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She drives me crazy!
Reminiscing about the past can be fun, scary, and interesting all rolled into one. I was sitting here thinking about my first driving lessons the other day. Initially, my dad went out with me to the fairgrounds when it was vacant, and let me drive through all the unoccupied streets. I got practice stopping, turning, speeding ;^), going in reverse, parallel parking, and of course doing the wonderful "K-turn" (or 3-point turn, depending on where you're from). I did rather well with the automatic that we had.
Driving class in high school was another matter entirely. The first road day that I got after completing the book courses was in a car with manual transmission! Well, suffice to say that I had NO experience whatsoever, as we only had automatic transmission vehicles! Couple that with the fact that our Driver's Ed instructor acted like a Nazi, and you can imagine how fun it was for a 16 year old girl to be having her greatest weakness exposed for a grade!
I spent the entire first day in the school parking lot, trying to get the damned AMC moving. Later, I learned that it wasn't just me--those cars apparently had very touchy clutches! To this day, I'll never forget Herr Shithead yelling at me, "LET THE CLUTCH OUT ONE HAIR!!!", while leaning into my face with his bad breath and pulling down one strand of his bangs to further emphasize his point. The girl who shared the Driver's Ed classtime with me cried every time that we went out! To be honest, we were sworn enemies, but I couldn't help feeling sorry for her because she wasn't as strong-willed as I was.
I got as far as driving around the neighborhood with the AMC in that class. Never made it to the highway. I really haven't touched a manual transmission since. Can you blame me? ;^)
On the other hand, I had become quite proficient with driving an automatic transmission. The one that the school offered was a Ford Escort. Of course, the driving instructor was gearing up for another day of hell with us, but this was not to be! NO--for I had practiced many long hours in our automatics, and I was ready for the bastard this time! ;^)
First day of driving the Escort was a torrential downpour, with low visibility. I was told to drive out of the city and onto the highway, with instructions on where to exit. Well, I signaled, got on the ramp, and put the pedal down, careful not to exceed the posted speed limits! I was watching the exit signs going by, and suddenly a truck pulled over in front of me. Needless to say, if you've ever followed a tractor-trailer in a downpour, you know what it does to your windshield, especially if it has torn mud flaps! I knew the area enough to find the ramp, and got off just in time. I pulled off under the bridge, where we were to change drivers. The lanes going under the bridge were awash in runoff water, and the guy who was my driving partner this trip had to plod through it in brand new white sneakers! Luckily, I was wearing sandals, which dried off a few hours later with no harm done. ;^)
After a few more sessions, I passed the class. We got a discount on our car insurance if we passed, so I was forced to deal with the teacher for that reason alone.
When it came time to take my driver's test with the state, I was sure that it would be a snap. Little did I know that one of the huge cops would be sitting in my passenger seat, clipboard in hand, noting my progress! I thought that he was going to write me tickets if I did anything wrong! Hehe. It was a closed course, so at least nobody was gonna die if I ran over any curbs.
I did everything that I had learned in the fairgrounds, and I even nailed the K-turn! I passed! I couldn't wait to get that stamp on my junior license to show to my friends! Getting my first real license was cool, even if it did say "under 18" on it--at least it looked like the adult version!
Tell me about your "learning to drive" experiences--because I know that they're all funny! ;^)
Good for you pimme!! Now you can help your parents pay for the added car
insurance! lol
Congratulations!
George
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Gee Pimme... I was perfect, I really haven't got a story about me!
;^)
Well, except the instructor in my area was a real pain so I drove to an entirely different County to take my drivers test! ha. That one was nice... of course, back in my day, it's wasn't too easy to get the horse to parallel park my buggy properly! :)
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First time ever behind a wheel- driving instructor
yelled at me to look
at him. We were on a main road with a speed limit of 30 miles an hour. He
then
yelled at me that I wasn't paying attention to the
road. I got
a new driving school after that.
Passed the road test senior year of high school.
I've only ever driven stickshift EXCEPT when I took my test last July. I
got so nervous I couldn't get out of the parking spot at the DMV. Haven't
been behind the wheel since. Well, that's a lie -- I sat in the driver's
seat once for a few seconds just because I missed it. Haven't driven,
though. My learner's permit expired in August and I just got it renewed
last month. And still haven't driven.
