A funny thing happened when my father and I neglected to check for accuracy last year.

We were staying at my maternal grandmother’s house in El Salvador for a month. One day my grandmother requested we do the grocery shopping for lunch.

We bought everything on the list, but the items were too heavy (for my dad) to carry on foot. My Dad called my grandmother asking which bus would take us back. She said it was the C bus, and the bus stop was in front of Las Palmeras (palm trees in Spanish).

Dad and I looked for palm trees. We found one, singular. Dad had his doubts, and I suggested we call my grandmother to double-check, but as soon as a C bus pulled up in front of us Dad ignored me and we got on.

The bus started heading in the right direction, but then it made a large turn and went the opposite way. I pointed this out to Dad, but he said the bus would turn at another stop.

We passed another stop. The bus didn’t turn. We passed another stop. The bus didn’t turn. We passed a lot of stops. The bus never turned.  

We finally talked to the other riders and found out the bus was transporting us all illegally into Guatemala. My dad immediately asked the bus driver to drop us off at the next town.

We finally arrived back at my grandma’s for lunch at 3:30.

 Had Dad listened to my instincts and called Grandma to confirm where the stop was, we would have known that Las Palmeras is actually the name of a convenient store.

Lesson: Always check for accuracy; never assume.