Lost

What a morning!

At 10:30 I got a call from Justin saying he was on a bike ride with the summer PE class and that he had a flat and got separated from the group - and he had no idea where he was.  He said he 'thought' he could make it back to the high school but how many times has that been the case and the lost only get - more lost. ??  Well, I made him promise to stay put and I called the police department number knowing they could ping his cell, find him, and bring him back to the school.  Turns out I had to call him and have him dial 911 in order for that to happen.  So, I called Justin and told him what to do.  He wasn't happy about calling 911, but he did.  (Why do people fear dialing those numbers?  I don't know but it is often the case.)  At any rate, I tried to sit idly and not worry.  After all, it's Pulaski, not Atlanta.  But, after 15 minutes I couldn't stand it so I tried calling his cell.  I must have dialed it 5 times or so - with no answer.  Now, I began to get worried.  I called the school to ask if my child had been returned and they weren't aware of the situation.  I had thought the police department would contact the school.  So, I had to fill the secretary in and she got all three principals on speaker with me as I described Justin's earlier phone call.  Each of them headed out on the known trails to see if they could find him.  Again, I tried waiting patiently.  I called the school back about 10, maybe 15 minutes, later and they still had no word from him.  I called the police department back to find out if Justin had made that 911 call and if they located him but found out the call was dropped.  The dispatcher had tried several times to contact him on his cell and, like me, only got his voice mail.  I was panicky now.  I called the school back almost immediately and - thankfully - the PE teacher informed the office Justin was with the class (he made it back in time for the last 10 minutes of class.  Why he didn't call his mama - I have no idea.). 

I was so relieved I was tearful.  I know he's 15 but, still.  Bad things can happen to teenagers who get lost in the woods.

When I picked Justin up I drilled him for answers to a line of questioning.  Did you call out? Yes, he did.  The teacher just said, "OK" when he said his tire was flat.  I don't want to be mean to her but common sense would tell you if you ride a bike with a flat tire - never mind the damage to the bike - it will be more difficult to keep up - and you probably won't.  Justin did say that after a little bit he heard a friend calling for him and that he called back, but they were a little too far apart.  Will didn't hear him.  So, my next question was how is it the entire group (30 kids and 1 teacher) didn't stop and back track and call for him?  He didn't have an answer for that one.  I cannot help but think the teacher (who's an intern) lacks some common sense.  It doesn't mean she's not a good teacher - but, this could've turned out very badly. 

All in all, it was a scary 1 hour segment.  And, this makes it official - I've had to call 911 on all my kids (and my hubby, too).  Tyler, when he was 4 and played hide and seek and fell asleep and Joshua when he decided to play in our neighbors sand box.  Sky - well, that's a whole other story!  Quite a hilarious one but also one I'm sure he'd be livid if I were to share. :)