As a child there were two occupations that intrigued me: Medicine and Trucking. For one thing I wanted to help people and there were many role models I learned about in school. On the other side of the coin there were people that came in my life who drove big trucks and as a little girl I used to love it when one of my sister's friends showed up with a truck. Later as a young woman I remember driving down the street in mine and honking my horn. My mom would yell at me to get that big thing from in front of her house before the cops showed up and the look of glee and admiration of my son who ran and climbed up in the passenger seat happy that Mom was home. My Mom only spoke truth because of the fact we lived off a main street that wasn't zoned for trucks.
Then there was medicine: I had been ill enough to be hospitalized but what really got me was the first surgery that I was old enough to remember having was the cesarean birth of my son. Even though the operation takes time, time flew by for me for I was the one operated on. Only thing I remember was the anesthesiologist who brought me to enough for me to see my son whilst in the Operating Theatre then putting me back under, then Intensive Care post op. And don't forget the show M*A*S*H. Even though it was a comedy, around that time, my sister Deborah had just enlisted in the Army Reserve. She had been in Dentistry for some time so that gave her rank in the service. I wanted that too, but even at my age the Army Doctor did not pass me on the physical exam because they discovered early back problems. So much for 'Hot Lips' the Surgical Nurse.
There were other issues I had along with the world having theirs so Marketing & Retail has helped me in many ways even today in my present career. Air Transportation came along and lit that fire once again for Big Trucks. I was working for a company called Pony Express which was a subsidiary of Well Fargo. The little vans had outgrown me quickly for I had an eye on the straight trucks and semis that came in. One of my co-workers helped me with learning about the gears in the straight truck he drove mind you I never drove a standard shift of any kind. I had enrolled in Trucking School and was having trouble because of that. But I was determined for I had to pay this student loan back I took out to go. In a class of at least 100 6 were women, 3 were Black women and 5 graduated out of a class of 100. There were not many women even in the late 80's when I graduated that were truckers. Back in my hometown and in the cities and towns across the U.S, women would see me in my truck and many were inspired by me..They figured if a petite 4'9 120 lb. brown girlie like me could they could too! Thus whence came the C.B. handle 'Smurfette'
Because of my travels, my network is diverse. With the Internet becoming the 'now' thing in communication, I have fit in with people all over the world nicely and now my phone list includes people from all over the world. This is my bio, the first one I have penned, there will be more, probably not as long as this one though, Karyn aka Smurfette and more alias, mostly good.
© 2011 Karyn D. Walker Professional Sub Contractor ~ Transportation
