If we ask you a question it is because we don't know, we need answers. And by that I mean good answers. Yesterday Andrea and I had a crash course in how unhelpful some people that should know better can be.
I've already ranted about Andrea's EOCT being at Kennesaw State University. I called Cobb Community Transit (CCT) for rout planning. I told the rep we'd be coming from MARTA and we need to be there by 8:30 a.m. After a brief pause she says, "I can get you there by 8:18." I said, "Great!"
She says to get on the #10 at the Art Center Station at 7:15. Transfer to the #45 at the Marietta Transfer Center at 7:30. And arrive at KSU at 8:18. Do you see anything wrong with these instructions? Neither did I. Because I didn't know the #10 takes forty-five minutes to get to the Marietta Transfer Center I didn't question her. I stuck the directions on the fridge until the following week.
So we get up at 4:00 to have a good breakfast. We catch the MARTA bus at 5:47. Next a series of transfers to a couple of trains. When we get to the Art Center Station we ask an attendant where to catch the #10 CCT bus. She asks "Ten A, B, C, or plain ten? because you catch ABC out this door and plain ten upstairs and around the corner." I opted for plain ten. It shows up on time and we think all is well. I had forgotten about the 7:30 departure of the #45. When we get to the Marietta Transfer Center it is eight o'clock. All kinds of buses are waiting but not the #45. We check our directions and see it left at 7:30. The next one is at 8:45. I ask a bus driver if another bus goes to KSU. He says only the #45.
Luckily Georgia Virtual School had sent a phone number to call in case we get lost. I called and told the person on the other end we'd be late. She said she'd have a proctor call me back. The proctor says they can't let Andrea start late. After the doors are closed they stay closed. I asked about another time today. I was told there's another test at noon and three. She went on to say they were full and the only way Andrea could test is if there's a no show. I was so angry because we had no way of know the CCT rep had given us wrong information until it was too late. I wanted to call and read them the riot act but it was too noisy.
The #45 shows up and off we go. We get to KSU around 9:35. The computer announces this is also a transfer point for the #40. I asked the driver if the #40 goes to the Marietta Transfer Center. She said it does. Why did that driver tell me only the #45 went to KSU? Andrea said she saw the #40 when we got off the #10. If we had known we would have had a better chance of getting there in time for the test.
Andrea takes a look at the campus map by the bus stop and pronounces it upside down. We go into the nearest building looking for people. We found empty halls and a class in session. Finally a man came along and Andrea asked him for directions to Kennesaw Hall. He gave directions, then apologized for them being bad. They weren't bad because we found the building easily. We were told to come back around 11:30 to see if Andrea would be able to test at noon. We got directions to the student center to have lunch.
Andrea was fascinated by the campus. She said she wants to go to school there. I reminded her this is the first campus she's been on that she probably remembers. I am glad she got excited about it; she will have more motivation to buckle down with her studies. I'm going to take her to other campuses so she can compare. After eating at their expensive Chick-Fil-A we visited the bookstore. She looked at the prices and was shocked. I told her only shop at the campus bookstore if it's due tomorrow and you're out of something. We visited the computer store and got some information on their packages. Andrea saw a record display and made a B line for it. "I'm all into vinyl," she states.
We head back over to Kennesaw Hall and they're still testing. A parent said they didn't get started until after 9:30. Andrea got to test. She was proud of herself because she had ID and could check herself in. Now, I'm threw, finished, Kaput, done,etc with Georgia Virtual School. As I said before NEVER AGAIN.
We're headed for the bus stop when a young lady stops us. She wants to know where some building another is. We tell her we're just visiting. She said her adviser told her to come on campus and look at a map to find the building he's in. She and Andrea walked over to another map and both pronounced it upside down. They were able to find building 4 but that wasn't the one she needed. Andrea points her to the student center to ask in there.
We settle down to wait for either the #40 or #45. The #45 comes first, here we go again. I step one foot on the bus and the driver says, "I'm going to the mall." I ask if I can get a bus that will take me to MARTA there. "I'm going to ...the mall," he patiently says again. His utterance wasn't any more helpful the second time. Either this bus would take me somewhere I can get a bus to MARTA or it won't. A passenger waiting to board the bus spoke up, "Yeah, you can take this and catch the #10C at the mall. It'll take you straight to the Art Center Station." And I thought some MARTA drivers were unhelpful.
We get off at Towncenter Mall and before long the #10C pulls up. Who'd a think it? It was a BUS; tall, plush seats, lots of leg room, like a nice tour bus. That helpful passenger said the #10C only runs during peak hours. We rode through Marietta to the transfer center where more people were waiting. We hit the freeway and were Atlanta bound.
I had to check our Breezecard balances to see how much they took out of our stored value for that #10C bus. I was surprised to learn nothing extra was taken out. We would have paid the same price if we'd taken the regular buses.
As for the riot act I decided against it. Andrea got to test and we never have to do that again. If I ever need to be somewhere in Cobb County at a certain time I will check after the agent myself.
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