Abc 20/20 Episode: "My Reality: A Hidden America": Sexual Harassment

Actually, reading what I (and others) have written here, I imagine that my words could probably be taken all sorts of out-of-context or misunderstood. Which I guess is the problem with the written word (especially around a topic like this.) For all I know, others and me agree on all sorts of stuff and I've just completely misread their posts.

More importantly (to me, at least) my father-in-law passed away this weekend and I've got like 12 days left before I head to Iowa for training. I've just got bigger things to deal with right now.

So, I'm going to gracefully bow out of this topic after this post.

The problem today is everybody expects their fragile little feelings are actually worth something to someone else. I can care less about someone's fragile little feelings. I say suck it up and grow some skin. I can care less if someone finds me insensitive or even offensive. Spare me the pity party and go grow up. Maybe we just need to go to having mandatory military service. If every single last able bodied individual served a 2 year mandatory period of service in the military; this country would be better for it. No more spare my little self entitled feelings. At least some kind of work ethic and values would be instilled. Not to mention the ratio of obese people would significantly drop.

Anyways, sorry for going off on a tangent.

I guess I should have waited till the 20/20 episode was freely available. Diane Sawyer talked to/ interviewed a few lady truckers who had stories to tell. This issue is very relevant to the trucking life that used to be almost 100% male dominated.

But like many topics that people have strong feelings about, it's not hard for this topic to drift.

Rainey is my queen today. I agree with so much of what she said.

I was in the military, as I'm sure some of you were, as well, and if you want to talk about harassment, be a female in the military. I could fill pages with what society today calls harassment, but instead I'll say only this: As Miss Rainey said, you have to stop it right then and there...or, you could also just let some things go that really don't affect you (ie: locker room talk). Seriously, you can walk away and go on with your life.

Now, if someone is constantly harassing me, personally, and/or borderline stalking, that's when things change. And from what I've read from various drivers on the internets, (taking everything with a grain of salt but also paying attention to what is being said), there's some pretty scary stuff that can happen to female drivers. It's one of the main reasons I will only go with a company that will allow me to bring a dog...a big dog, not a lapdog. If I have to sleep at a truck stop at night, I can do all of those things that I've read about to secure my vehicle, but a big, barking dog is a deterrent to those who think they can make my life hard.

Some of what I read happened because the females were very naive and another driver took advantage of that. The good news is, I don't trust a lot of people, so I won't be climbing into someone's truck to "check out the new stereo" (or whatever) that they installed, and they sure as hell won't be climbing into my truck to help me "fix something". If something on my truck needs to be fixed, I'll either have the company fix it or I'll figure it out if it's a personal item.

Someone telling jokes, or just being their nasty selves by talking about females the way some people do...whatever. I've heard so much, graphic stuff, when I was in the military, I'm just going to get on with my life and worry about myself. But, if a situation turns into one where I'm to the point that I don't even want to stop at a truck stop if I see a certain driver, that's when I'm going to make a whole lot of noise following whatever chain of command I need to follow. I don't like being intimidated, it ****es me off, and I will not cower away from stopping it if I can.

Having said all of that, once the video becomes available out from under that pay wall, I might have more to say.