About This Episode
This week on Always Pneumatic, Never Static, host Marcus planned a Father's Day episode with diaper stories, bad dad jokes, and a few laughs. What he got instead was something much more honest than that. Four Bulk Transit drivers, Jeff Linne, Mike Upchurch, Paul Francis, and Alex Smith, joined the show to talk about fatherhood and the conversation kept coming back to the same place every time. Gratitude. Gratitude for time, for family, for the people who shaped them, and for every moment they did not take for granted. This one goes deeper than neckties and coffee mugs. If you are lucky enough to still have your dad around, this episode is going to make you want to call him.
Episode Highlights
The photo gallery is live at podcast.bulktransit.com: Five drivers sent in photos for this episode and Marcus described it as an absolute monsoon of pictures. Dads becoming granddads, sons becoming dads, families gathered together, and one photo that stopped the conversation cold. Head to the website to see them. The gallery will be open for months so there is time to add yours too.
Alex Smith, deployed two weeks after his son was born: Alex was 19 years old when his first son was born. He deployed to Iraq two weeks later. This is 2004. A phone call once a month if he was lucky. Letters in the mail. He watched his son's first year through pictures sent from home and came back to find a child already walking. He described dealing with it the way the military trains you to deal with everything. You compartmentalize it. Marcus said his voice shook just talking about it. Alex also shared that his own son is currently deployed on his birthday. The generational weight of that moment was not lost on anyone in the room.
Mike Upchurch's dad was his mechanic and his best friend: Mike talked every single day with his father three or four times a day. His dad was a mechanic by trade and would patiently let Mike help tear things apart before quietly putting everything back together with not a single bolt left in the pan. Mike's dad passed away 13 years ago. Mike still wishes he had paid closer attention. His work ethic, his dry sense of humor, and his dedication to family all came directly from his father.
Paul Francis lost his dad a year ago: Paul's father grew up in Kentucky and married Paul's mother when she was 14 and he was 19. He raised three boys with fishing poles, a single shot .22 each on their eighth birthday, and weekend survival trips to the creek a mile from the house where they would not come back until Monday. That .22 passed to Paul's son and will pass to his son's son and down the line from there. When Marcus asked Paul if his dad was still fishing and hunting Paul quietly said he passed away a year ago. Marcus stopped mid-sentence. The conversation paused. Then Paul said: it is okay. He taught me everything. That moment is going to stay with anyone who hears it.
Jeff Linne was raised by his step-grandfather: Jeff did not grow up with his biological father. He was raised by his step-grandfather, a man who stepped into a role that was not his by default and gave Jeff everything a father is supposed to give. Jeff described it simply. The man showed up. That was enough. That was everything.
Nobody ever wishes they spent less time with family: Marcus came back to this line several times throughout the episode and every driver at the table agreed without hesitation. Not one of them looked back and wished they had spent fewer nights at a game, fewer fishing trips, fewer phone calls. The only thing anyone ever wishes for is more of it.
The granddaughter who wandered off at the Ark: Paul took two of his grandkids to the life-size Noah's Ark attraction and one of his granddaughters wandered off. She was gone for maybe two or three minutes. In those two or three minutes she found an old lady and told her: I am looking for my grandma. She has orange hair and a blue shirt. Paul said it took two or three years off the end of his life. He also said he would not change a single minute of it.
A shoutout to fathers who served: Marcus closed the episode with a specific thank you to every truck driver dad who also served in the military. The men running miles on the road and the men deployed overseas protecting freedoms, he said, are the everyday fathers of the country we get to live in. They deserve a special place on Father's Day and on every day after it.
From The Host
“Every story in this episode ended in the same place. Pride. Pride in the people their kids have become, pride in the families they built, pride in the memories made along the way. None of these drivers ever wished they had worked more or called less. They wished for more time. And the ones who still have that time, who can still pick up the phone and hear their dad's voice, or call the kids, or get the grandkids on the line for a few minutes, those are the lucky ones. If that is you right now, put the phone down after this and make a different call. Happy Father's Day from everyone here at Always Pneumatic, Never Static.” — Marcus Bridges, Host
Have a story to tell or want to be a guest? Email us at podcast.bulktransit.com
