Real Talk!

This morning, my daughter got her G1, driving permit. First try. She’s already done the classroom portion of her “Driver’s Ed” classes. Standing in the Motor Vehicle office, I remembered the day that I had written my test.

Of course, we called it a “365”, in those days- almost exactly 34 years ago…

You know, in some ways it seems like just last week but now, I can say… for the very first time:

“This evening, my daughter took me for a drive.”

We spent an hour driving through our beautiful little town, on highways 62 and 28, on the side roads. I have to say that she did amazingly well for a first time behind the wheel.

On about the third trip around, we watched a couple of deer meander across South Baptiste Lake Road, near the Y Rd and into the forest. Then, we went up to the Canadian Tire parking lot and practiced 3-point turns and parallel parking.

I had to remind Katie to watch her speed… but I’m glad she was that comfortable behind the wheel. I was pretty comfy in the passenger seat… although I might have raised my voice, slightly, when she went at the driveway a little quickly, coming home.

She gets that from her father and other bad influences (Fabian?). Look… I’m not simply blaming men here. I’m touchin’ wood when I type this… I’ve done 34 years without a ticket… and that’s not just sheer luck. Even Katie said she has a new respect for how I watch the limits…

& I couldn’t help but think of my father, patiently taking me into the industrial areas of north Toronto and snapping on the parking break, halfway up a steep incline, on the ice… all because I was nervous of slipping backward, getting used to using the clutch.

Someday, I’d like Katie to learn to drive a standard transmission. I preferred driving standard, until I cracked my back up and it really is more comfortable not having to use a stick, now. Still, I can’t help but think that learning the finesse of a clutch is something we all need to do- besides, once you can do that, you can pretty well drive anything.

Right?