Real-life story: Linglestown Truck-O-Rama

Oh the things you see while working away on the porch at St. Thomas Roasters in Linglestown.

A mini-drama of sorts unfolded before my eyes Thursday morning that points to a leftover item that needs to be addressed in the new and improved village that now sports two roundabouts.

It all started with a trucker moseying his 18-wheeler past the coffee house. I got a look at the burly dude and he was obviously trying to sort something out as he crept closer and closer to the square's roundabout that, by the way, is not designed for monstrous trucks.

Thankfully, he navigated the roundabout without ripping out plants or running over curbs.

Then the fun began ...

The trucker got turned around somewhere and made a second voyage through the square. It turns out that he was trying to offload several huge bags of coffee beans at Roasters.

Roasters owner Java Geoff ran across the street to strategize with the trucker. They decided to park the rig along Linglestown Road directly across from the shop and try to get the deed done without causing traffic to backup.

As is the usual case, some muscular men – that's not me – sprung into action. They dodged traffic to get to the truck, took on bone-crushing heavy bags of beans and carted them into the shop at break-neck pace.

In the midst of this flurry of action to guarantee an ongoing flow of our favorite craft coffees, who shows up but one of Lower Paxton's finest. The officer put on this emergency lights, sounded his siren, pulled his car in front on oncoming traffic and began policing.

After a quick assessment of the situation, he threatened to give the trucker a big fine for being in a no-trucker zone and told him to immediately move his rig to allow a growing line of traffic to move through the square.

Our trucker friend – remember he's delivering our supply of caffeine – was frustrated because he was merely trying to make a local delivery. That's his job, right?

Geoff and the posse of customers quickly lugged the last bag across the street, the trucker handed Geoff a bill and went on his way with the cop on his tail.

Fortunately, the officer decided against issuing a ticket, but this tale points to the need for Lower Paxton Township and PennDOT to address the heavy truck traffic that continues to flow through Linglestown.

I'll have more on this later, but in the meantime please weigh in on this issue by leaving comments on this post.