Glad my suffering is entertaining for you! Haha, I kid, I kid. Someday I'll kick some road test's arse.
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Oh, I've got a story. I was actually 22 by the time I decided I needed to
drive a car as I was actually afraid of them before that...anyway, I signed
up with one of those driving instructor places (E-Z I think it was). As
luck would have it, I am assigned Ed the pervert for a driving instructor.
As soon as I'd actually passed the driving test, he reaches into his
briefcase in the back seat and I happen to glance back and lo and behold
what do I see? A can of contraceptive boldly laying in his briefcase! I
didn't know what to do or say so I said stupidly, "I guess you're ready for
anything." It wasn't me I was worried about...just think of all those 15 to
16 year olds he could have been instructing! Can you say Yuk! Then he
wanted me to visit his apartment and watch porn videos...needless to say I
made a hasty retreat! At least I got my license!
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I have Uber-Pea beat - I didn't get my license until I was 24.
My 1st husband [at 17 yrs old] wouldn't let me drive and when I left him and moved to a small town, I didn't need to - it cost me $1 a day to ride the bus to and from work and it picked me up at the end of my street [three houses down].
When I was 20, I worked with the daughter of my boss and she tried to get me to drive her car. With her and her two 7 year olds in the car, I put the minivan in reverse and promptly backed up over three mailboxes - ours and two neighbors. I stuck to the bus for the next few years. [Imagine how hard work was Monday morning]
When I was given an ultimatium [by the now-spousal] that I couldn't come to Virginia Beach to live with him unless I got a license, I started stealing my grandmother's car to go out in the middle of the night and practice without anyone staring at me, trying to teach me and making me nervous in the process.
I passed the driver's test on the first go and haven't looked back since! Eat My Dust! tee hee :)
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My driving instructor was the school's football coach, a traditional
southern good ol' boy type (teaching in a New Jersey high school).
He would take 3 of us out at a time. One would drive and the other two would observe from the back seat. The first time out, the person driving stopped at his first stop sign. The coach looked at all of us and said with a serious expression, "There's something VERY important you all need to know about stop signs". After a pause, he continued, "See those letters S T O P? It stands for Stupid Trooper On Patrol! You obey the stop sign and you won't meet the stupid trooper!
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Even in my driver's ed class, I had the reputation as a leadfoot. The
funniest thing, though, has got to be my dad trying to teach me to drive
standard. Invariably, I stalled the car, probably giving him progressively
worsening whiplash. He would grow more and more exasperated, telling me
how simple it was. I still can't drive stick to save my life. Combine my
driving with traffic in the city and I think I would go through a clutch a
week.
Visit me @ http://bostonmatt.blog-city.com
I gave mine a heart attack. Needless to say I didn't get my license that
year. The asshole should've been grateful that I drove him to the hospital.
My driving instructor just made us go over railroad tracks so that we could
feel each tire inching over the rails. And living near a big RR hub, that
became annoying really quickly!
My half-brother took me out on the backroads on the way to our grandmother's funeral, when I was 14 and taught me to drive standard transmission. Frustrating, but I got it. I couldn't tell my mom about it, but I felt all ready to go when I convinced her to let me try when driving home one day a little while before my 16th. I got it going fine (always the hard part!) but I somehow blanked out with regards to the brake and the clutch when it came time to turn. I went around the corner WAY too fast and narrowly avoided a one-room schoolhouse, stop sign, tree, and mailbox in rapid succession, all the while cursing like a sailor. I didn't get to drive again until I was legally allowed.
My cousin, a farmer, also taught me how to back vehicles up using only my side mirrors. He used a big grain truck and had me repeatedly back it onto the scales. Like learning to drive standard, it was frustrating, but I eventually mastered both skills and they both still serve me well!
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My uncle didn't think it was very funny when I reversed his car into a lamp
post.
I used to be a driving instructor....interesting times ;-)
Visit me @ http://longrider.blog-city.com
Love this blog! This is the truth. This is reality. We should get together
on an article sometime, Keep up the great work!
PatienceSkylar [patienceskylar@yahoo.com]
that's great for you! i hope you're doing fine!