The funny thing about drivers education in Shidler was that almost everyone had been driving for years. I know I drove everyday on the farm since I was about 9 and I drove to school most of the time as well. What was strange is that mom and dad stopped letting me drive to school about six month before I got my license. They were afraid if I got a ticket I would not be able to get my license. Go figure.
So how did I do? I barely passed the written exam which surprised me but I was glad to pass. The driving test started very badly. First when the testing person told me to back out I was struggling because I left my emergency brake on. I gave it the gas and slowly and begrudgingly the car moved out into the road. The testing agent said I should consider taking off the brake. Blood rushed to my head and my nerves crackled and water started to bead across my head and my underarms were sweating profusely. What a start. Things went pretty smooth until he asked me to parallel park which I had never tried and at least I had read in a book how to do it. I pulled up beside the car parked in front of the open space and slowly turned my steering wheel while backing up. By the time I was perpendicular to the curb he suggested I just go on. Surprisingly I got partial credit for that and passed with a good margin. What a great day in growing up.
The funny thing about this is about 4 months later I was asked to participate in a statewide driving competition for 4-H. I placed second in the state! I parallel parked perfectly and drove through winding cones and tennis balls perfectly and they were laughing at the end because I did it in record time. I was in a hurry because I was also participating in an oral demonstration contest which was too tightly scheduled. I placed second in that as well and my topic was "The Five Fundamentals of Golf". The funny thing about that was I made up a chart, grabbed my golf clubs and never wrote anything else down but just spoke extemporaneously (that means I rambled about the outline on the poster).
Now one last funny note about driving classes. My son Chase who is a Fireman in Edmond Oklahoma was in a firetruck driving class. He was driving a firetruck and had two firemen/trainers in the truck with him. They encouraged him to drive a little faster (sound familiar). Well when he came to a stop light he was expected to have the siren going and change lanes based on the last second light change. Well he was going a little fast and was to turn the corner upon the light change. His fire truck went into a spin and the two riders were laughing hilariously as they were encouraging this situation. The person who was standing outside grading his driving was yelling at him for driving too fast and going into a spin with a fire truck which probably weights over 60,000 lbs.
I know some of you have stories to share about driving tests and would love for you to share them with me and potentially us.
So what do you learn in the Osage?
- almost everyone knows how to drive long before age 16
- A nut does not fall far from the tree, go figure
- If you want to go somewhere in your life you need to take off the brakes and get after it. Think on it.
- Admitting your mistakes and a little humility works wonders on having a satisfying life
Thanks for your time,
gary@thepioneerman.com
thepioneerman.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment