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Holiday Doesn't Always Mean Day Off

Tribune photo by JULIE BUSCH

Ricardo Perez, owner of Truck 2 Repair a shop at 301 Truck Stop in Tampa, works on replacing the water pump in a freightliner for a customer that needs it done by noon on Christmas day.

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By RUSSELL RAY and TODD LESKANIC of The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 25, 2007

TAMPA - A little after 10 o'clock Christmas morning in back of the 301 Truck Stop near Interstate-4, Ricardo Perez is under the hood of a semi-truck installing a new water pump.

Wrenches clink as Perez works to meet a tight deadline. The truck, which is hauling Florida citrus, needs to be fixed and back on the road by noon.

"They need that truck for today," he said.

It's not how Perez, a Cuban immigrant and owner of Ricardo's Truck and Auto Mobile Repair, as well as Truck 2 Repair, wanted to spend his Christmas. But for Perez and so many others across the nation, Christmas is just another day punching the clock.

Still, Perez, 53, isn't complaining about the work.

"You have to work because you need customers to keep your business," he said. "If somebody is broke down on the road, I go right away because I need money."

Meanwhile, a goateed Mark Barber, sporting a camouflaged cap and black apron, is running the truck stop's kitchen and restaurant. It was a slow morning, with only a couple of regulars stopping in for breakfast.

"I'm here to serve eggs and grits until 12 o'clock," Barber said. "If I start to get a lunch crowd, I'll stay open. If not, I'm going back home to my kids."

Barber said he and his wife, Milissa, got up around 5:30 a.m. to get presents ready for their sons, ages 9 and 6.

"It cost me a lot of money this year, but that's what I work for," Barber said. "I work for them boys."

Barber's sons woke up to find bicycles, MP3 players and remote control cars under the Christmas tree.

"They come springing out of their rooms about 6:30 when they heard me tinkering around," Barber said. "I just finished putting the batteries in the last remote control car and heard 'daddy.'"

In Pasco County, John Brown was working security at the front gate of Jovita Golf & Country Club. Brown became a security guard about two months ago after a back injury forced him to quit his pest control job.

"This is the first Christmas I've worked since I started working at 15," Brown said. "Unfortunately, in the security industry, you can't shut down."

Brown and his wife have two sons. He left his Zephyrhills home early Christmas morning and was on the clock by 6 a.m.

He works for St. Moritz Security Services Inc. and checks in visitors to a 1,000-acre upscale community on State Road 52.

"One car was an SUV filled with presents," Brown said. "The car behind it had all the people that were going with it."

After his eight-hour shift ended, Brown went to his in-laws' house, where he enjoyed a Christmas dinner and a few hours of relaxation.

Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870 or rray@tampatrib.com. Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (352) 521-3156 or tleskanic@tampatrib.com

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