Bad But Exciting

As some of you know, my daughter, Kate is developmentally disabled. She takes a public transport bus to her job at a supermarket every day. So far, this has been working out really well. Kate is always relating the stories of her busmates. Generally, there is some kind of a problem if you are on this bus. It  is usually a mental or physical disability, but can also be anything that keeps a person from getting to a job, such as a DUI conviction (That's how it is in the US. If you don't have a car, you have a problem.) She usually calls me when she gets out of work to say she is on the bus and all is well. Yesterday, I missed her call and she left a message that went something like this: "Hi mom. I'm on the bus. Call me when you get a chance, I have to tell you what happened. It was bad, but exciting."  So, I called back. She launches into this story about a guy on her bus. She has mentioned him before. Once he asked her to marry him. She declined, telling him she was already married! Kate is really cute, so she has a lot of guys after her. She said that yesterday, this guy wanted to take her picture, and she refused. He immediately got all belligerant. He started calling her a witch, and began to make threatening remarks. He said he was going to corner her and take her picture anyway. When it was time for her to get off at the supermarket, he went after her. This is not his stop. Kate pushed on the bus doors so he could not get out, and the bus driver forced the doors closed.

Kate ran inside and got herself composed and ready for work. When she went to the front of the store to punch in, there were police and an ambulance taking this guy away. Apparently he continued being crazy after Kate got out.  My son, Drew, volunteers for the rescue squad in that town. He was on last night and asked about the situation. They know the problem guy at the squad, and he has a history of this kind of behavior. Kate says she heard that he was "normal" once, but something happened and now he is crazy. Who knows what that is about, but I have called the people at county transportation to find out if he is going to be on the bus again. No one has called back yet. This is a big headache for me. I can drive Kate to work on the way to my job, but the bus thing is better for all of us. We'll see how this shakes out.

Meanwhile, good things are happening. Kate says that on that same day she asked if she could ever help out in the floral department at the supermarket. It is Kate's dream to do this. She was told they would train her to work on the holidays, and she can get some extra hours. She is thrilled! She said that between the incident in the morning and the news that she could work in the floral department, she was dizzy.

In other news, another sale on Etsy. No joke, man, isn't that crazy?  This time it was a few collages. No big money made, but it still makes me happy. Every sale is a kind of validation, you know?  I have to run back to work, lunch time is nearly over. A couple more things. I received the art I ordered from Seventh Magpie. So incredibly cool. And I have been escaping into the world of a new blog I am following, Self Taught Artist.

Ever fantasize about what it would be like to chuck your entire life and start over? Check it out for her on- going experience.