1716 Roach Coach

What goes around comes around. And one of things that always used to go around and come around was the food trucks at the factories. These days we’re so used to the ubiquitous taco truck rendered from Winnebagos we barely remember the slightly smaller stainless steel-covered food service trucks that would visit virtually every factory or highly populated workplace at coffee breaks and lunchtime.
They purveyed coffee from an urn¾black, nasty, and potent¾ and a variety of pre-packaged soggy sandwiches, chewy donuts, and stale salty snacks. And they purveyed them in less than hygienic fashion. So much so we had a lyrical sobriquet for them. We called them roach coaches.
The factory break bell wouldn't buzz until the food truck pulled into the parking lot. Then you'd hear the combined buzzer and universal shout of "Roach Coach" and your stomach would hurl over in Pavlovian response. It wanted the food, but on some deep cellular level, it knew it didn't want the food either.
So it was with amusement I read the news story that a California lawmaker is trying to ban food trucks from within 1500 feet of schools, farther away than medical marijuana stores are banned. He says he knows gourmet food trucks are really popular but the food trucks coming to the schools are peddling ultra-sweetened beverages and high-sodium snacks. "...the kids aren't paying for risotto," he said.
How times have changed. "Gourmet food trucks." Our roach coaches never had risotto.
It sounds like the lawmaker's approach may backfire. He thinks a quarter-mile distance will put off lazy kids. But if there's a med pot place between the school and the food truck, I'm thinking he just helped the truck sell twice as many sweets and salty snacks.
Roach Coach indeed.
America ya gotta love it.