As the sun sets on another stretch of highway, I, Walter Gatlin, pull back the curtain on a world where the roar of engines mingles with whispered secrets. Rollin' 18 Podcast takes you through the unspoken narratives of 'lot lizards', the sex workers who navigate the shadows of truck stops. They're individuals with stories that challenge the heart and call on our deepest reserves of empathy. My own journey through this twilight realm has taught me lessons in humanity, dignity, and the profound impact of respect. It's a testament to the crossroads we face not just on the asphalt but in the intersections of life itself.
This episode isn't just about the miles clocked or the cargo hauled; it's about the pulse of a community often seen but rarely understood. As a veteran of the road, I share tales that span from unexpected acts of kindness to confrontations with stark realities. Our discussions with these women reveal the stark contrasts of trucking culture, the risks taken by those behind the wheel, and the hope that perhaps a kind word can steer a life towards a new horizon. Join me as we cast a light on the human stories that trucking carries along, each one a reminder of the shared journey we're all on.
Text me anytime with news, suggestions, and stories at (641) 990-5641. God bless, be safe, and keep it between the lines drivers.
As the sun sets on another stretch of highway, I, Walter Gatlin, pull back the curtain on a world where the roar of engines mingles with whispered secrets. Rollin' 18 Podcast takes you through the unspoken narratives of 'lot lizards', the sex workers who navigate the shadows of truck stops. They're individuals with stories that challenge the heart and call on our deepest reserves of empathy. My own journey through this twilight realm has taught me lessons in humanity, dignity, and the profound impact of respect. It's a testament to the crossroads we face not just on the asphalt but in the intersections of life itself.
This episode isn't just about the miles clocked or the cargo hauled; it's about the pulse of a community often seen but rarely understood. As a veteran of the road, I share tales that span from unexpected acts of kindness to confrontations with stark realities. Our discussions with these women reveal the stark contrasts of trucking culture, the risks taken by those behind the wheel, and the hope that perhaps a kind word can steer a life towards a new horizon. Join me as we cast a light on the human stories that trucking carries along, each one a reminder of the shared journey we're all on.
Text me anytime with news, suggestions, and stories at (641) 990-5641. God bless, be safe, and keep it between the lines drivers.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to Rollin' 18 Podcast. This 40-year veteran is here for anyone wanting to stay up to date with the trucking world. Grab your coffee, hop on board and let's get on down the road with Walter Gatlin.
Speaker 2:
Hello everybody and welcome to Rollin' 18 Podcast. I am your host, walter Gatlin. I'm from the beautiful town, city whatever you want to call it of Grinnell, iowa. Today's topic is a touchy one because people are like what are you doing? Why are you going to explain to everybody your experiences with lot lizards? I call them ladies of the evening. Most people call them prostitutes. Most truckers call them lot lizards. I call them ladies of the evening. Most people call them prostitutes. Most truckers call them lot lizards. A lot lizard is a slang term used in the trucking industry to refer to a prostitute who solicits drivers at truck stops.
Speaker 2:
Now, it's important to note that not all individuals at truck stops are engaged in this activity, and I would say most are not, and it is essential to treat everyone with respect. I thought it would be cool to tell my story of my experiences with ladies of the evening at truck stops. Now, we did call them all kinds of different things. People referred to them with nasty names like lot lizards. As far as I'm concerned, that's pretty nasty. You know, it's easy to get mad at somebody when they come up to your truck and try and solicit you, especially if they are just a vile dog, nasty looking, needles in the arm type person, and I'm not judging them, I'm just saying look, when, when, when you're that bad and you're that bad off in life and you can smell them 10 feet away, yeah, you're going to get mad. If you had a lady show up to your truck that looked like a perfect 10 and she solicited you, I'm sure you would treat her a lot differently than you do certain people that just are nasty, and it's not appropriate to offer tips for spotting individuals engaged in illegal activities. If you have concerns about safety at your truck stop, it's best to contact law enforcement or the management of the truck stop. If you're a truck driver, it's important to prioritize your safety and well-being while on the road, because some of these so-called lot lizards today are not actually lot lizards. What they do is they get you engaged into a conversation while two or three other people are hiding and then, once they get your confidence, they all jump in on there and rob you, possibly hurt you, maybe even kill you. So that's something you have to think about this day and age.
Speaker 2:
But my first experience ever with the lady of the Evening was when I watched the movie Smoking the Bandit back in the 70s. I didn't start driving until 1984. And I kind of sort of knew what that was, but I still wasn't too sure. And then, of course, other people talked about it and then I realized the extent of what that was and then at first I was kind of disgusted, because you know the way I was raised. I mean, I can't judge those that go out and do that sort of thing for a living. But I can tell you this after talking to many of them and I'll explain to you why I did in a moment but after talking to many of them throughout the years, it is not something 99% of them want to do. Why they feel they don't have any other choices is beyond me.
