Most of us have sat there, taken a nap there, ridden with Dad there — the buddy seat. Gracie Weiznierl of A Farm Kid’s Guide to Agriculture, perfectly describes how it feels to ride the buddy seat. We know how important it is to spend every moment we can with the driver.
The ride may only be to bring out supper for Dad and the crew or it was 30 minutes before bed, but at least we got to ride. We learned so much in the buddy seat. We learned how to talk across the radio to the grain cart driver, we experienced hardships when the yield wasn’t doing as expected, or heard the conversations about getting rejected at the mill. For some of us, it wasn’t the buddy seat, it was the floor or the armchair, anything we could just to ride with Dad. We were raised to respect the machinery and pray for no break downs in that seat.
As we grew older the buddy seat may have a new rider, but one with just as much passion for agriculture. The new rider could either be a new significant other or salesman coming to check out end of harvest results — to see all the blood, sweat, and tears put into this year. No matter who sits in the buddy seat, there is nothing quite like it.
Gracie hits the nail on the head with her poem, one we can relate to. There is no seat quite like the buddy seat.
