On Tuesday morning, Jan. 20, I was reading your very fine newspaper and I saw a picture of an oil truck driver dragging the hose through the snow to deliver oil to a house.

I know what that is all about. I did it for 30 years. It is a hard job.

Many times I would be called out on a cold night or weekend to deliver to someone who had run out of oil. I would deliver the oil, start the furnace and get the heat back on.

Most people appreciated it and, sometimes, I would be offered a hot cup of coffee; sometimes, a snack and sometimes a gift at Christmas.

Now that I am retired, I don’t miss dragging that hose, but I miss the people. Sometimes, after a snowstorm, it was the older people who would make a path to the fill pipe. A lot of the younger ones didn’t bother.

Quite often, when I am out somewhere, I meet someone who will say, “Hi, Vance. Good to see you again. I wish you were still my oil man.”

That just makes my whole day.

Vance Bacon, West Paris

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Vance Bacon
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