, not always aware of the world outside. My greatest fear is I might not see a child waiting on the morning bus next to the street. We all get distracted and at times miss things along the side of the road. It’s easy to miss a little person when the morning sun reflects off your polished hood or chrome air cleaners. Drivers, it’s our responsibility to protect those who we share the road with, regardless of their size. Please be careful and give extra time and space to the bus drivers who devote their lives to collecting and transporting our future and our precious cargo (our kids). Let’s get back to what is really on my mind. Trucks, trucking, and the power of youth. This may be difficult to string together, but with your help and imagination, we can do it. I have been 50 10-4 Magazine / September 2025 LEARNING TO FLY
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