In plaid cap and sunglasses, looking like a pretend Scottish poet golfer who left his chin beard at home, I approached the front doors of Star Truck.  They slid open automatically with a pneumatic hiss, which seemed to be an expression of disdain at my appearance.

I was in a kind of lobby, a spotless space, about twenty feet wide and thirty long.  As outside, the walls were clad in stainless steel, but up close, I could confirm that it was plastic, excellent fake steel but fake nonetheless.

To the left were glass doors under a red plastic sign that announced TRAVEL STORE in white letters. They sold everything from wrench sets to cushioned insoles, racy postcards to Bibles, audiobooks to zinc ointment.  My psychic magnetism gave no indication that the rhinestone cowboy could be found in there.

The restaurant, to my left, would be divided into one area for ordinary motorists and another for professional drivers, who received quicker service.  In this strange age of eager victims, no doubt there is always a legal action grinding through the courts, seeking to prohibit the partitioning of customers at truck stops, to forbid the serving of such high-cholesterol fare as cheese meatloaf, to require other choices besides country music on the jukebox, and to disallow trucker slang that can't be understood by nontrucker customers.

In the center of the lobby stood a square kiosk, on each side of which a map revealed where to find the many services offered by Star Truck.  The map wouldn't help me locate the rhinestone cowboy, since it didn't have a moving, blinking indicator light labeled PSYCHOPATH.

Beyond the lobby lay a wide corridor flanked by a large video-game arcade, a barbershop, a combination bakery and ice-cream store, a gift shop....  Except for the store windows and glass doors, almost every surface, from floor to ceiling, was either plastic or vinyl, almost seamless, bright and smooth and clean.  These days, whether part of a chain or a family operation, most truck stops looked as if they had been extruded on-site in a single continuous piece from a machine of fantastic proportions and capabilities.