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Atilt L r
Page 14
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TruckNet UK's Rikki Chequer encounters stereotyping on both sides of the fence.
A recent article in the Melksham local paper about the Wiltshire town's residents calling for its lorry park to be closed caused a strong reaction on the forum.
The residents' comments that the drivers caused a mess, urinated in public, deliberately made noise at unsocial hours and other such complaints were countered by some of the forum users writing to the paper. Many pointed out that it is a small minority of drivers that cause such problems and that most users of the lorry park don't act in such a way; some even registered complaints that professional drivers were being stereotyped because of the actions of a few.
This is somewhat ironic, considering that just a few weeks later, the topic of the annual Appleby horse fair came up on the forums after the Highways Agency issued a warning of delays and horse-drawn vehicles on the A66.
This announcement led to some of the members of the same forum that had complained about stereotyping of professional drivers making the same sort of generalisations about the type of people who would be attending the Appleby event.
I believe some individuals might well relieve a parked-up truck of its diesel. just as there are a few drivers who would happily urinate against their truck wheels in full view of the Melksham residents. The difference is that while no residents of Melksham were willing to go into print to defend the vast majority of truckers who don't abuse the lorry park (that was left to the forum users), there were drivers who strongly pointed out that to complain about being treated like scum because of the actions of a few, and then to do the same to another group, meant forfeiting the moral high ground.
Does this mean the drivers using the forum are more tolerant and open-minded than folk from Melksham? Possibly. But I wouldn't dream of stereotyping al/ the residents of the town in such a manner. My point is that it is far easier to argue an unpopular view or challenge a widely held misconception on an anonymous internet forum than it is from inside a local community.