God created man and then He created woman. Henry Ford built the car first and then the pickup. The love a man has for a woman or his truck is on the same spiritual plane. Many country music writers say the truck has the edge for a man’s heart.
This love between a man and his truck is not a mystery. Unlike a car that can only take you from one location to another, the truck can do so much more. When Mr. Ford started out building a truck I am sure he thought about the horse-drawn wagon of the Old West. He just replaced the horse with an engine; the same concept as the automobile.
In 1925, he beefed up the springs for heavy cargo and added a tailgate. Since conception, the bed of the truck has had the focus. The bed is where it all happens. This is as true today as it was in the last century.
Some auto designers came up with the idea of enclosing the bed of a truck making it a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV). Just about all manufacturers have designed their own version. The SUV has been particularly popular with women. When confronted with a choice a “real man” will choose the truck every time.
What the auto designers of today do not get is that men need and must have the truck bed. While an SUV can carry some cargo, this is not the primary need for men. We use the truck bed to talk, to share, to confide, to brag, to discuss — like a magnet it brings men together. It is where we bond.
The bed must be the correct height so anyone can walk up and look easily inside. This is important because the truck’s owner uses the mystery of its contents to let men know it is OK to approach. When we turn our eyes downward into the bed, we could see a big deer, a “big” mess of fish, dove, and quail or possibly a rattlesnake (dead or alive) or a gator so you are always a little cautious. Anyone of these things could start a conversation of an hour or more. We lean over toward the bed using the top rail to support us. The lucky men (usually the first two) get the tailgate end with the bumper. The bumper-end men get to prop their left or right foot there allowing for more lean and more support. Less today but a once popular ritual would have been to use this as a sign to open your “smokes” and share with anyone caught short.
Standing around a pickup truck bed is a rite that belongs only to men. Women, not even the prettiest, are accepted into the truck bed world. Some might be allowed to stand but never lean and neither for very long. If a woman should do this, the bond is lost, the mystery becomes not nearly as mysterious and the men disperse. Only together but as one around the truck bed can men enter into the spiritual realm. I would favor our President buying every member of Congress (only men, of course) a pickup with any extra stimulus money. It would not be a dually, four-door or a long-wheel base, just a standard regular truck. Every truck owner should be allowed to park their truck at the door of Congress and at least twice a day the truck owners would be given time to go outside to prop, lean and talk. It might also be good to give them one to use back in their home district. They might learn to talk more with their constituents.
If our national leaders truly want cooperation “across the aisle” then talk across a pickup truck bed is the answer.
Sandy Sanders
Maybe we all need a pickup
- Sandy Sanders
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Think before you answer
I got an email this week where a writer of an online column tells the story of a young child in Sunday School. The writer says the little boy’s teacher asked his class ‘What’s the animal with a long, bushy tail that lives in trees?’ One child quickly answers while probably thinking about the usual answer to questions in his church Sunday School, ‘Jesus. Though it sure sounds like a squirrel to me.’
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Forgiveness, redemption go together
The news story on Friday read: “WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Thursday to censure once-powerful New York Rep. Charles Rangel for multiple ethical misdeeds — the first time in nearly three decades that House members have publicly rebuked a colleague.
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South Georgia roots run deep for these execs
David Ratcliffe and Mike Garrett, two highly respected executives with Valdosta and South Georgia ties, will be stepping down as leaders of two of the largest power companies in the nation by yearend.
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VDT ready with all-new digital edition
You can now go to the home page of our website (www.valdostadailytimes.com) and click on the link for our digital e-edition. You can sign up for a seven-day trial or, if you currently subscribe to the print edition, we will be glad to add the e-edition just by calling our office for details.
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We are losing our children and we are blaming ‘others’
Extinction! There are public outcries to save animals, bugs and reptiles while our own children are being lost to a new world order. In the past two weeks, I have seen two students, one high school, one middle school, with their parents blessing bring to the public area all the details of their student-teacher antics. Each student had been suspended from school and one was making his way to court.
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Do we want tax or football braggin’ rights?
A drop in our property digest seems evident and to maintain we will need a tax increase. We can recruit higher-paying jobs to the county and get more taxes that way but is that practical thinking for a quick adjustment in this economy?
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Blazer Zone moving into Drexel Park
Next Saturday, Blazer fan families will have a great opportunity for some pre-game tailgating fun. The university is turning Drexel Park into a mini carnival so families can spread out to enjoy an afternoon under the trees, as they get ready for the Blazers’ season opener.
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Maggots with your steak
Today, with online journalism on newspaper websites, readers are able to go online, read the story, post a comment and, within minutes, their comment (thread) is answered by another reader. The bantering can follow a positive line or it can quickly move to having all the attributes of a barroom brawl.
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Why do some children live in abusive houses?
As I have written many times in this column, I grew up in a small town. My father worked at Moody Air Force Base for 30 years and as he would recollect while laughing, “I ate a fried egg sandwich for lunch every day of those 30 years.”
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Turning 18 before the election board
When I turned 18 my father took me down to the courthouse one evening to go before the Board of Registrars so I could be qualified to vote. I was called into the room before three men. I remember being nervous. They asked me questions about residency and being an American before I was given their stamp of approval.
- More Sandy Sanders Headlines
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Think before you answer
