Daring To Drive

     Driving remains last on my “favorite things to do” list. Though I prefer someone else drive, necessity obligates me to grin and bear it.  My teen years began the propagation of the fears of driving.  My dislike of driving stems from the loss of a dear friend from a collision with an 18 wheel tractor trailer truck.  It showed inevitable, the day my mother would say, that it was time for me to learn to drive and to get my driver’s license.  The Horror!  No, I was not your typical teenager!   

     Usually, at least when I was young, teens chomped at the bit to get the keys of their parent’s car and get comfy behind the wheel.  By having their driver’s license, teens felt the power of finally having the freedom to go places on their own without the presence of parental authority sullying their plans.   All around me friends and classmates reveled in the success of passing the driving test while shaking their car keys in the air tightly grasped in their fists. 

     The knot in the pit of my stomach grew tighter with each viewed celebration. I made up excuses of why it was not the right time to learn how to drive to all who approached the subject of driving.  The delay stretched out as long as I could take it when I ran out of excuses and was finally confronted with facing my fears.  It suffices to say that with such a dislike and a lack of enthusiasm for driving, I went through three driving teachers throughout my training period.  With each practice driving session my distress of the foreseeable driving test soared.  My first two instructors, my mother and sister, suddenly became too “busy” to teach me after a few “close calls”.  I did not blame them, I was pretty freaked out too when I almost hit those two cars while trying to make a left turn.   Disheartened and petrified my third and final coach came in to the mix. 

     My sister’s boyfriend braved the following sessions brilliantly.  Though I never saw him flinch or heard him scream at me in terror, I know I was a horribly lackluster and scary student.  His patience and consistent schooling in the art of driving eventually gave me more confidence that I could pass the driving test once and for all.  The days leading up to the fateful test day were full of prayers and tears.  The terror of driving surpassed that of not passing.  Finally the day arrived; of course it had to rain! 

     So rain would be my undoing!  My mother drove me to the test as I sat in the car frozen and staring at the rain drops snaking down the passenger window.  I just concentrated on the drops and said prayers the whole way to the test center.  Once the tester joined me in the vehicle I took a deep breath and just imagined my coach in the seat next to me and went on my way.  Before I knew it I was back at the test center successfully parallel parking.  It was over.  I glanced over to the rain soaked sidewalk where two women jumped up and down under umbrellas with wide smiles on their faces; my mom and probably some other teens mom.   The tester handed me a paper and said, “Congratulations!”  It was over! 

     Following the driving test I remember my mom getting in passenger seat asking me to drive home and I responded by saying “no way”!  It is so funny now thinking back to that time in my life.  I say funny because now my daughter and niece are at the age where they are preparing for the driver’s test.  My daughter, very much like me, is very reluctant to practice driving.  My niece on the other hand, whose father by the way was my last driving coach, cannot wait to get behind the wheel.  My daughter has in no way the same reason for disliking driving as I did but dislikes it just the same.  It gets me to wonder if the reason for the disinterest in driving is due to real fears or lack of interest in driving due to the rising of the use of modern technology to do everything.  Most teens in the modern era prefer to study, shop, interact and play on their computers rather than drive to the mall as I did when I was young.  Either way my work is cut out for me with teaching my daughter how to drive.  I never imagined that I would ever have to teach someone else how to drive!  The wisdom I hope to impart to my daughter and my niece is that whatever it may be, driving, school or work, take a deep breath, say a prayer, give it your all and give it a chance!  You may not initially be good at it but practice makes perfect and you will be a better person for having tried!  Have a positively blessed day!!