The White Van
‘The White Van’ is a story that someday I would tell my children/grandchildren… if such a thing were possible . Instead I will tell other people’s children to scare them and make them behave. The white van you see is the van that shows up at your door if you are a bad employee here. They take you and your belongings about 15 miles down the road to the biggest town (about 500 people) and drop you off. From there you hopefully have enough money or have people who love you enough to send you money to then take a shuttle to Anchorage which only runs twice a week. In Anchorage, you then hopefully have enough money to fly home. Though I most likely have nothing to fear, even though I was accused of causing quite a commotion in the vicinity of the ‘B’ building the other night after supposedly scoring a 9.5 after doing a triple axle off the railing of the buildings at 3 a.m. (when I was sure I deserved a 10). Security just laughs at me and tells me to behave or he’s going to have to start doing his job. I ask my manager every day if the white van is coming for me… and she just looks at me and shakes her head and says “oh Hoyos” or “oh Nighthawk”.
Sadly the white van has come for 4 people in the past week. People are dropping like flies and others are dropping like dead flies of illness. One person was rumored dead or in jail after he took off hitchhiking. He was finally found today in jail. Someone lent him $300 and will probably not see that money ever again. The White Van has his stuff all packed up if he ever makes it out of jail.
Everyday, the thought of the white van crosses my mind because what the fuck would I do if it came for me. The people who have no money or no one to send them money become locals. I’m starting to worry whether I want to make it here a full season. The thought of being a local here is not my ideal situation. It’s not that I don’t love Alaska. It’s the people here. The people here who don’t like people. Who love isolation and guns.. This place has its demons.