Every once in a while, at the far end of the lot at Yuma Truck Driving School, a rooster would appear. He seemingly lived in the junkyard on the other side of the fence, and didn’t have a home or anyone caring for him. One day, he decided to change that.
“Gradually, he decided that the grass really was greener on our side and made the decision to relocate,” Toby Norman, the on-site manager at Yuma Truck Driving School, told The Dodo.
The rooster, later named Chester, made himself at home right away and very quickly became a fixture at the school. The instructors started buying food for him, and everyone looked forward to greeting him each morning. He made himself an unofficial member of the team — so eventually, the school decided to make it official.
Chester now has his own driving instructor vest to wear around the school so that everyone knows exactly who he is and that he belongs there.
“He did not seem to mind the vest as much as I thought he would,” Norman said. “Our instructors are required to wear a safety vest when on the range. Since [Chester] was always walking around the range near the trucks, I bought the vests to help keep him from being run over.”
Now that it’s official, Chester takes his new role very seriously. He greets the students and tries to make them feel at home, and he also likes to make sure his coworkers are doing their jobs the way they’re supposed to.
“He walks around on the range and supervises,” Norman said. “He has been known to actually board the bus with the students. Numerous times when I have been testing, he walks around nearby to verify that I am doing it correctly.”
Chester’s other main duty at the school is eating. He’s definitely the best fed employee on the lot and takes great pride in that fact.
“The students get a kick out of him,” Norman said. “All the instructors talk to him, say hi in the mornings … Everyone tosses him food. People are amused by his presence.”
Yuma Truck Driving School has certainly gotten much livelier since Chester joined the team, and all of his students and coworkers wouldn’t have it any other way.
