Turning Off the Gas

An interview of Terry Irish, Don's oldest daughter, by Ava Dale Johnson

A.D.: Terry, at near 90, your father still does more than any two of us. He’s so busy, I’m not asking him, but you, to tell us your take on what’s he’s doing to help the environment.

T: Well he has made some habit changes.

A.D.: What changes?

T : First off, he donated his car to nonprofit Newgate School. They’ll use it to train mechanics, then sell it to help their work.

A.D.: And I suppose he’ll not be buying any gas?

T.: Right, and instead of buying car insurance he’ll give that money to causes he cares most about.

A.D. : So, how does he get around?

T.: He takes the bus—combining errands for food, to visit the sick, go to Green Party meetings, TCFM, lectures. . . .

A.D. : Does he ever pool with someone else driving their car?

T.: Sometimes. He and I do something once a week anyhow, so now we may combine dinner out or a movie with a grocery store stop.

A.D. :He must have to do a lot of walking, to catch all the buses.

T.: Yes, but he has lots of energy and it’s good for his health. He’s alert and organizes. He studies all the schedules.

A.D. : How about the weather?

T.: He never complains, but his boots are about gone. The ones he’s wearing have been repaired, but won’t last another winter.

A.D.: Are you ever concerned?

T.: Well, our family would feel better if we always knew where he was going. We’ve talked about a cell phone but that’s tech, and costs. We know that he could have problems, but so could we.

A.D: What does Don tell you that he learns from riding the bus?

T.: He sees poor people. And as an extrovert, he’ll strike up conversations, even in Spanish. He always thanks the bus drivers.

A.D.: Have there been times when he forgot to carry his bus fare?

T.: No, and he avoids the rush hours. Only needs quarters. I encourage him to get a bus pass and told him where, but. . . .

A.D.: He carries his perennial brief case?

T.: Yep – I’ve seen him also manage two bags of groceries. He uses routes 21 (Lake St.), 14 (Bloomington Ave.), occasionally 84 (Snelling Ave.), l6 (University Ave), with no complaints, to see how many errands he can do on one transfer. I think he used 4 buses to get to Como Clinic.

A.D.: Does he count up how many gallons of gas he’s not burning?

T.: I think he has figured that. And he knows this is good for his health, (high cholesterol runs in our family.)

AD: You’re smiling. Is it fun for him?

T: Oh, yeah. A challenge. He gets a kick out of seeing how much he can get for 50 cents. (Note from Don: now 75 cents, non-rush hours. My total transportation expense locally for 2008 was $425.00. Walked, bussed, and biked also -- about 130-140 times on local errands each season.)

From the February, 2008 Newsletter of the Twin Cities Friends Meeting, St. Paul, Minnesota.