February 15, 2012

About half of the people who live in Rochester work at Mayo Clinic. Many of the other half are patients at Mayo – this population changes on a daily basis. My family is one that falls into both categories. Our oldest son, Andrew, has autism and other medical issues that require us to be at Mayo Clinic on a regular basis.

Last week we helped Andrew move into his own apartment – a huge step. Being able to take the city bus to community college is a vital piece to this being successful for him. He’d been trained by his advocate already. We went to the bus station, got a schedule, spoke with the bus staff to map out the best routes, bought him a semester-long bus pass and laminated the bus route information for his key chain. We were all set.

But the first trip, Andrew ended up on the opposite side of town from where he needed to be. He rode the bus all the way until it shut down for the night. The bus driver left him in a parking lot – alone. Andrew called us and we picked him up immediately but he was too upset to attend class.

So I went with him the next day. The bus we waited for never did come. I drove Andrew to class and then headed for the bus station again. I walked in and told my story to the guys at the counter. I looked into the main office and saw a man from my church – the owner of the bus company. He smiled, waved and came to me. He helped me map out everything – again and gave me a city-bus-riding lesson with key pieces of info I’d been missing before:

1) The bus does not stop at the bus stop signs unless you hold up your arm for a ride.

2) I had to pay attention to which direction the bus was going. It does not stop at the bus stop signs. I had to be on the correct side of the street, on the right corner, and hold up my arm to get on the right bus.

So, armed with this information, I thought we were all set. By now, Andrew was very anxious about riding the bus. We needed to be successful with today’s ride or he would likely refuse to try again. So, my husband, Chris, cancelled 2 evening meetings so he could follow behind the bus so we wouldn’t be stranded again. I thought we were all set.

On the way to pick up Andrew for tonight’s bus ride, one block away from his apartment, a policeman pulled me over to give me a ticket for expired tags on my license plate. I explained we bought the used car from a dealer and I’d never received tags or a renewal notice. The policeman told me it was my responsibility, took 15 minutes to explore my insurance coverage, make sure I hadn’t stolen the car, and finally let me go. Only 5 minutes until the bus was due now.

I ran into Andrew’s apartment, we headed out quickly, and as we left the apartment I saw “our” bus already across the street. It had the right route number, was on the right corner, and at the right time given to me by the bus company by 3 different people. We ran across the street, climbed on the bus and I asked, to verify, “Does this bus go downtown?” The answer was, “No, Ma’am, it does not.” I started to climb back off the bus in defeat with Andrew behind me. The bus driver put his hand on my arm and said, “Please wait, Ma’am. I’m the driver that left your son at the stop the other night. We know who you are now. I can’t make my bus take you downtown, but I will find some way to get you there. Just stay on my bus.” The bus was packed with standing room only. I didn’t want to inconvenience the other riders on the way home after a busy day at work. But as I glanced, I saw many with Mayo Clinic tags. They all smiled and said, “Stay on the bus. We’ll get you there.”

In the meantime the driver got on his radio calling for any buses heading downtown. He found the one we were supposed to be on. I didn’t understand there more than one Bus 11 that picked up at the same corner, at the same time, but heading opposite directions. I’d gotten on the wrong one….again. Our driver arranged to drop us off where the other bus could pick us up and still get us to Andrew’s class on time. And he made sure they wouldn’t charge us on the other bus since I’d already paid.

We finally arrived downtown for our transfer to the bus that would take us to the college. I knew we had to find Bus #3. Andrew and I got off Bus #11 and I asked the driver, “Where is Bus #3?”. She pointed to the bus we had just climbed off of. Apparently, not only are there more than one bus with the same # – they can change numbers. So we climbed back on and arrived at the college. I gave Andrew a high-5 and he headed to class.

My husband, a very smart guy, was nowhere to be found. I called him on my cell phone and he said he’d been following the bus but lost us.

Want to do a road trip with our family?

But, what I will choose to remember about this week and learning how to ride the bus is this: Rochester is an amazing place to live. The people who work at Mayo and its hospitals are exceptional. They are kind-hearted and love to serve people in need. I am the President and Co-Owner of Serenity House Network which provides homes and support services to Mayo Clinic patients and their families. I am usually one of the Rochesterites that is busy serving people. But today I ended up being the one served by this amazing community and grateful for it…and if you look closely at the Rochester City Bus drivers…they have wings.