Roadwhore
(noun)
1: one who is willing to travel considerable distances
in the pursuit of monies and/or fame
There are those who make their living on the road. Some use well rounded heels, others have gifted hands, there are many who rely solely on the gift of gab, and a few have only what they know and can resolve, to sell.
My experience has for the most part been with the construction and maintenance of nuclear power plants. As service and maintenance stand currently, one can run into the same faces from thirty years ago on a regular basis all across the U.S. today.
Some of the bigger players like Westinghouse or General Electric as well as many lesser know contractors and suppliers can have thousands of representatives busy at any given time depending on what work is being done or how many refueling outages are going on across the country. The teams can consist of union electricians and millwrights, company technicians, vendor reps, engineers, managers, and many more.
Nuclear generating plants have an understandably high level of security involved at all times. It is not unusual to turn and see uniformed individuals with rifles and sidearms on patrol. In some areas, video is being recorded continuously.
Stories are told and myths begin to develop over many decades.
In an office, a small group of us were entertained by a short video clip one afternoon during a lull in the normally intense action. The classic recycled specimen was played out in full.
Anytime one goes to work at one of these facilities, among many things, a urine sample must be given for drug screening. On screen was a good-ol-boy wearing a cotton welders type cap, plaid shirt, red spenders, jeans and workboots. He had just emptied all his pockets and picked up his cup to head into the bathroom to ventilate his spleen. Bathroom door closes, nurse proceeds with the mans paperwork. The gent returns and is given two small bottles to divide the sample between. The nurse must witness this to maintain the integrity of the sample. The prankster pours half into each bottle, a few words are had with the nurse, he holds one bottle up to the light, then swiftly drinks both bottles right down. The nurse could be seen in profile. She appeared to come close, without retching. The man then reached inside his shirt and produced the resealable bag that had contained most likely the myth`s apple juice. I wish the audio had been loud enough to pick up whatever variation on " that looks a little weak, let me run it through one more time" the man had used.
We were told that after a bit of disciplining and the possibility of plant access denial, the fellow was allowed to give a legitimate sample.
There are some who believe they can recall this tale from the military more than a half century ago. Regardless, to have witnessed it as close to in person as I will ever get made me want to swill chilled beverages back at the hotel, and tell other stories of horseplay, shenanigans, and tomfoolery.
(roadwhores.com might amuse some or even be useful to others)