Strike!

 When we first took the bus with our neighbor and fellow parent at the school, she told us that last year the bus drivers went on strike.  I asked how they go to school and she said that the buses were random, it wasn't consistent, and sometimes they would walk.  The walk is about an hour, so not an awesome option.  I hoped that there wouldn't be a strike.  But within a week of school starting, the strike has started again.  I am not exactly clear on what the workers are striking for, something is lost in the translation for me, but whether that involves better pay, working conditions, or something else, I am not certain.  If you read this article, along with the comments, you can see that I am not the only one not clear on what the workers are asking for: https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/vigo/2023/09/19/nuevos-paros-horas-punta-transporte-urbano-vigo/00031695145456939393481.htm They have been striking on and off without resolution for the past 2 years and it seems that they are intensifying their strike. The way it works is that there are scheduled strikes throughout the day and scheduled 24 hour strikes.  So on weekdays you can expect that the buses will stop running from 7:30-9:30am, 12:30-3:30pm, and 7:30-9:30pm.  That means if you want to get to school by 8:50am, you have to catch the L17 bus by about 7:15 or wait until 9:30 for the next bus. 

We didn't know the strike was back on yesterday.  D and G were a few minutes later than usual walking out the door (L was still recovering from her cold), but they tend to give themselves a pretty good cushion to catch the bus they so should have still caught it.  But they didn't so they went to catch a taxi.  There weren't any taxis either.  Someone waiting at the taxi stop told Darrell that everyone takes taxis when it rains, which it was, so they came back to the house and waited for the next bus and went in late.  I got a message from our neighbor friend later that the bus strike was back on.  

So D and the kids got up at 6 to get ready to catch the bus this morning, with the promise of a cafe visit before school.  The bus schedule said the following; notice the 129 minutes until the next 17 bus? That is part of the 2 hour morning strike. The previous page read 5 minutes until the 17, and they were already at the bus stop, so all was okay.  

Unfortunately they decided to get onto one of the 12 busses (there is a 12A and a 12B).  One does go by the school, so it one they can take, but I think they took the other one because they ended up at a huge hospital further out from town.  When they go off and looked it up, they found it was a 40 minute walk from school.  Far from the promised cafe.  With no taxis in sight.  Luckily a few minutes later a taxi brought someone to the hospital and they were able to catch it to the cafe near the school.  And they had time to get their tea and pastry.  And they ran into a student in L's class who she likes, see her in the background of this picture with Larkin looking at her, and D got her phone number so we can connect outside of class, so silver linings in it all. 

The only concern I have about all of this is how I am going to get them to their fiddle classes at ETrad in time.  They start at 4pm and the strike lifts at 3:30.  It is going to be pretty tight, but hopefully we will make it.  Adventures abound!