Largest Trucker Rally In The History Of NYS 6/19/08

As you may have heard on the news, Thursday was the largest trucker rally ever to occur in NYS. Hundreds of trucks/truckers rallied together to the Capitol (across the street from my work) to protest the ridiculous fuel prices. Their goal was to all lay on their horns at once until the governor came out, as you see/hear in the video. So around 10 am, Freddie and I anxiously RAN down the stairs to get outside to witness this. It was HYSTERICAL. I believe every single state worker was lined up along the streets. I mean, it was after all, a monumental event in history; we HAD to be a part of it.

So after soaking in all we could tolerate of the loud horns, we went back in to ‘work’, highly anticipating 12 o’clock so we could go out there for an hour. I texted everyone, telling them that I WAS going to get a picture with at least one trucker. That was my goal. Hey, after all, I want a man who wants to travel extensively and well, I guess I can’t be picky and want someone with teeth too, can I? So I found this guy, in which I immediately KNEW was the man I needed my picture was. Lacking the uhh…guts….Freddie went up to him and asked if I could get my picture with him. I believe it was love at first sight? So I sent the pix to everyone, proving that I AM a woman of my word. I do deliver what I say I will. The best part has to be how we both have the pic of me and my new man up as our background on our large screens at work, so coming in this morning and that popping up all big and proud, made my day. What’s even greater, is when you send the picture to people and don’t explain anything, send just the picture. Take note of my NYS ID on my hip too.

Awww do we have to move to Menands? We’re going to miss out on ALL of this stuff. :(

Today at work, knowing that I would not be home from Thursday til Monday night except but to sleep, I asked Freddie to write up a brief recap of the event. Enjoy.

Truckers

By Freddie Zielinski

Trucks, cigarettes, beards, diesel fumes, horns, shameless quotes on t-shirts and hats. This basically sums up the Truckers Rally that occurred right here, in downtown Albany.

Tara and I were like two kids on Christmas morning, waiting atop the stairs to go down and see all the gifts that had been brought. We weren’t quite sure what to expect for the truckers protest. Possibly not dressed appropriately for the occasion, but wearing grins on our faces we descended down the elevators, just imagining what might be happening out the doors that now lay ahead of us. As we approached the glass doors, each trying to get the first peak, my head perked up like a deer in the woods, “TARA!” I yelled. “Do you hear that?!” I ran a few paces ahead of my bamboozled friend. Her bewilderment quickly manifested into that of pure joy as I waved her outside the doors. She crashed through the turn-style doors, and stood there with me, drowning in an orchestra of truckers’ horns. We started walking amidst the thick noise and crowds of chaos. Ducking the camera phones being held out, and walking around people with wide eyes fixed on the endless line of trucks, we almost had our own choreographed dance to the chaos. What we witnessed was over 100 trucks blowing their horns at free will to protest against the rising fuel/diesel prices. They were prepared to stay there all day. They wanted to ensure their voices…um, err….horns would be heard, and heard they indeed were. The governor had come out and addressed their problem.

Although the noisy pandemonium was silenced by the governor’s presence, there was still a protest afoot. We stood outside the Capital looking at the protest signs. Tara said, “Freddie, I need a picture with a trucker.” After she made this statement, I realized how true it was. It needed to happen. We spotted a true trucker. It was obvious that trucks ran through his veins. Next, I believe I heard Tara mention, “I want him to put his arm around me for the picture.” Quickly assessing that, I may have blurted out, “ARE YOU SURE?!” I mean, I’m all about getting this picture, but I just didn’t think by allowing that, I’d be putting my friend in a very safe situation. At that moment, I believe this all started sinking in for Tara. She became hungry, and quickly began eating the words she had just spoken. I wasn’t about to allow this to occur. I grabbed her phone, and approached this man, who proudly lives his life on the road. With profanity on his hat, and a shirt that read, “Good ‘ol boys”, I kindly asked, “Um, Hi. Can my friend get a picture with you in front of your sign?” Puzzled, he complied. Tara got up there with him, and I snapped away.

It actually turned out to be informative, and I would feel guilty if I didn’t provide these facts that he taught us:

· Gas is cheaper in states other than NY

· It costs around $995 to fill up a tank of gas, which only lasts about 1.5 days

· It costs around $4,500 to go across country

With these numbers, truckers are no longer making any profit for the work they do.