McGee: Difference of opinion on road kill

We get what we call "free range" TV at the Stucco Hacienda. That means we've hooked our television to an antenna and we pick up whatever channels are out there. So when we go on vacation we get to see TV shows from satellite and cable channels that we don't usually see.

One of the shows we recently watched was "Alaska State Troopers."

A camera crew follows the guys around while patrolling the 49th state. On the episode that we watched they were dealing with collisions between motorists and moose. In one case someone made off with the moose carcass before the folks who were supposed to take it got there.

It reminded me of a time when I was driving truck across the

country with my Trinidadian co-driver Frank.

We were eastbound on Interstate 40 near Flagstaff, Arizona. I was driving, Frank was riding shotgun. Up ahead in the median there was a headless elk carcass. It would have been a different story.

"Well I wonder what happened there?" I said.

Frank looked up.

"Ooo, ooo!" he exclaimed. "Pull over! I shall have the haunches off that."

"First, Frank, it's bloated and has been in the sun…"

"That just means it's aged, pull over!"

"Frank, I'm not pulling over. As far as I know it's against the law to hack on a big game carcass along the interstate. Besides, where would you put the haunches?"

"Under my bunk," said Frank. "I don't understand why you will not pull over. That is a waste of perfectly good meat."

"Dude," I said. "It's just not done."

"In Trinidad that would be considered wasteful."

So we continued our trek east. Frank was quite convinced I was wrong and did not speak to me for several hours.

It was okay. I enjoyed the quiet.

And I was just glad Frank hadn't been driving when we saw the dead elk.

Grant McGee is a long-time broadcaster and former truck driver who rides bicycles and likes to talk about his many adventures on the road of life.

Contact him at: [email protected].