Graduated Licensing FFS
I had visions of driving myself to school, borrowing the car to cart to around with my friends, taking road trips to other parts of town that I was dying to explore – like Mooney’s Bay, the Market, or to a friend who lived on the other side of the Queensway. I had years of rocking Mario Kart under my belt, so I thought driving would be easy peasy.
Unfortunately, the simple journey that so many before me had – did not happen for me. I was full of procrastination to learn how to drive.
I waited until my 17th birthday to start the process. Funny thing though - now I wasn't getting my 365 anymore, but now it was a G1. Who knew waiting 10 months would make a difference? I wish I had paid more attention to our provincial news because I wouldn’t have waited – actually to be honest, I probably wouldn’t have cared, but looking back if I had been pushed a little harder, maybe – just maybe, I would have been saved from … GRADUATED LICENSING! If only I could have been notified instantly in my pocket by short little sentences that this was coming. But alas Twitter wasn’t around in 1994.
I went to the MOT and wrote the test. It was a multiple choice scantron type test, where you had to get 80% to pass – so the flexibility to get 3 wrong. No pressure. And studying was not a strength of mine. Just ask any of my teachers. I read that driver’s ed book from cover to cover. Stupid book. Oh my nerves couldn’t take it and I thought I was going to tank. But I didn’t, I persevered and got my little green piece of official government paper with my name on it, now laminated and sitting wonderfully with a shitty photo in my wallet. Now I have ID. I’m like a real recognized person now, not just one my parents dreamed up. To hell with you library card!
Now I had to keep this bad boy for 18 months. See, my friends had their 365… meaning they only had it for 365 days before they can get their actual full license. But not me… I had to now drive with a licensed driver for up to 18 months (which meant my parents – gasp), and take drivers ed over march break.
My mom promised me drivers ed for my 16th birthday (about $400), but I pissed her off the night before and she took it away and gave me $50 in the card instead. Life lesson number one - don’t upset a parent the day before a major gift giving event, it could be revoked without warning. Like your phone today… do… not… take… it… for… granted!
And of course, I had to do it over march break because it was highly concentrated classes (like 4 full days in-class at DTSM) and cheaper since they wanted to put bums in seats. Happy birthday to me – here are some car crash videos for you the burn into your mind – now pass the cake.
Fast forwarding, I’m now learning how to drive. My boyfriend at the time had his own truck. He was 22 yrs old – and no my parents didn’t like that – but we dated for a few years, so it wasn’t a random fling – and he let me drive all the time. He lived in a small town about 20 mins from mine, so I got some single lane highway practice, some dirt road practice and some farmers field practice. All essential when your road test is downtown.
My dad and my mom at the time both drove stick. So, I was not only nervous about learning the road, the signs, the city and the rules… I had to listen to the engine, understand hand-eye-foot coordination, navigate a manual transmission, survive jack-rabbiting or rolling backwards before starting and overall trying not to die – all at the same time. I was an easily overwhelmed teen back then but super shy so nothing would be shared until my inner coke bottle was shaken to the point that the lid blew off.
My dad was a good teacher. Patient, explained things calmly and encouraged me to stretch. Thanks Dad. My mom… well, we had 1 memorable session where she picked me up from work one night, and asked if I wanted to drive home – and within the first 10 mins of the 15 min drive, we were already yelling at each other. I threatened to crash her car... she gave me “the look”… we all know “the look”… and I pulled over so she could drive the rest of the way. Never threaten Marie.
Little does Marie know but I stole her car in first year college to drive to Cornwall and visit with my boyfriend when she went out west with my siblings. Ha! Ha! I thought – but nope, I later was asked by a smart friend if she wrote down the mileage before leaving on her trip… and I was like fuuuuuuuuck, that’s totally something Marie would do. So for the next 5 years I was petrified that she was sitting on this nugget of detrimental information that would put me so far into a grounding that I wouldn’t see daylight until I was 30. I’m 42 and still waiting for the ball to drop…
Ok, right, graduated licensing. I learned throughout this process that I’m a professional procrastinator. And a good one at that! I waited almost the whole 18 months… silly girl. After learning how to drive stick in-car with my inaugural instructor, with my first lesson causing me an aneurism as I jack rabbited through the intersection of Castlebrook and Hazelnut. My 2nd lesson was no easier as I had to feel the engine of the car while sitting on the steepest part of the hill on Grace's street, trying to find the gears with the radio blasting… I was officially done. Now I needed to change to an automatic car so I was enabled for success. And I met “Hertz” my new instructor. He was good – taught me how to drive in the winter with defensive driving and all. Life changing btw – I still know how to rock a car out of deep snow. But I have a jeep now, so I’ll just 4 x 4 my way out of that shit… thanks still, Hertz.
Ok fast forward 18 months, now I had to test for my G2. Btw, I’m not even driving on my own yet! I'm proud to say I did well, and only lost points because I was learning to drive primarily on a truck, and took the test in my dad’s Honda Accord – so my turns were waaaaayyyyy to wide. But I still passed. Holy shit I can now drive on my own, on the highway and all… but, I still have one more level to go. Fuck me sideways. I’m going to be 21 before I’ll be able to drive on my own own. And little did I know, that’s how old I was when I finally finished the whole freaking program. And to boot, I had bought 2 cars for myself in there before I got the damn thing!
I had my brother help me practice driving before I took my final test. He told me I was terrible and wouldn’t pass – which in turn became a fight, and he didn’t help me much after that. And breaking habits early on is tricky – when you are a know-it-all young adult who couldn’t do any wrong.
So the day finally came when I was taking the final test. I was dressed all professionally (mainly because I had come from work) and arrived in my hot red Z24. I looked like I had confidence even though I was shitting a litter of kittens in my khakis.
The test was a breeze and I passed with flying colours. I drove home thinking I was the shit. And now I was getting a brand-new purple and blue visa card like license. No more library card-like laminated license for this girl!
Lesson here kids – with practice, dedication to learning how to do something right, and some self-confidence even in the most terrifying times, you can do just about anything. We always worry that we will fail before something is even tried because it’s hard or we don’t know how to do it. But try not to stand in your own way – you could be standing in front of the most amazing thing ever. Remember, everything you want is on the other side of fear.
Love,
Patricia
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