OMFG
Yesterday I was upstairs working and my wife and kids were downstairs not working. My contractor Father in Law was finishing the quarter rounds on the new floor in the kitchen. The phone rings and a minute later I hear my wife calling me. Panic rising in her voice. I ask her what's up and she says; "That was the school. They want to know if Oldest got in the house OK because there was no adult present when the bus pulled away."
This is bad because:
1. Oldest is autistic
2. Oldest has no sense of danger whatsoever
3. Oldest is non-verbal
4. Oldest is not here
I can feel the blood draining from my face. My heart starts racing and the acrid metallic taste of adrenaline floods my mouth. Now what? I get on the phone immediately to the school and my wife calls the dispatch office for the bus company. She is threatening people with grievous bodily harm if they have dropped our son off at the wrong house. I am simultaneously on the phone with the school and the bus company. I get the Vice Principle and explain the situation with repeated uses of the word "unacceptable". She sounds simultaneously sad, sympathetic and apologetic. Compounding the problem is the fact that the bus was late this morning (not a big deal) but also that it took over an hour to get from my house to the school (that should be about 15 min.). Earlier in the day I spoke with the dispatch guy who agreed that the bus taking an hour to go from my house to the school should not be and assured me that the return trip would be direct, less than half an hour and problem free.
The dispatcher finally radioed the bus who, it turns out, dropped off the right kid but gave the wrong name and number to the dispatcher to call to make sure all was well. About 10 minutes later, the bus arrived with my son on board. He was blissfully unaware of the situation. As the bus stopped at our house my wife and I were waiting to talk to the bus driver. The doors opened and I said; "You nearly gave me a freakin' heart attack." He's waving his hand at me to calm me down and saying "It's OK, I'm sorry." As if he were trying to soothe a child. This was not the best approach. My wife gave him an earful and, as they were not moving to get my son off the bus, did so herself. The bus aide said, "You're not supposed to get on the bus." My wife wheeled on her and said through clenched teeth, "I DON'T CARE!"
I eventually got the guy in charge of the buses on the phone and he backpedaled like Lance Armstrong in reverse. He apologized profusely and assured me this was not going to end with our phone call. I told him I didn't want to ruin any one's livelihood but there's no way in hell that guy was picking my son up again and he shouldn't be driving for autistic kids. He simply didn't understand the gravity of such carelessness.
(As an aside, he was supposed to call me before the pickup day to let me know what time he was going to be at the house. He did not. He was supposed to drive the route prior to that morning to make sure he didn't get lost. He did not. He was supposed to take the sheet with name tags for the kids to make sure they right kid was dropped off/picked up at each house. He did not.)
All of this may sound like much ado about nothing but this is not the first time we've had trouble with the bus company and once, my son left school unattended and was found wandering near a 4 lane road. So this phone call, while innocuous brings the words "MISSING CHILD" to the forefront of my brain.
Crisis averted but not without shaving years off my life.
This is bad because:
1. Oldest is autistic
2. Oldest has no sense of danger whatsoever
3. Oldest is non-verbal
4. Oldest is not here
I can feel the blood draining from my face. My heart starts racing and the acrid metallic taste of adrenaline floods my mouth. Now what? I get on the phone immediately to the school and my wife calls the dispatch office for the bus company. She is threatening people with grievous bodily harm if they have dropped our son off at the wrong house. I am simultaneously on the phone with the school and the bus company. I get the Vice Principle and explain the situation with repeated uses of the word "unacceptable". She sounds simultaneously sad, sympathetic and apologetic. Compounding the problem is the fact that the bus was late this morning (not a big deal) but also that it took over an hour to get from my house to the school (that should be about 15 min.). Earlier in the day I spoke with the dispatch guy who agreed that the bus taking an hour to go from my house to the school should not be and assured me that the return trip would be direct, less than half an hour and problem free.
The dispatcher finally radioed the bus who, it turns out, dropped off the right kid but gave the wrong name and number to the dispatcher to call to make sure all was well. About 10 minutes later, the bus arrived with my son on board. He was blissfully unaware of the situation. As the bus stopped at our house my wife and I were waiting to talk to the bus driver. The doors opened and I said; "You nearly gave me a freakin' heart attack." He's waving his hand at me to calm me down and saying "It's OK, I'm sorry." As if he were trying to soothe a child. This was not the best approach. My wife gave him an earful and, as they were not moving to get my son off the bus, did so herself. The bus aide said, "You're not supposed to get on the bus." My wife wheeled on her and said through clenched teeth, "I DON'T CARE!"
I eventually got the guy in charge of the buses on the phone and he backpedaled like Lance Armstrong in reverse. He apologized profusely and assured me this was not going to end with our phone call. I told him I didn't want to ruin any one's livelihood but there's no way in hell that guy was picking my son up again and he shouldn't be driving for autistic kids. He simply didn't understand the gravity of such carelessness.
(As an aside, he was supposed to call me before the pickup day to let me know what time he was going to be at the house. He did not. He was supposed to drive the route prior to that morning to make sure he didn't get lost. He did not. He was supposed to take the sheet with name tags for the kids to make sure they right kid was dropped off/picked up at each house. He did not.)
All of this may sound like much ado about nothing but this is not the first time we've had trouble with the bus company and once, my son left school unattended and was found wandering near a 4 lane road. So this phone call, while innocuous brings the words "MISSING CHILD" to the forefront of my brain.
Crisis averted but not without shaving years off my life.
Comments
Under that scenario, the bus driver should get paid a hell of a lot more money than I assume that they do.
Teachers should be paid an astronomical figure for accepting such responsibility for the care and education of children.
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Are our priorities upside down?
We cry over criminals and prisoners,
give them a second and third chance.
Create programs for them.
Yet the front line troops in educating our children, especially when faced with the vacuum of the inner city parent, are the overlooked teachers.