AmyD‘s recent post about her newly minted ninja errand boy got me to thinking. BB is about a year and a half away from getting his learner’s permit. He is already counting the days. Teaching him to drive is going to be a totally different experience from when I learned to drive.
I grew up in a minuscule town in Oklahoma. If you are yawning when you are buzzing by on the highway, you will miss it. I learned to drive on the dirt road where I lived. It wasn’t unusual to go hours without seeing another car on the road. I moved on to driving in the town where my Grandma lived after I became an accomplished dirt road driver. I think there are 3 stoplights there and the maximum speed is 25 mph. I didn’t ever drive on a road with a turn lane on it til I had moved away from home. I’d gotten married and moved to Texas. The first two weeks or so, I avoided the turn lane and would take the long way home so I didn’t have to deal with it.
We are going to be teaching BB to drive in the big city! Surrounded by people that drive like bats out of hell. I shudder to think of how nerve-wracking it will be to sit in the passenger seat while he navigates through traffic.
I’m really not in Kansas Oklahoma anymore.
14 Comments, Comment or Ping
How about the “suicide” lanes, they are even worse. The older I get, the more I use the lane – to see if I win the game of “chicken!’ So far – so good!
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September 24th, 2008 11:00 am
Start looking out now for abandoned parking lots — that’s the best place in a city to start teaching a kid to drive.
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September 24th, 2008 11:04 am
The worst part about driving in Florida is all the old people.
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September 24th, 2008 11:27 am
Well that is going to bring the grey hairs, isn’t it? Everything is so different now. The traffic everywhere now is just so horrific….! Maybe go to a HUGE Parking lot at off hours and begin there….! Just a thought, my dear.
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September 24th, 2008 12:35 pm
I’m going to sound like a sexist jerk here… but Ethan seemed to be a natural with driving and I think it might be a “boy” thing. I’m more terrified about teaching Katie to drive. I really, really am.
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September 24th, 2008 1:11 pm
Try going to a parking lot of a store which has recently closed or is now no longer operating…I learned how to drive with my Dad in a wickes furniture parking lot after it was closed :)
It worked for us :)
Bradley
The Egel Nest
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September 24th, 2008 3:26 pm
Hey, maybe he will be like my darling daughter Jackie, and rack up a butt-load of speeding tickets in a year or so.
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September 24th, 2008 9:50 pm
My dad started me out in big empty parking lots, too. It’s good advice.
Good luck!
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September 25th, 2008 7:16 am
(shiver) One of the few times I’m glad I never had kids. The bright side = great blog post to come! Wear your seatbelt and take a little “medicine” before the lesson!
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September 25th, 2008 6:37 pm
When my dad taught me to drive (deep in the last century) he used the imaginary brake pedal a lot, as well as clutching onto the door handle, sucking in breath sharply, and closing his eyes. Funny, at the end of his life, when I would drive him around, he was still stomping on that old imaginary brake pedal.
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September 25th, 2008 6:42 pm
Marie – I will admit that I am a suicide lane driver. I like to drive fast and get away from all of the other crazy fuckers.
Bekah, Bradley, ht/gt & Lady of the Hills – Oh! Abandoned parking lots! That’s a good idea! I’ll start scoping them out now.
Mace – No argument there. They are also the scourge of Wal-Mart.
AmyD – You sounding like a sexist jerk gives me hope. Hopefully, within the next 18 months or so, BB will develop some sort of grace and not bump into shit all the damn time and will have no issues with driving. I hope.
Mike – It would only take one ticket and then the only thing he’d be driving is a pair of sneakers.
Sara Sue – No medicine. I’ll need my reaction time to be quick!
Cissy Strutt – Ah, old habits die hard.
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September 25th, 2008 9:21 pm
Oh man my nerves couldn’t take that. Isn’t there somewhere rural you can take him? Anywhere?
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September 26th, 2008 12:54 pm
Nope. Nowhere rural. I think I’ll be in charge of teaching him in a parking lot and Sweety can log the “on the highway” time that he needs.
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September 26th, 2008 9:38 pm
I made my parents so nervous that they made my sister take me out for driving lessons.
When I nearly hit a Korean War Memorial in town, she shrugged and said “Well, at least you only hit the CURB this time.”
That was 20 years ago, and I am STILL teased about it.
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September 26th, 2008 10:01 pm
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