So, I was feeling ill yesterday, but I decided that was not going to keep me down. I took three different medications and was feeling ready to face the day.

My next class was at 11 AM, so I needed to catch the 10:25 shuttle bus. Just before 10, a car pulled up in front of the apartment. "Raghu," I called, "Your mother's here!"

Then I thought to myself "Hmmm. Was their car's front end bashed in like that the last time I saw it?"

Raghu's mother came rushing into the apartment, crying. His father followed, much more quietly. It seemed that they'd been in an accident; no one was hurt, they'd filed a police report, but they were going to be late with a scheduled appointment at the INS that could not be rescheduled. The mother was visibly freaking out, and Raghu obviously didn't know what to do.

It looked like a problem I could solve. I had an hour before class, so I got them herded into my car, and we took off for the INS, following the directions of the Garmin GPS they'd been using.

She must have set it up for "avoid highways", because we went all the way to the heart of downtown via minor streets. I got them there and dropped them off by 10:30, although if I'd know they were going to the center of town I could have gotten them there faster by taking a couple of expressways. Maybe after the accident, the mother didn't want to take any fast roads at all. She was emotionally shaken up.

During the drive, they were dithering about what to do with their car. Although they'd nursed to to get to the apartment complex, it wasn't safely drivable, because the brakes were non-functional. And Raghu's brother was at class in his Rochester-area high school, so the parents couldn't spend the night in Buffalo. I got them on the track of finding a repair garage that could give them a loaner vehicle for a few days.

As I said, I dropped them off at the INS, then gave them a phone number for a cab company to get back. I couldn't stay without missing my class. I felt a bit bad about making them spring for a cab, until I remembered that Raghu's dad is a physician, who can surely afford the fare. In fact, I could have just called a cab for them from the apartment; but it may have taken a while to arrive and pick them up.

The family was traumatized enough on the drive over that I couldn't work out what the appointment was for; turns out it was the citizenship exam! That evening Raghu was thrilled that he'd passed, and would be taking the oath of citizenship in February sometime. Good for him!

Posted by: Boviate at 07:18 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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