Article Surfing Archive

I, like pretty much every man, woman, child, cat, dog and mouse in the country, am something of a Facebook addict. Sure, I can deny it * and always claim that time spent on it in the office is invaluable networking time (even when networking involves playing a rip off of Scrabble with old friends) * but there's something of a compulsive delight in spying on old acquaintances and seeing what they*re up to. Then of course, there's the communities* so many improbably named Facebook groups with even more improbable numbers of members. Everything from *The Drunken Text Message Appreciation Society* to *A Cup of Tea Solves Everything*is represented, and more are springing up every day.

Naturally my career at a freight exchange means I have an above average interest in lorries and lorry drivers, so it stands to reason that one day this would collide with my other life-sapping obsessive interest * Facebook. I began looking through the various pages, and was more than a little surprised by the sheer quantity of groups devoted to expressing dislike and mockery towards trucking society. There are a few groups which particularly attracted my attention, including:

'Nothing angers me more than lorry drivers hogging the motorway!'

Personally, I can think of quite a few things that anger me more than lorry drivers hogging the motorway: famine, genocide, pizza menus through my door * and that's just off the top of my head! Regardless, 54 people have independently thought *Yes, lorries on the motorway is Number One in my list of annoyances,* and fair play to them.

'"Lorry Baiting" appreciation society'

This one's just plain mean, and easily tops the *lesser evil* of haulage vehicles hogging the motorway. For those not in the know, this involves cars travelling in front of lorries on the motorway a mile per hour slower than the lorry behind them, only to speed up a little when the lorry tries to overtake, forcing the lorry back behind. Cruel, unnecessary and ultimately dangerous * it currently has a membership of 54 but ultimately the danger involved in the *sport* could see this number dropping.

54. Let's face it, this is a very dangerous *sport* and, personally I would prefer them to abandon their game rather than needing another kind of driver to take them to hospital.

'Lorry Drivers Suck'

Finally, there's the plain ol* *Lorry Drivers Suck* group. A title both simple and to the point, exactly like the group's membership of 29.

Amongst all the hateful anti-trucker groups (trust me, there are a few * some of which won*t pass the editorial standards of article distribution websites (thanks to the liberal use of *f*, *c* and *b* words) there are occasionally touching groups * a personal favourite of mine (and with a massive 1381 members) expresses the disappointment that lorries consistently fail to live up to the expectation that they will transform into Optimus Prime from Transformers. Elsewhere is *Lorry Drivers have Rights Too* * a heart-warming call for equality diminished only by the sorry looking single member currently keeping the group warm.

I don*t know what traumatic event happened in these Facebook group creators* childhoods to make them so vehemently anti-trucker * perhaps they had a nasty accident with a hub cap, or they were beaten up by an HGV * but I instantly felt a need to redress the balance somewhat. I created a Facebook group in praise of truckers, defending against a tirade of stereotypes. Join it if you want * *Just because I*m a Lorry Driver Doesn*t Mean** - I can*t speak for everyone else, but I for one won*t bite.