This won’t be a pleasant and peaceful post, but it is what I can write at the moment.<\/p>\n
I bought an old school bus in October, and I had to bring it home from Maryland to Ohio. \u00a0I made some video blogs about it which seemed to be entertaining to people, so I’m not going to tell that whole story here right now. \u00a0Instead I am going to tell you a part of the story that didn’t make it into the videos. \u00a0It has taken me a while to process it actually.<\/p>\n
As a new bus owner, I learned a lot of things about having to pick fuel pumps that you can fit the monstrosity you are driving into. \u00a0I discovered that parking in a restaurant parking lot is nearly impossible, and found myself parking at truck stops and eating gas station food because it was so much easier than parking elsewhere.<\/p>\n
I pulled off the road right before I made out of Maryland (which is a long state if you are going west on 40) and stopped at a truck stop to grab a drink and something to snack on. \u00a0I wanted to give myself a mental break for a while before I ended up making a bad driving decision, and I needed to catch up on phone calls and messages. \u00a0So I sat in the bus for several minutes before I went inside. \u00a0While I was sitting in the bus double checking the map, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and saw a truck driver hurrying a woman into the back cab of his truck. \u00a0There was something about the forcefulness of the process that stood out to me. \u00a0I only distinctly saw a pair of yoga pants disappearing into the back before the man got in.<\/p>\n
It felt creepy, but who knows…maybe it was his wife or girlfriend. \u00a0Unfortunately it got creepier.
\nAfter a few minutes the driver of the truck drove his truck a few feet, putting the nose right against the wall of the gas station. \u00a0Effectively making it so no one could see inside. \u00a0I hadn’t been trying to see inside, but the unprompted odd behavior drew my attention.<\/p>\n
I had heard on the radio several months earlier a story about Truckers Against Trafficking, an organization that worked to free exploited women, often barely teens, from forced prostitution (trafficking) by training truck drivers to recognize the signs of an exploited woman. \u00a0I had found the story interesting, heartbreaking, eye-opening, but I never really expected to find myself in a situation where I would need to know how to help someone.<\/p>\n
After wondering if there was anything I could do for several minutes, I walked in to the gas station to purchase my items. \u00a0While I was in there a young lady came out from the back, with a vacant expression, and it seemed like she had just showered. \u00a0She took some items from the shelf and headed straight back to the back room without paying. \u00a0 I’ll never know if this young lady was the one in the truck, and I’ll never know for sure that I witnessed someone who had been trafficked. \u00a0I really hope I’m wrong, and that nothing untoward was going on, I hope it was just a small truck stop outside of a small town with not much going on, but I’ll never really know.<\/p>\n
What I do know now is that I want to prepared should that situation arise again. \u00a0Someone shared a video from the same organization on Facebook today, and I was able to get a number to call in the future if my bus travels take me into that situation again.<\/p>\n
Take a minute to check out the video, make note of the number. \u00a0If you are in a position where you travel regularly, perhaps look into getting the required training.<\/p>\n