First day as a lorry driver

It was his first day at work and Finbar was relishing it. He'd been given a huge truck to drive and he felt like king of the road. Southampton was his destination. There to pick up a load of forty tons of canned goods and return to Birmingham the same day. All went well while he was on the motorways. Nothing could be simpler with the route virtually mapped out for him. It was, though, a different matter when he came to the normal roads again. Suddenly signs were smaller and in shorter supply. Harder and harder it became to find the way until suddenly he was faced with the dread of all drivers - an unsigned T junction. Left or right? Come on, which one? Worse still, the road was quite narrow. Make a mistake and there was little chance of being able to turn back.

Take a chance - take a right,' thought Finbar. And right he took and all went well for about two miles till he rounded a sharp bend and ran into a low bridge which seemed to have jumped out of nowhere. The lorry was firmly jammed and, to compound the problem, there in a layby stood a police patrol car seemingly waiting for the accident to happen.

Now the first sign of being in trouble with the law is when the policemen get out of the car and hitch up their trousers. This they did and Finbar knew the game was up. 'No chance of reprieve so you might as well go for it,' said his subconscious.

'Now, sir,' leered one of the bobbies, 'having a bit of bother are we?'

'Not really, officer,' said Finbar. 'It's just that I'm delivering this bridge and I can't find the address!'