One of the worst parts of being a truck driver is having to put your truck in the company shop for repairs. Major companies often have very slow service, and my company is no exception. I came in to the Salt Lake City yard about 10:00AM yesterday, and the folks in the inspection lane told me I was due for an "A" service so was out of service until it was done.

They didn't take my truck into the shop until 9:30 this morning, and didn't finish with it until almost 2:30 this afternoon. That whole time poor little Harri had to be cooped up in her carry box. But once we settled in to the TV room in the terminal she settled down and didn't complain a bit.

Every 30 minutes or so someone would come up and admire the beautiful kitty. After we had been there for a couple of hours a young lady driver trainee came in and admired her a lot. This lady told me about she had kitties at home and was having a really hard being away from them. She seemed really sad. I had the door to Harri's box open so I could pet her, and this lady asked if she could pet Harri. I told her she could try, but that Harri was very shy. Not only did Harri not pull away from her, she actually purred for her! We then decided to see if Harri would let this other driver hold her - and she did! Harri curled up in her arms and smiled and purred and stayed there for about 5 minutes.

Not only was Harri a perfectly behaved little lady, but she could sense a cat lover in withdrawal from her kitties and overcame her fear of other humans to help this cat-lover out. I am so proud of her!

I also was able to offer this lady some advice on how to manage having a cat in the truck, so once she finishes training there will be another roadcat out there.

Copyright © Dan Mahoney
April 20, 2005