But wait! There’s an older truck/student in the district, one that we used for the shade project at Otis last spring and this fall. It’s a dump truck, not a pick-up truck (so it’s bigger and way badder). I drove this truck several times; so, too did our principal, Jeff Knoth. I think–I’m not kidding–it was built in the 1940s.

This truck has a teeny tiny sweet spot–maybe a nanomillimeter long–in which the clutch actually engages. Miss that sweet spot and the truck stalls out entirely. Moreover, the brake is so stiff I got a charlie horse in my calf from stomping on it. Truly, I was limping! And the cab door doesn’t open from the inside…which can lead to panicky feelings on a hot day when you’re dripping in sweat just from driving the darn thing from one point to another.

This is a really fun truck to drive across a blacktop on which many parents and small children are gathered, anxiously awaiting a chance to plant daisies.

Let me try to get a photo of that truck for you, as more evidence, yes, of the “fat” in this district.