Memory Monday (once again a day late)

MEMORY of the week: LEARNING TO DRIVE

Well, ok my driving experience actually started a little farther back. Like many I grew up sitting on my dad's lap when I was young helping him drive the car through the neighborhood (the whole time thinking I was REALLY special). I then was promoted to helping my dad with the gear shift!

Then in my young teenage years I had my first time behind the wheel by MYSELF in the back country of Central Washington. My friend and I would go up to my friend Melinda's cabin (called the Swauk) and her dad was so brave to let us all have chances behind the wheel!

Ok... now back the to the "tricked-out, 2-door Honda Civic, which we all called the Rice Rocket!
Well this car was a stick shift, with a very loud exhaust (meant to look/sound very cool, but I thought is was dumb!). So my dad took be out to learn how to drive this car. To make a long, horrible story short, I was really bad with the whole clutch thing, especially from parked to first. On top of that every time I did the clutch wrong, the exhaust revved up, nice and loud so EVERYONE could hear.

The worst part was my dad took me out on the streets of our town and we came to this busy stop sign where you are then supposed to turn out onto pretty fast on coming traffic. I stalled like four times, each time getting more and more frustrated. The cars were beginning to pile up behind me and some even began to honk! I was in tears and at my whits end and was 2 seconds away from turning the car off and throwing the keys at my dad, when I finally got the car out of a stopped position to first and was on my way. I drove straight home and immediately got out of the car and said that I had given up! To be honest, I think my dad had given up on teaching me too.

I think the above incident made my parents questions what I SHOULD drive, since the "Rice Rocket" wasn't working out. I did the rest of my practice driving in my parents cars, which were NOT stick shift.

I took driver's ed from a local program with my friend Ciara. The classes were so dumb and I always brought school homework and did it while we watched silly movies about driving safe. The lady that took Ciara and I on our test drives was unforgettable. Her name was Margarita, she was (not to be rude) an overweight, cigar smoking lady who had a mustache and hardly said a word. Nonetheless I passed driver's ed.

I am not proud to admit but I failed my written test the first time, probably becuase I didn't read the handbook like they told you to and, like mentioned above, I didn't really pay the best attention in drivers ed. But I read the booklet and then passed easily my second time.

My driver's test was the same story, which I am even less proud to admit, that I failed the first time. I figured I would go to the more remote city's DMV becuase thier would be less cars when I took my test. Boy was that the wrong choice. Yes there was less "traffic" but the roads were... weird. Being remote there were very few stoplights and instead countless mixture of 4-way and 2-way stops. Well, I mistook a 2-way stop for a 4-way stop (can you blame me... it was a maze out there and I was nervous). This resulted in me pulling out in front of oncoming car a little too close for my test givers comfort, because I thought that car had a stop sign too. Consequently the overly freaked out test-giver sent me straight back to the DMV and didn't let me finish the test. I went back a few weeks later and passed just fine... and even did pretty darn good on that tough parallel parking!
Yes.. I did it. I am proud to announce that I have never gotten a ticket or gotten in an accident either! KNOCK ON WOOD! And that is how I learned how to drive.