Well, what do an 80 year old & a Uni student have in common?
Quite a lot , it turns out!
We found this out recently when a Senior rang HillsCarPal following on from a friend’s recommendation. Her name is Deirdre and she was inquiring about getting an early morning Ride with us. The conversation went something like this:
Deirdre: I’m a Senior living in a Retirement Village which is just outside the official Hills Council area. Can I still use your service?
HillsCarPal: Yes
Deirdre: I need to catch an early train one morning next week. It’s not to a medical appointment or to go shopping. Is that OK?
HillsCarPal: Yes
Deirdre: There is no bus going past my village at a time that would get me there to catch the train I need to get. And relying on taxis is a bit of lottery in my area. I really need to be sure of getting there. If you can’t help, I will travel the day before and stay overnight (on the couch) with my brother who lives close to a North Shore railway station. That’s my Plan ‘B’. It’s a last resort though as I won’t be able to do the revision I would like to be able to do, as my brother will want to talk. I don’t see him that often these days, you see.
HillsCarPal: What is it that is so time-critical, Deirdre?
Deirdre: I am doing my German exam at The Australian Technology Park at Everleigh. I am an external student with UNE (University of New England) and their external German exam for Sydney students starts at at 9.00am and I can’t be late.
HillsCarPal: How about we see if one of our volunteer drivers is going that way on the day you need to be there?
Deirdre: But what if they aren’t?
HillsCarPal: We’ll also ask our drivers if anyone can take you to the station at 6.40am that morning. We’ll be sure to get you a Ride there as you have given quite a bit of notice. In any case you will know a couple of days before the exam if we are unsuccessful. You can put your Plan ‘B’ into action if that happens.
Interestingly, the 80 year-old and the Uni student of our story are the very same person. So they have very much in common.
What is even more interesting is that a HillsCarPal volunteer driver, who is also a Sydney Uni student, offered Deirdre a Ride to and from her exam.
On the Return Ride, Deirdre told our driver she thought she had done well in her exam and later she rang the HillsCarPal office to say what an ingenious program HillsCarPal was.
Naturally, we agreed with Deirdre. Especially as we had exceeded our own expectations to match drivers and Seniors travelling along a common route. This time, we found that, as well, we had matched people with common interests … and we think our community is all the better for it!
Comments on this entry are closed.