Laguna trucker’s lot not easy

I am a commercial truck driver for a local construction company that will be doing the grading on the Mar Vista project. We did the “grubbing” of the land on our initial start of the job. I am also an eight-year resident of the downtown Laguna Beach area.

We (the drivers) encountered residents and neighbors living in the area of Mar Vista obstructing trucks as we were removing the vegetation from the lot. I personally was not only threatened by one of the female neighbors, but she placed herself between my truck and the road, snapping pictures and yelling, “Hit me, go ahead, hit me.” I calmly instructed the person to move and stated, “Lady, I am just doing my job.”

Let’s talk about my thankless job for just one second. Everything that you own is brought to you by truck. Houses, hotels, offices and buildings don’t just build themselves. You see, someone has the trivial job of building that Starbucks for you. That latte doesn’t just appear in front of your eyes. It is a difficult task to operate 80,000 pounds of truck. Then consider tight Laguna streets and cars and SUVs that won’t give us the time of day or fit in those little white marked parking places on the Pacific Coast Highway. These streets and this thankless job will test you at every turn.

Two-way radios and CBs are used to coordinate trucks in and out of Mar Vista, Nye’s, Diamond, Montage and other streets in what I call “the quiet area of Laguna.” We also stage on PCH (if we can find a place to park). Our intention is not to tie up residents, and we try to be minimally invasive.

When people threaten your career by putting themselves in harm’s way, I draw the line.

And whether we are importing the dirt from Mar Vista -- to build up the grade for the future desalinization plant in Capo or covering up the Marines’ trash in Pendleton -- I think we are trying to make this a better place to live. And for God’s sake, bringing up your property value. So, to the lady screaming at me with the veins in her neck popping out, “Go work somewhere else” -- maybe if you don’t like what is going on around you, you should move somewhere else. This is where my work is. And for the time being, this is where I will be working.

When you see a truck on the road, it may be building your next dream home, bringing you your next meal or one of the many things that you use every day. Give the driver the space and courtesy that 40 tons deserves.

* Jim Dane lives in Laguna Beach.