Tuesday, January 20, 2015

I Was A Newbie

This is day 12 of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join me as we share a month of reading, writing and discovery. Today's topic is Newbies.


Image Source: Bloglovin.com
No matter where we are now one thing is for certain, we have all been a "newbie" at least once in our lives. A new kid in school, a new job, the new player on the team, and a graduate entering the workforce are all examples of a newbie.

A recently licensed driver is also a newbie.  Remember the day you got your drivers license? Things are different now, but when I was learning to drive, I took the drivers ed classes and got my permit at 15.  The day I turned 16, Daddy drove me to the DMV, where I proceeded to take the written test, and then the dreaded road test.  That road test nearly did me in.  I turned the three point turn into four points and a few other minor infractions, but I passed. Afterward...Daddy drove me back home, or to school, I don't remember which.

At that point, I thought I had learned to drive.  I hadn't really driven a lot with my permit, so even though I had the license to prove it, my lack of experience meant I was still a newbie.

Shortly after I got my license, I convinced my Mom to let me drive to school one day.  So cool was I.  After school a friend and I drove the few blocks to Mayberry's for ice cream.  Ms. Cool had left her purse on the chair at school.  No license, no money and driving my Mom's car. Fortunately, we made it back to the school, I collected my purse and drove home with no one being the wiser.  Some things are best left unsaid.

What are some of your early driving experiences?




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8 comments:

  1. My first vehicle was a small pickup truck -- a stick shift. I didn't know how to drive stick, so a couple days before I got it, a friend taught me. On a Toyota Land Cruiser. Yeah, nice and easy. And he made me stop on a big hill and then go again. Helped for sure. Then after I bought the truck, I was still scared. And my father made me drive it home saying there was no better way to learn.

    For the record, my current car is a stick shift and is the fourth stick shift I've owned. I recently taught my niece how to drive it, too. Crazy times!

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    1. My first car was a 1970 Firebird, automatic. I never learned to drive a stick. Hubby tried a couple times and I guess with practice I could do it, but why? I will always buy automatics.

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  2. I was a pretty good driver and pretty safe. I remember the day I got my license I went to pick up my best friend so we could go "cruising." I realized then just how much my world had opened up!

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    1. I was usually safe and cautious, but still made some mistakes from inexperience. No accidents, though, until I was 19 and then it wasn't my fault. We did the cruising thing too!

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  3. Learning how to drive stick was an experience. Teaching someone else to drive was even worse. My son asked me, "Why do you need to do this?" I couldn't tell him. I knew you had to do something, just couldn't put into words why you needed to do it. Needless to say, none of my kids know how to drive a stick shift.

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    1. I can't either. I could learn, I guess, but there's no need. Hubby spent time in Italy last year and he had to do all the driving because the majority of the rental cars are manual and he was the only one who could drive one.

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  4. Oh, I did fine in my driving test regarding the three-point turn and using my turn signals, etc. BUT when I arrived back at the starting place, the officer said, "I'm sorry, but you didn't pass your test."

    I looked at him in shock and said, "But I did everything right!"

    He shook his head and sighed. "You did, except one important thing. You drove on the wrong side of the road the entire time!"

    So, obviously I flunked. My dad was angry at me. What made it worse was I got the SAME officer on my next try. Fortunately, this time I passed:~)

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    1. Sara, wow! I am surprised that, for safety reasons, he didn't mention that right away. I bet that made the three-point turn interesting. I can imagine what must have been going through both your minds when you came face to face for the test the second time.

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