Speaker 2:
I have heard many excuses, but the point is that they are lost and it is important as a Christian, as a person of any faith, as a person with morality, to plant the seeds and walk away. You can't put the whole world on your shoulders. You just can't do it. You're not God, so you can't handle the pressures of, you know, 7 billion people. But what you can do is you can plant seeds, and that's what I did and that was the extent of my involvement with Ladies of the Evening.
Speaker 2:
And it all started out one time and I can't remember the exact story, but I do remember the exact premise and I was having a conversation with somebody, a woman inside a truck stop that looked like just any other woman going up down the road. You know, a receptionist, a lady that works behind the counter, a rocket scientist, it doesn't matter. She looked just like any other woman. And when I found out what she did, I was literally in shock, but I didn't let it show. She had asked me at the end of our conversation if she could use my CB. I was real hesitant.
Speaker 2:
Then I started to realize certain things that I had heard in the past on the CB about other drivers keeping an eye on those women, especially those of us that don't participate in such a thing, in order to keep them safe, because even back then there was monsters. Back then monsters killed people and that's what we have to look at. We have to look at things that are realistically so. You know, you don't want to get involved, you want to close the curtain. You want to tell shoo these people away, realize they're in a parking lot, a dark parking lot. They're doing what they think they have to do. Believe lot, they're doing what they think they have to do. Believe me, they wouldn't be doing it if they didn't think they absolutely had to do it. No woman in the world wants to defile herself with some nasty, you know, and most people that do accept that sort of thing are probably nasty, smelly truck drivers anyway.
Speaker 2:
So imagine what the lady of the evening has to go through in order to make a few bucks and imagine what she is thinking that she has to do this to make a living. There's no other choice for her. I don't understand it To this day. I don't understand it. I have to give credit where credit is due and that's to God. He knows what he's doing.
Speaker 2:
I'm sure a lot of the women that I've dealt with throughout the years I'm sure they're off of that by now Quite a few of them were at the end of the rope anyway and they just didn't want to do that sort of. So I accepted her offer to allow her to use my CB radio and it was kind of awkward. We sat up there. But the more I got to know these ladies, the more I got to realize that they are human beings, that they have a life. Most of them had family, several of them had children and they, for whatever reason, were doing what they were doing. But I was now all of a sudden their protector. And I'm not saying that because I'm a man, I'm saying that because I'm there, and this was before cell phones. Most of the time I'm there, I'm on the radio, I'm talking with other drivers. They know what I'm doing, especially my friends. They're keeping an eye out for her as well and we're doing our best to make sure that whatever happens, it doesn't turn out to be a violent situation.
Speaker 2:
When these ladies of the evening talked with me and discussed this situation with me, it was very vague. Of course they don't want to go into detail either, because they don't want you to think they're just some sort of slut. And maybe one or two of them were. But for the most part, most of the women were caught up in a situation they didn't know how to get out of. You know, you don't get to the bottom of that barrel without having to swim very hard to get to the bottom, because naturally we float to the top. So obviously these ladies were traumatized in one form or another. They were confused. They felt that was the only way they could do things and you treat them with respect. I've sat in my truck and talked to several of them, several of them I remember specifically discussing things about talking about other things other than what she is doing out in that evening. We had lengthy conversations. There was one woman in particular that really struck me because by the time we got done with our conversation she got out and went home and I never seen her back there again. So obviously what we discussed worked and she decided not to do such a thing. I could be wrong, but I got a really good feeling that that's what happened.
Speaker 2:
There was other times that I met gals and I'm like man I would you know this is back when I was in my 20s and 30s. I'm like this person would make a great girlfriend or a great wife. It's so sad, it almost breaks your heart when she advertised on the radio and then somebody called her over to their truck. And you know, when they called her over, we would go to a split channel or a different channel and they would tell her where they're at and she would go over there and we would definitely keep an eye on things. I would get back on the basic channel and say, hey, keep an eye on this row, this particular truck, make sure that you know she gets out safely. And then you got your guys that'll get on there and, being men you know, just be rude. And they're covering up their, their own pain and their own stupidity with a bunch of snarky words and trying to hurt people's feelings. And good thing she wasn't listening. I hope the guy that she went to didn't have his radio on, but you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:
I was curious if people were still talking about this sort of thing, because I don't see women of the evening very much anymore. I haven't seen one probably. Well, since I've been with the farm I haven't seen one in over three years. But when I was on the road once every blue moon, maybe once a year, I would see something and I would get a very small glance of what I thought it might be. It might not even have been that, but I wanted to go online and see if there were people still talking about it and there was a question that came up, a legitimate question what is a lot lizard? What are some tips for spotting them at truck stops? And a couple of these responses I want to read to you. And here's one from James Van Dyke. And this was nine months ago and he said truck drivers and long haulers what is your craziest lot lizard story? And this guy posted I no longer drive truck for living, but for a while I put on the miles.
