KEN'S KORNER - APRIL 2006

“PARTY FAVORS”
By Author, Educator and Big City Driver Ken Skaggs

I’m really getting sick and tired of truck drivers who do drugs. Don’t get me wrong, I know that ninety-nine percent of drivers don’t do drugs and are law-abiding citizens, but the drug dealers and drug doers make a lot of noise at some of these truck stops and it blows me away that nobody seems to care. Where are the Guardian Angels when you need them?

Remember them? Way back in 1979, Curtis Sliwa founded the Guardian Angels in New York City. They wore red satin jackets and red berets and they literally cleaned the streets. They would show up with brooms in hand and sweep up trash, paint over graffiti and chase the riff-raff off the streets. They stood up to gangs and drug dealers with their bare hands. Of course, most of them knew martial arts and were some pretty tough guys. Well, I’m happy to report that they are still in business and bigger than ever, but for some reason, they are not in the news as much as they used to be, even though their story has taken some amazing twists lately.

Curtis Sliwa and his Guardian Angels not only stand up to street gangs, they also stand up to the Mob, which is alive and well in New York City. Maybe that’s why most newspapers won’t tell their story (for fear of retaliation). According to Sliwa, John Gotti Jr. and company tried to kill him on two occasions, including three bullets in the back one day in a taxicab, where somehow he managed to jump out a window while it was moving and, in his words, “become a speed bump.” Just last month the trial ended in a mistrial (go figure). You can read all about it on their website at www.guardianangels.org.

You have to admire this man’s courage. In the face of death threats and attempts on his life, he still stands up for what’s right. He does a morning radio show on WABC (AM 770) in New York City, where he talks about everything, with no fear. And if that wasn’t enough, his co-host Ron Kuby, who used to be a lawyer for Gotti, testified against Sliwa in the recent trial. They still work together every day, and you can even listen to their show, “Curtis & Kuby” on the web at www.wabcradio.com from 5 to 10 AM Eastern time.

Over the last twenty-seven years, since they started, six Guardian Angels have lost their lives fighting crime. These guys are the real unsung heroes. It’s one thing to be a police officer or a military person (where you get a gun and plenty of back-up), but these guys go out there barehanded with bright red jackets and berets, standing out like sore thumbs. That’s not meant to take anything away from police and military, they are heroes indeed, fighting for us in the trenches, and we surely honor and appreciate their service and all they do. But for those unsung heroes from the Guardian Angels, today I sing their song. In honor of the six fallen Angels, here are their names: Malcolm Brown; Frank Melvin; Juan Olivia; Sherman Geiger; Glen Paul Doser; and James Richards. May they rest in peace. Please visit their website and make a donation to support these brave men and read all about their missions. Or, better yet, if you have the intestinal fortitude, become a volunteer. They are nationwide and desperately needed in most areas.

Anyway, back to the problem at hand. I can’t begin to count the number of times I heard people on the CB asking if anyone needed any “party favors”. I have even called the cops on a few of them, when I was able to identify exactly who they were. And whenever I’m lucky enough to get a truck number of a buyer, I always call their company too. Most make no effort at all to conceal their whereabouts, as if nobody cares and everybody does it. Some try to be sneaky and use code words - as if we can’t figure that out.

Sometimes I’ll plant a seed on the CB with a comment like, “Why doesn’t somebody call the cops on this crap?” And usually, I’ll get a reply like, “Why don’t you mind your own business?” Or they say things like, “They don’t bother me, I don’t bother them.” Sometimes they’ll call me a snitch and ask me where I am, trying to intimidate me. Of course, I don’t reveal myself, but I can honestly say, they don’t call me the “Phoneslinger” for nothing!

If you lived in a neighborhood where drug dealers stood on your corner and sold their product in plain view, you’d call the police on them, wouldn’t you? I think most people would, except maybe the customers and their friends. But then, why not in do the same at a truck stop? This is, after all, our neighborhood. This is our community, these truck stops. It’s up to us to keep them clean. We don’t need to wear red jackets and berets and go fist-to-cuffs with them, just take note and call, or at least challenge them on the CB to get out of our neighborhood. At least scare them and tell them that you called the police and maybe they will at least leave.

I understand that it can be very difficult to quit using drugs. I have known a few people who have had their problems, including people in my own family. They need to know that they can do it, with a little help. Part of that help, I think, is making it difficult for them to find it. As truckers with cell phones, we can do that much. So please, don’t just sit there and listen to it, do something. And if you know somebody on drugs, tell them you love them but they had better stop before they wind up dead or in jail.

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