I work as a service manager for a commercial diesel repair shop in Central Texas and I get to meet some of the most interesting characters to ever walk the face of the Earth. Truck Drivers are most assuredly their own breed and many of them take special training to deal with.
So I get a call a couple days ago… A guy named Mitch who owns a 2007 Ram 3500HD FLatbed. His truck has a broken control arm. Typically we don’t work on anything that small, but we figured it was just a control arm, two bolts, we could change it and have him on the way in record time. That was the plan anyway, and it fell right in with Mitch’s needs, because he had to have the truck back quick. Every person who drops off a truck to us, no matter what make or model, has to have it back quick. Time is money and they don’t make money sitting still in a shop somewhere.
We agree to the work and the truck is towed in late Tuesday evening. I look at it with one of my technicians and we find that yes, he does have a broken control arm and also a bent steering stabilizer. OK, two more bolts. We can do that. I tell Mitch I can get parts ordered on Wednesday morning and as long as I could get them Wednesday, we could have the truck out the same day. He agrees.
Wednesday morning comes, I order the parts, they arrive and my technician gets to work. The steering stabilizer was a breeze. No problems there, but when he tries to remove the bolts on the broken control arm he finds the front bolt will not come out of the hole. The nut is off, the bolt will spin in the hole but it will not move. The bolt was rusted to the metal sleeve in the bushing of the control arm. We would not be able to get the bolt out without destroying it. It happens. I chase the bolt down (it’s in Georgetown, Tx) and call Mitch to give him the good news.
Mitch agrees to have it ordered and will await my call on Thursday.
The bolt comes in Thursday morning and is installed. The truck is finished and out of the shop before the first pot of coffee was empty. I call Mitch again and he says he is on the way.
Mitch and his Grandson show up about 2pm yesterday to pick up the truck, and the first thing he says is this: “Bruce, I’m going to get my truck today if I have to pull a gun on you.” Having talked to the man over the course of the past two days, I know wouldn’t just pull a gun on me as a threat.
I come back to him with: “Mitch, just to let you know if you pull yours, I will definitely pull mine.”
He laughed and asked: “What do you carry?”
Then we talked about guns for an hour.
I found out that he, Mitch the 3rd, was carrying his Granddad’s, Mitch the 1st, Army issue Colt 1911 from WW1 and that his Grandson, Mitch the 5th, was carrying Mitch the 2nd’s Army issue Colt 1911 from WW2. Mitch the 3rd explained that his son, Mitch the 4th, was a liberal lawyer in New York and was trying to disarm the country. Mitch the 4th is not welcome in Mitch the 3rd’s house.
These two weapons show the wear of time but were still in beautiful condition. I am a Beretta 9mm fan boy, but I can appreciate these weapons.
Before they left, Mitch the 5th quipped; “1911 in .45 ACP. Won two world wars.”
I chuckled heartily and came back with: “You’re slow and fat and I’ve got more friends.”
It’s good to meet folks who have a true appreciation for every weapon, regardless of caliber of brand.
