Driving, it’s a thing that almost everyone does. It’s the easiest and most convenient way to get from Point A to Point B. It is seen as the best way to achieve independence, if you’re a teenager or a person in your early twenties, from your parents. Some folks even get their own car when they pass their test. I remember thinking my school friends were lucky sods, when I would see them driving into school and arriving at 8:40, when I’d be getting in at 8, having gotten the bus in. I remember feeling envious when the school bell would toll to signal that class was out at five, and I’d not be getting home till quarter to seven because of the school bus, but my friends would be leaving at 5 because they could drive.
Now, that might sound like a massive moan, and if it does, my apologies. I don’t mean to moan, I despise moaning-though I think it might be something I do a lot- it’s just that growing up I couldn’t wait to learn how to drive. Then I turned sixteen and I could legally learn how to drive, and I didn’t. Exams, that was my reasoning throughout school. I needed to do well to get into University, so I watched my friends pass their test and get cars and all that, and I assured myself that the moment I finished school, I would learn and I would pass.
I finished school, I had a fair few lessons, but I didn’t take my driving test. Why, you might ask? Because I failed my theory test, not once, but three times. Man that was humiliating, what idiot fails their theory test three times? This idiot apparently. No matter, I knew how to reverse around a corner, I knew how to parallel park-better than my Mum!- and I could take the test and pass, if I could just take the stupid theory test and pass.
Then Uni happened. Man, Uni was a hilarious mess. New people, alcohol, parties, guitar, band, all these things happened at Uni. And to be honest, driving became the last thing on my mind. I couldn’t give two hoots about learning how to drive at Uni. Nah, I was far too invested in going out, learning about Sociology-never thought I’d say that with a straight face!- and trying and failing to chat up girls in my lectures. Driving could go sod itself.
Graduation came and went, the cold reality of adulthood settled in. I needed to learn how to drive, and I needed to learn quickly. But first, I needed to pass my theory test, that monster standing before the gates of my Eden, that boss blocking my entrance to the next level. I practised hard, I learned the whole theory book, I could recite speeds, turns, signs at will, I was determined to pass that damned test. I went off to Shanghai, I partied, I made friends, the theory test got put to the back burner. I came back from Shanghai, and the merciless pursuit of that great monster continued. I took a practise theory test five times a day, determined to keep going until I passed the theory and the hazard perception with flying colours. I booked my theory test, went to the test centre, in September, 2016 I finally passed my theory test on the fourth attempt.
I was bloody relieved, finally that monster had been slain, I was free for now.
I took a few days off, then phoned my former driving instructor and asked for some lessons. Once I got off the phone, I began sweating, would I still remember what I had learned? Would I even remember what to do when behind the wheel? It had been three years since I’d last driven a car. The day came for my first lesson, and the first thing that hit me was that my instructor had a new car. Interesting, something new, perhaps this could work.
That first lesson was a bloody nightmare, I stalled three times I think. I forgot how to reverse around a corner, I felt like an absolute muppet. Then at the end of the lesson, I think I got into the swing of things. Next lesson, it was the same, I hated it, hated feeling like an absolute idiot when I got behind the wheel, not certain of anything I was doing. Slowly, before Christmas, I had a few more lessons, and got back into the swing of things. True, I struggled to reverse around the corner, but I was getting there. Better yet, I was bloody determined to get there.
Christmas came and went, the deadline for my approaching driving lessons after it approached. The nights were bad, the horror of not remembering shit about driving would come back. Irrational, I know, still, it’s something I have, always have. I had my first lesson on the 22nd of this month, for an hour, it was alright, mucked up reversing around the corner, but figured out a way to manage that. Second lesson after the break was on 23rd. I finally cracked how to reverse around the corner. I felt so damn happy when I did it without hesitating. Then came turning in the road, say bye bye to the ego, back to being a an amateur. I’m getting there. I’m determined to hack this driving business before April.
If you’ve read through all of that, well thank you for sparing me a bit of your time. I hope you enjoyed it, if you didn’t please leave a comment, let me know where I could do better. If you did enjoy it, do leave a comment, spread the word.
Thanks.