What surprised you about this reading?
In reading "Friday Night at Iowa 80" I was surprised by the reaction of the truckers to the interviewer, Rick Zollo. Many of them were suspicious and were extremely hesitant to talk to him, because they were afraid he may be a "spotter." After learning this I was no longer surprised by the reaction of the truckers to Rick, but instead by the fact that they are constantly afraid of being fined for violations they are basically forced to make in some instances. With deregulation, the trucker community has been given the shaft in a number of ways, a fact which they are completely aware of.
What intrigued you about this reading?
What intrigued me most about this reading was in the description of their community as being very inclusive, and suspicious of outsiders. The truckers are constantly aware of how they have been taken advantage of by the government of the United States, and must take much of their policing and such upon themselves. At the Iowa 80 truck stop, it was pretty much left to the truckers to police, and would often report shoplifters and drug busts, because they know if they don't do anything about it, it will end up biting them. With the example of shoplifters, if they are not caught, it will in turn raise the prices for the truckers in the community.
What disturbed you about this reading?
What disturbed me most about this reading were the injustices faced by the truckers. In particular, the fact that they are forced to do their own unloading, even though legally they are not supposed to do that. But then if they do not unload they have to pay someone else under the table, out of their own pocket. With deregulation, fines from state to state are completely different. Also, they are only paid while their odometer is ticking by, which is really messed up when you consider the fact they have to spend hours unloading-a job which they do not get paid for.
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