I volunteered in river clean up day on the Oconee River here in Athens, Ga. It was part of a big, city-wide event hosted by Rivers Alive(a group that is for the preservation and use of our natural waterways). A local kayak rental place offered to let volunteers use kayaks to carry old tires and other trash found in the river while they float from one point to another on the Oconee. Anyway, my job was to help 40-something kayakers get out of the river(takeout point) and shuttle the collected trash that they pulled from the river to the dumpster on site. I was first not sure if I wanted to put all sorts of random trash that had been soaking in the muddy river into my bump's bed, but I thought this would be a good time to use it like it was intended. Plus, as long as I made sure no one was reckless with helping load the trash, I couldn't see my bump getting any more scratched up, etc. Well I directed kayakers toting trash to the takeout spot, helped pull them out, unload, and directed volunteers for about an hour. During that time, I got so many compliments on my F-100 and to my surprise, the volunteers(mostly college students) were real careful loading trash into the bed. I could tell they though the truck was extra neat and that they were going out of their way not to hurt it. That kinda took me back to say the least, considering how most people are towards property that's not their nowdays.
It was good to see my bump loaded down with 20-something tires(of which most were old bias-ply tires from the 1950s-1960s that had been in the river for decades). It was cool looking at all the vintage tires and trying to imagine what cars or trucks they originally were mounted on when new. I made two runs to the dumpster and then shuttled volunteers in the truck's bed across the property(7 acres or so). I told people that it might be a bumpy ride(no pun intended), but everyone seemed to want to ride in the back of my truck. Before I knew it, I had a truckload of folks(including some good looking girls). Now, doesn't that tell you something about the appeal our old trucks have?
But the most rewarding compliment I received was after shuttling a group of volunteers back to the kayak rental place in the back of my truck(I was very careful on the main road). Upon arriving, everyone cheered and hopped out. One extra-happy volunteer(college age guy) said loudly "Man! That was awesome. Now I can say I rode in the back of a REAL truck!"
I was like "You're durn right about that being a REAL truck." I think it totally changed his definition of what a truck is or should be, and that is a good thing. It was great to see a whole group of people being positively affected by my old truck. Seeing guys and girls look it over with curiosity like "what is this amazing old thing?" and to look in my rear view mirror and see a group of happy volunteers having a good time riding in the back of the truck. Not saying my truck is better than the rest or anything, just sharing my good experience with all the other bump owners in the world.
I think my favorite so far was a young guy working the drive through at Arbys 1 day. "What year is that? (I never seen it as an old truck until then). I have had both male & female yell "I like your truck", "Nice truck", etc as I drive down the road. It goes across the board from too young to drive up to folks older than I am.
