The Personalities of Trucks

On the first day of my internship, An (carnivores lead) tells the interns that if you stall a truck, its ten push ups. Well, if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound???

On Monday Jordan (carnivore/cheetah keeper) and I were getting ready to bring the bears in for the night, and he told me to take outside (outside means closing off the hot wire to the outer ring once the girls were back inside, and then opening guillotines to the culverts to let the boys from the island into the ring to get to the huts). We got everyone inside, and Jordan calls down from the huts,

“You’re good to drive the truck up here.”

Oh crap. I think to myself. This is the gray truck. I’ve never driven the gray truck before.

Panic sets in, but I knock the block of wood out from behind the back wheels, throw it in the truck bed and climb into the drivers seat. Exhaling deeply, I start the car. The engine roars: this is a good sign. I can totally do this. I pop the car into reverse, and it gently rolls backwards. I shift into first gear and play the game of letting out the clutch enough to get the gas to engage, and it dies. Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod. I start the car again, and repeat. Same result. This is bad. This is very bad. I’m never going to get there. They are going to fire me. Then, I realize the emergency brake is still on. WHY DO I ALWAYS FORGET THE E-BRAKE! I pull the lever to release the brake and try again. The engine roars with life, and I move an inch before the engine dies again. One more try. Another. No dice. Frustrated and embarrassed, I swallow my pride and call Jordan.

“Hellooo?”

“Is there a trick to this truck? Because I am having some trouble.”

“Yeah, the clutch is a little tricky. It’s ok, I’ll just walk over.”

I can’t even describe the sinking feeling in my stomach. I have failed. He is judging me. I realize the only reason I even got the car to go in reverse was because it was parked on a hill. Sigh.

The next day, Alyssa (cheetah intern) and I arrive to work at 8am, and radio the keepers to see where we should go (they come in at 6:30am). Jordan tells us to drive the blue truck out to bears. Oh heck yes! A chance to prove myself! Dammit, I can drive stick!! We pile in the blue truck and head out to bears.

So, the gray truck has a tricky clutch, and a shotty e-brake. The blue truck… Well, before turning this truck on in the morning, you have to pump the gas three times before it will start. Another quirk is that you can start it in second gear, because in first gear the car acts almost like it’s an automatic. And since we never go higher than second gear, this makes it incredibly easy to use. The trickiest part seems to be to remember the e-brakes have a stomp thing to turn on, and a handle thing to release them. And then, when you want to shut the engine off, you have to pull a tab out from the steering wheel console as you turn the key to off. Fun quirks.

Anyway, I drove us out to bears, successfully. And later that day when putting up bears, Jordan puts me to the same task.

“You’re going to drive the gray truck in. You can do it. I believe in you.” Well, thanks, Jordan. That does help. “Just don’t put it in reverse. Drive forward and around the loop.”

Ok, well. That should be fun. It’s uphill.

Have I ever mentioned that I hate rolling backwards in stick? It freaks me out because I feel like I have no control. At least there would be no cars behind me to crash into. Just a hotwire fence… So we get the bears in and I jump in the truck remembering both e-brakes (the block of wood and the hand release). I start the car and the engine roars with life. I release the clutch and engage the gas and just rooolllll back wards… and the truck dies. No, no, no, no, no… I can do this! I stop to collect myself and take a few deep breaths. I start the car again. Gas it up and release the clutch and suddenly I am moving forward! Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod!!! Ha!! Heck yes!! I was praising myself all the way around bear drive through and back to the huts. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!

Oh, and that ten push-ups thing? He really did say that, but it’s not a real rule.