Speaker 2:
At one point I was hauling bridge beams up to Michigan and, being over length, could not move at night. I pulled into a rest area on the interstate just south of Detroit. Should have known better. It was too close to a metro area. I sacked out and about an hour after dark I noticed girls working the various spots. Shortly after the large black woman knocks on my door and asks if I want to date, I said nah, just want to sleep. She then informed me I couldn't sleep there. Those were her parking spots and he said really. I explained I could not move until daylight and she said if that truck starts it can move, then explained that if people were sleeping there and then she explained she would not get the turnover that she needed. So you know this is crazy. This is a crazy story. She went on to explain. About an hour later she came back and knocked and woke him up again, this time with some guy hovering in the background. What I asked she said it was real simple. I was taking up her space and if I did not move I would probably wake up with cut tires or an ice-picked radiator. I then inquired if the on-ramp would be acceptable to promise and moved there. Not friendly, but I guess a girl has to make a living. That's an extreme case. I've never had a situation where a woman had brought back several gentlemen and threatened to cut tires and poke holes in radiators. That is an extreme situation.
Speaker 2:
It's one of many stories people probably have about lot lizards, ladies of the evening, I should say. Here's a guy by the name of Larry Harris and he says many times. One particular time I had taken my wife with me on a trip to Atlanta or from Atlanta to Orlando. There is a rust area close to Gainesville, florida, on I-75 that was well known among truckers to have lot lizards. He said it must have been shortly after midnight when we pulled into the park at the truck section. I had just shut off the engine when three or four of them had jumped up on my running board on the driver's side. One of them asked me right away if I wanted a date. I said I would ask my wife who was sitting in the pasture site, and just like that they were gone. What a kicker though it was that my wife said they recognized my truck is why they rushed to meet us.
Speaker 2:
In my 42 years of driving I had never had any of them in my truck. One asked me one time if she could use my microphone on my CB radio to advertise her service. No way, no, telling what kind of germs she had. See, that's not the way the ladies of the evening were when I was driving back in the 80s and 90s and of course this comment was about 10 months ago. So it's like they're so much different today and they are pretty scummier. That's probably why there's not very many around, but needless to say, so are a lot of truck drivers these days.
Speaker 2:
I mean truck driving really. Drivers themselves have really letting themselves go and we know that to be a fact. I mean, there's quite a few of them out there that don't do the right thing. They dress scummy, they don't shower maybe once a week. It's crazy out there, especially in the cities, where these guys run in the city constantly and they deal with this kind of garbage. You can see all the garbage and poop bags and everything else in the parking lot. It is disgusting and these are disgusting drivers. For the most part I would say 75% of us do the right thing. You know.
Speaker 2:
I'm not saying you have to wear cowboy boots, cowboy hat, tuck your shirt in a button-up shirt, even though I do that. I always tuck my shirt in, I always wear a belt and I always wear a boot. But the point being is that's how I like driving my truck. I don't like to be so comfortable. I nod off while I'm driving. I dress up like I'm supposed to be working and then I go down the road and then when I get done, I get into whatever I want to be comfortable with and I go to bed.
Speaker 2:
But as far as ladies of the evening, there are a lot of stories out there. There are a lot of women out there that had some really rough times in their life and they were just looking for respect from anybody. I believe I did my part by having normal, valid conversations with women of the evening and I believe that them using my radio and us having conversations and quite a few of us drivers keeping an eye on them and keeping them safe. I believe that helped them move forward and get out of that profession and I'm proud of that. I really am.
Speaker 2:
I could not take the opportunity or use that opportunity to have sex with any of these women because of the fact that I was scared to death of disease. Just like I never did drugs on the road, I was scared to death that I was going to kill somebody. I was scared to death, I was going to get addicted. I was scared to death of everything and I was kind of a hypochondriac when I was a kid anyway. So all of that kind of helped me, even though it was very stressful. You know, growing up being that way, I did not like doing things.
Speaker 2:
As far as a woman talking on my CB mic, I never worried about that. I never had a problem. Like this guy said, no way I was going to let her use my mic, no telling what kind of germs she had. That wasn't a thought back then. Most women were pretty classy. Most women showered every single day. Most women cleaned themselves. Like I said, they didn't want to be in that position and they were there. It took people like us who didn't utilize their services and did have normal conversations. We built up their confidence where they would open up to us and, as a Christian me personally that was where I got the opportunity to plant the seeds. So whatever opportunity you can have to make somebody's day better, whatever opportunities you can get in order to make other people's lives better, that is gonna make your life better and make you more happier.
Speaker 2:
You guys, thank you for listening to my podcast. I really appreciate it. I've put my first one on Rumble. Go to Roland18podcast. On Rumble, I put a visual up of the truck going down the road while I talked during my podcast, so I thought people would like to have visuals as well, if that's your thing. If not, just keep listening on Buzzsprout, go to Roland18podcastcom. I really appreciate you folks. You guys are downloading in great numbers and I appreciate that. Okay, always remember God bless, be safe and keep it between the lines. Driver.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening to Roland 18 Podcast. Please visit my website at MediaIowacom or the podcast page at roland18podcastcom.