Hilarious 'I Ride' mix-up

You know that kind of frustration that happens when something is just not going according to your plan, and then you get a new piece of information that radically alters the situation? It completely diffuses the tension. 'Oh, it was all a misunderstanding?' you realize. 'That's fine!' Well, we've had a few of those situations over the years. Sometimes - hopefully - it's a hilarious mix-up. Here's one of my favorites. (Names changed for anonymity). Enjoy:

Veronica, a regular rider who has dementia, called one morning to see if I Ride could take her to Missoula that day to get a haircut. We explained that we would love to, but we are straining at the seams of capacity and can only provide medical rides right now. Ok fine.

Later that day, our driver Roger picked up his rider Susie. He called us from Bonner, frustrated. "Susie is telling me that I'm supposed to take her to get her hair cut today, and won't tell me where her doctor's appointment is!" I calm him down, and we give him the appointment location information again.

Wow, that's odd...it was a very confusing several minutes. It felt like dejavu - I just had this conversation earlier today, hadn't I? "Ok, hold on Roger, I'm getting a call on the other line." It's....Susie?? I pick up.

"Hello?" says Susie. "Where's my ride?" What? "My ride is late. Is the driver going to get here soon?" What do you mean, aren't you in the van with him? "No, I'm sitting here in my living room waiting for my I Ride to take me to my doctor's appointment!" Huh?!

Suddenly, a flash of realization. (The kind that can only happen in a small town, where you intimately know the riders, where they live, their idiosyncrasies, etc...)

I call back Roger. "I think I know what happened. Roger, who is in the car with you?" SUSIE! he says. "No, ask her. Ask your rider what her name is." He turns around and asks. I can hear the shout through the phone. "It's me, Veronica!"

Roger is flabbergasted. What the heck happened?

Turns out, Veronica and Susie live only a few houses apart. Both regularly use I Ride. Our driver Roger had just pulled into the wrong driveway that day. A driveway he had been to before, so he didn't think much of it. And Veronica had called THAT MORNING to get a ride that day. She thought we had changed our minds and just sent a van to take her to town. Sweet Veronica hopped in the I Ride van without a second thought. They made small talk on the drive down, as usual, both thinking they were in the right place. But poor Susie was at home, waiting on a ride! HILARIOUS!

And the good news is it all turned out just fine.

We found Susie a ride and she made it to her appointment. And since they were already on the outskirts of Missoula and turning around would be a big waste of everyone's time, I told Roger to just take Veronica in to get her dang hair cut. She was happy as a clam. And at the end of the day, that's what really matters, right?

Taking care of our aging population is challenging and complex in this remote corner of the county. Occasionally, it's also hysterical. For more information on the I Ride Seeley Lake program, visit seeleylakecommunityfound-ation.org/iride or call I Ride Seeley Lake at 406-916-7860. I Ride Seeley Lake is a program of the Seeley Lake Community Foundation, and operates with funding from the Missoula-Ravalli Transportation Management Association, the Missoula County Community Assistance Fund, the Bill and Rosemary Gallagher Foundation, and the support of many local donors. Over 1800 rides provided since 2017 by our fabulous team of volunteer drivers.