Not everyone has the chance to find an occupation that allows for one to travel throughout the country and be witness to its varied scenery and grandeur.Cross country truck driving can be a pleasure and also a pain in the butt. But I would still choose it as a great and noble occupation.No, it is not the right job for everyone. It has many drawbacks that would hinder many as their first choice of vocation.Few would be willing or even able to leave their home, live in a truck for days, sometimes weeks at a time before again going home for a couple of days, and then return once again to do it all over again. Week after week, month after month, year after year, this repetition could and sometimes does tend to exasperate even the most hardened among us and cause us to wonder if this job is truly worth all the sacrifice we must face daily.Truckers have to acquire a thick skin to tolerate many of the daily encounters with the public at large.We are merely trying to do a necessary function of commerce in delivering essential goods and needs to everyone. And try to do it with the least amount of interference with the public who seem to think we are just trying to get in their way.It takes a lot of trucks to deliver all the myriad of products civilization requires to go about their daily lives. We cannot help that to do so we must interact in the lives of others and thus cause many instances of annoying situations.So, we try to take these moments into account and try resolving them with as little confrontation as possible. Most of the time it works itself out, other times not so much. But it does tend to give truck drivers a lousy image, warranted or otherwise.At its core, the job itself does have perks that most lose sight of in their time on the road.They sometimes don't stop long enough to think of how lucky they are being paid to be tourists.Truckers get to travel around seeing the sites; others must take time off from their own routine tedious occupations just to get away and be able to experience the wonders that abound all around.The longer you drive across the country, the more you are able to encounter the scenic wonders and visit uncountable attractions.You can see the cultural diversities in the many and varied peoples you encounter.It is a shame that some drivers fail to grasp what a privilege this job affords, and never take advantage of their opportunities to embrace such moments.They only think of the destination and how fast it takes to get there.They fail to look to the side and see the flowers, the trees, the vast assortment of foliage each area of the country abounds with, the food grown by farmers in the fields along the roadway that feed the world, or the land and its majestic natural beauty.Those of us who do turn our heads to look are inspired to continue in the wisdom and awareness that we are never done finding other more and exciting things to witness, to explore, to experience.An education all paid for by the simple act of driving a truck cross-country.This short story presents the reader with a glimpse into the life of an over-the-road truck driver. Surely not a complete picture as it is told, but an intimate and informal firsthand accounting of one driver's experiences.