Riding the Bus

Getting to work without a car was my learning project for fall classes beginning in late August 2006. I was used to getting ready for work, getting calls and leaving. The calls would arrive about 45 minutes before I had to leave the house. But without a car, I found I couldn’t get to the school on time.

It takes about two hours to get to some places that I could drive to in 45 minutes. So for a while I was in panic mode. But then I remembered you could call ahead of time and schedule jobs. I just never had to do this before. Now I call up days ahead and am working more than I ever did before.

Just riding the bus is an adventure in itself! I have to leave my house at 5:45! There are lots of challenging experiences to face on the bus. People who are economically deprived hang around bus terminals and ask for money. Some of the excuses for why they need the money are quite creative. “Can I have a dollar to ride the bus? I have to go see my mother in the hospital. She’s dying of AIDS.” I usually get asked for money about three times a week.

Sometimes though, when I see the other people on the bus always going their same places, my eyes choke up with tears. I am always going to a different place and that makes me feel so free! I exhale in relief. I am so free.

Summer School 2006

I was fortunate enough to get some summer subbing work at an adult education school. The kids who are about to graduate but are short a few credits go there. The ones who went in the summer were pretty relaxed. Going back there again in the fall, I find the kids to be pushy and demanding. Panic has set in: after going to school for twelve years, they discover they might not graduate.

Requirements have toughened up during their lifetimes. They find they must take exit exams now. When they started school back in 1994, No Child Left Behind didn’t exist. So should today’s graduating students be exposed to these new rules?