Tornado Warnings for Iowa

Mmmmm....baconator.

Aunt Cindi and Cal (Excuse my mess - I've been fighting with Amtrak and it has wrecked my coiffure)

Caleb and Uncle Mike #2 (as Caleb has two)

Caleb, the monkey boy.

Caleb prepares to board, birth certificate in hand

After much fighting and struggle, Caleb aka Tommy Tornado is on his way back home to his mom. We arrived at Amtrak and got his ticket without issue. When we went to head back to the passenger waiting area, I saw a sign which said that they will only allow ticketed passengers beyond that point. I went to information to make sure that I'd be allowed to go with him since he's a minor. The lady said we could but mentioned something about picture ID. I said that he was 16 and didn't have a driver's license. She said we should go talk to the manager and get her to sign his ticket stating that this was ok. I didn't think much of it - they've never refused to let him ride before.

Sure enough, the manager must have been having a bad day because she said that without ID he couldn't get on the train. Her words were "16 is old enough to have ID, so I'm not going to let him ride without it." My statements that he'd gotten here without an ID were met with "I'm not responsible for the incompetence of another city's employees." Great. He had no ID. I asked her what our options were. She wanted his ticket stub, birth certificate and social security card. I was like, "I'm not his mom - I don't have that stuff." Her response? "Well you better get it."

I asked if they'd take a copy of the email reservation showing he'd travelled from Mt. P. to Chicago on August 3rd. They wouldn't. Her reasoning, "That shows that he has a reservation, not that he travelled. We need proof that he travelled." I was like, "You mean that the fact that he's here isn't proof enough?" Apparently not.

I had to call Caleb's mom to fax the stuff, which she didn't have readily available either. Tracy had to go to the courthouse in Fairfield (a fair, little drive) and get copy of his birth certificate, copy his social security card and then find some place to fax it from. I called my dad because we weren't sure Tracy could get everything in time for him to make the train. My dad was on standby to come and get him, if necessary.

We made it with about four minutes to spare. We were literally on the phone with Tracy as she faxed the info and had one person ready to stamp his ticket the minute the other lady (waiting at the fax machine) ran in with his birth certificate.

The icing on the cake? As Caleb and I were waiting in the office with Tracy on the phone, the manager was talking with another man whose wallet had been stolen. She wasn't allowing him on the train either but she told him that anyone "17 and older must have ID, that is our policy." I was so pissed, but (luckily for her) didn't have enough time to take up the issue with her.

As we got Caleb on the train, I called his mom to let him know we'd gotten everything ok and that he was on his way. She said something that made me laugh and lightened my mood a bit. What did she say? "Can you imagine if your mom had been there when she said that?"

My laughing reply? "We'd be calling for bail money about now."