So you just might be thinking, what self-respecting 30 year old needs driving lessons? The answer is, well, I do. I got my driver's license when I was 17, like most teens in NJ (yes I am from NJ, so feel free to insert appropriate garden state joke here). I drove around my town but never spent much time getting comfortable with highway driving and long distance driving in general. Then I went to college in New York City and lived there for an additional three years. If you have never lived in New York it is important to note that, owning a car there is more trouble than it is worth. Long term parking is insanely expensive, competing with taxis on the road frightening, and why bother when mass transit pretty much can take you anywhere you want to go anyway. I went to grad school in Indiana, where a car would have been much more useful, but it was easy to get by without one by living close to campus, so I did.
Fast forward a few years and here I am. Now married, living close to the suburbs and needing to have more flexibility in my job search to boot. Frankly it is just time. Now, sure I have access to a car, and my husband could probably teach me, but as I am happily married and would like to stay that way, I decided a better route would be to hire an objective professional. And that's exactly what I did.
Her name is Sarah, and she has been a driving instructor almost since I was born (she started in 1979 as she loves the flexibility) I nervously awaited Sarah's arrival this morning, thinking what if I get into an accident? What if I am the worst "brush up" student she has ever had? What if I cause a big traffic jam trying to make a left turn on a busy street? Argh!!! Sarah met me at the door, and set me at ease right away. As we drove around Belmont and Arlington she told me about her three kids who live all over the world and her trips to visit them. I told her about my job search and she suggested looking in the health care field as we made a three point turn. The only time I started to panic a little was when I thought we were going onto the highway, and I got into the right instead of the left lane. She remained calm, thank goodness, so I did too. We even practiced parallel parking for the first, and definitely not the last, time. Before I knew it, my hour was up and I was left excited and looking forward to Sarah's next visit.
Have any early driving stories to share? I'd love to read them!
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I had no idea you could do this! I was once good at driving, I swear, but I haven't really had to drive in almost 10 years and, sitting behind the wheel of my fiance's car in the merge lane of I95 I had the panicked realization that I most certainly need a brush-up course - especially in merging onto a highway. How did you find sarah?
ReplyDeleteWell I have some amusing memories of practicing parallel parking the day before I was to take my license test. It was on my street, which is a prime spot for parallel parking since it's a block from a commuter rail train station into Philly...
ReplyDeleteAll I really remember is that I COULD NOT parallel park. My dad, who had usually been a pretty calm driving companion (compared to my mom's constant "both hands on the wheel!!!" outbursts), had a really hard time keeping his cool while I repeatedly failed to back into the spot at the right angle.
This story has a happy ending, though: The next day I passed my license test and didn't even need my three permitted back-ups to successfully parallel park! Living in Cambridge, I now get plenty of practice, and I think I'm relatively competent. Hooray.