From: Jolinda Smiar
Taylorsville
I want to address the Onions in the paper lately concerning the farmer on the country road at midnight. I am going to guess that the letter writer does not know a farmer or doesn’t realize that a farmer needs to be on the road to go between fields.
Did the letter writer ever think that the farmer on the country road at midnight has just gotten done in the fields after being there since before sunup, or even the night before? Probably not, because if the person did he or she wouldn’t be complaining about them taking up space on a country road at midnight.
I am not a farmer, but worked in an office for 12-plus years, which allowed me to work with many farmers in Bartholomew County. I still call many of them friends today. In those 12-plus years, I learned that farmers work when they can. Mother Nature is their time clock, and she hasn’t been very nice these past few years.
I get that chances are at midnight someone is going to or coming from work, and would also like to get where they are going, but so is that farmer in that tractor. He or she is probably dead tired and has been up for many, many hours. That farmer is probably doing their utmost best to stay awake and get home safely while ensuring the people they are sharing the road with get to their destination safely.
Maybe the country road the letter writer is speaking of isn’t such that the farmer can pull the tractor over on the side of the road and safely maneuver the tractor.
People don’t often think about the person operating the tractor, they just think, “I’m in a hurry and need this slow-moving thing out of my way now!” Farmers need to travel on roadways to get to the field, barn, feed lot or driveway. They can’t magical travel between places on a flying carpet. The tractor needs to be on the road, and we as neighbors of the farmer need to learn some patience.
What an amazing world this would be if everyone could just try to get along. Oh, and next time someone eats a salad, steak, hamburger or any other form of food, thank a farmer. People wouldn’t be eating those items if farmers didn’t grow or raise it. And, if you grew or raised it yourself, you are a farmer.
