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I’m usually a “Go along to Get Along” fellow. In other words, I’m not too much of a rebel, but I’ve got enough rebel in me to give a thumbs up for the truckers in Canada and those who are trying to mimic them here in our nation. As the C.W McCall song, “Convoy,” said it in 1975, “Mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy.”

Truckers have always seemed to be an independent lot and it looks like the Canadian variety has had enough of their government telling them what to do. Their signs say that they are not anti-vaccination, they’re anti-mandate. In other words, I’m old enough to drive a truck across the nation, let me make my own decisions. Amen.

I don’t think they are getting a warm reception in their capital city of Ottawa, Ontario. In fact, the Prime Minister thought so much (or little) of their actions, that he left town. Claimed he had the Virus, but it was probably more of trying to hide. Mr. Trudeau, that’s not a good look.

The actions of the truckers are a lot like the spontaneous combustions that we are seeing in many areas. Spontaneous combustion is a phenomenon whereas a fire or some type of ignition occurs without human help or cause. There are sources or reasons, of course, but not readily explainable. It just happens.

When people feel that they are pushed into corners that they don’t like or that the authorities that make decisions to control their lives, they bow their backs in many ways. If they happen to be truckers, they do the most logical thing they can. They drive and, in the case of the Canadian truckers they made a convoy and drove all the way across their nation.

I remember the song I referenced at the beginning and I think it would be funny if one of the trucks were like the one in the song that was hauling hogs. The CB radio handle for the hog hauling truck was Pig Pen. “Pig Pen, you’re too close. Them hogs is startin’ to close up my sinuses.”

I wonder how the Parliament in Ottawa would appreciate a truck full of hogs parked outside the legislative building. Come to think of it, that truck might make them a little more willing to talk about something. Also, that’s a good reason to wear a mask!

The Canadian Convoy and the proposed American convoy idea gives me hope for many reasons. There is something happening in our world and the nation. With all the complications caused by the two-year old pandemic, we are waking up to what freedom really means. We’re beginning to straighten our backs.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said that “whenever men and women begin to straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man [government] can’t ride your back unless they are bent.” We’ve had our backs bent for a long time. We’ve become complacent and taken our freedoms for granted. As we seem to be in situations of losing our freedoms more and more, maybe we’re ready to speak up. I hope so.

I’m reminded of the popular American flag that was designed during the American Revolution by a South Carolinian named Christopher Gadsden. In fact it is known as the Gadsden Flag, but you may not be familiar with that name. You may be more familiar with its iconic phrase, “Don’t Tread on Me.”

As I mentioned earlier, I and most people are probably “Go along to get along” types. If you will talk to us, we’ll listen to you. But, when we’re not heard and pushed around, you’ll hear, “I’ve had enough!”