In the small mid-western town in which I grew up, a truck can easily act as a status symbol. In my high school, owning an old truck that was lifted just right with a muffler at the correct volume could help elevate one’s social standing with friends and girls. Once I earned my driver’s license I quickly learned that an old Chevy or Ford was just as popular as a new sports car. Unfortunately, without a job my desire to be popular would have to wait. Then after college, once I had begun working full-time, I purchased my first truck. It was this late-model Chevy that would become the best truck ever.
After searching for weeks through the classifieds and local used lots, I came upon a gleaming red 1996 Chevy Silverado 2500 4×4. It was sitting by the side of the road holding a “For Sale” sign, lonely and searching for a driver. Love at first site would be an understatement. Clifford the Big Red Truck, as it would later be named, was everything that I had been searching for in a truck. He was a Chevy with four-wheel drive, a long bed, standard cab, 350 V8, etc., etc., etc. I was dumbstruck. The time had come for me to earn my position in small-town society. Indah Cargo Bandung
Three days and a couple of trips to the bank later and I finally owned the truck that I had envisioned. Over the next four years, Clifford and I made many lasting memories together. I utilized his tailgate at football games. I hauled supplies for my house in his bed. I drove him through banks of snow and fields of corn stubble. I washed and waxed him with care. I even proposed to my wife in his cab.
Then, after two years of marriage, a bundle of joy was on the way and Clifford had to be traded in for a more family and fuel-friendly set of wheels. I still reminisce of summer days, rolling down an old country road with the windows down and the radio up. Although I can still look at pictures, I will never again be able to realize the feelings of freedom and power that Clifford brought to my life for those four short years. Looking back now, it is quite clear that Clifford, my 1996 Chevy, was absolutely the best truck that I have ever owned.
