Posted on 08/06/2020 8:31:49 PM PDT by Mrs. Warrior
I didn't get a driver's license right away as a young woman. My husband had enlisted in the Army and was at Fort Benning, GA going through basic combat and Infantry training. As a I mentioned in earlier posts, I lived with a family for that period of time with our daughter while my husband was gone. So it was time for me to get my drivers license .
My husband was completing his training soon and I needed to drive down to pick him up. No one wanted to take the time to teach me how to drive. The lady I was staying with offered me her car to use for the driving part of the test. The car was a boat, a mid 70s full sized something or other, about 20 feet long. It was too long, my husband had formerly been letting me drive our Honda Civic, but we had sold it.
I passed the written exam and the examiner got in. He was slurping on a milk shake. He told me to pull out to a busy road so I accelerated. His milkshake spilled all over him. He told me to pull forward to a country road. He wanted me to do a three point turn, well more than three points later, that boat car still had not turned. People were honking at us. He said “I think it would be safer if we pulled into a driveway and turned around”. I said, “have you seen the neighborhood we are in?” “You pull in here, and we will get shot at by a redneck!” “ What should we do? I inquired . “You passed your test” he declared! Wait till my husband hears how good I did!
I pulled out of the neighborhood and shortly we came to a three way stop. “I think I have forgotten who has the right of way, did you happen to notice who got here first?” “No, but I know this is going to be my last test drive, just get us back to the office”. The windows were starting to fog up. “Where is that button to roll down the windows, I asked? “This is an old car, you roll down the windows by hand” he mumbled. I started to roll mine down, and a big spider fell into the car; I screamed “I really hate spiders!” “Now I have a headache, “smack it” I said”.
“I would really like to, but they don't let us smack the clients!” at least that's what I think he said.
Do you still have that big car? A Chevy Impala or Caprice, maybe? Perhaps a Ford Galaxy or a Chrysler Newport. I love those cars! (especially pre-catalytic converter)
These days in Columbus, GA, you can do your driving test with the instructor (if you are young, you pretty much have to hire the instructor), but you get to use their car. My daughter passed with flying colors.
funny
as i have gotten older my vehicles have gotten bigger
more concerned about people plowing into me
Congratulations on passing. Did you have to parallel park? That’s still not my specialty.
Be glad you don’t have to Smog your car. That’s another expense.
Those big boats are comfortable even though they drink a lot of gas.
When I learned t drive back in the 50s I had to take the test with a stick shift or the license was restricted to automatic only.
.
these days difficult to find stick shift car
My mom made me learn on a stick or no license. I had to change tires and do basic maintenance, too, or else she wasn’t taking me for a license. She didn’t want us girls vulnerable on the side of the road and I’m now grateful she did us that way.
I taught our two kids that do drive...they both started early and stayed on their permit for a year...
..and boy do I remember those roll down windows.....what a pain....
remember when the first thing one wanted to know about a car was "did the radio work"...the most important thing in the world....lol
When I got my license, I did really well on the written exam. Definitely over 90%, although 36 years after the fact my recollection is a bit fuzzy.
On the driving test, I scored 74 of 100. One of my infractions was changing lanes through an intersection. I did this test in a 1978 Buick Estate Wagon - which was my choice, because the other vehicle at my disposal for this test was a 1976 Mercury Grand Marquis 2-door. The Mercury was a full foot longer than the Buick!
Once I had my license, I mostly drove a 1974 Ford Pinto (which my dad taught me to drive in at the age of 13). For most of my life I’ve driven small or smallish cars, and I prefer to keep it that way. My last two cars have been first-generation Mazda Miatas.
I grew up with mechanics, so as soon as I turned sixteen, I wanted my license. I got a $500 hand-me-down from my dad that was later handed down to my brother and kept as a backup vehicle until the brake lines failed. (it was an ‘89 Mazda MX-6)
I have also owned two Mazda 626es (one ‘99 and one ‘96), an ‘85 Olds Delta 88 (which I miss dearly), an ‘03 Pontiac Vibe (which I also miss dearly) and an ‘04 Mazda 3. I now have a ‘99 Toyota 4Runner, which I love to pieces.
I value my independence too highly to go without a vehicle for long periods of time.
Welcome to FR
I took driver’s ed in HS in the late ‘50s. Did OK with the automatic shift cars the school had, but didn’t get my license because our family car was a stick shift. A year or so after graduation, I had a job and wanted to buy my Dad’s car so I had to learn to drive manual transmission. My boyfriend (who later became my husband) took me out in his car, a 1941 Ford, stick shift, for a “crash” course. It turned out pretty well...the transmission was so loose that sometimes you could shift without pushing in the clutch. That car had no radio and no heater, and to use the horn you had to touch a loose dangling wire to something metal. The windows did roll up and down but you had to fish the handles out of the glove compartment to crank them. When we went anywhere, he had to carry a jar of gas to prime the carburator to get it started. What a car!
I’m waiting on this one. I think I’ve become too jaded. Or not.
LAWYER WANTED
With license to practice in Illinois and Wisconsin. Preferably connected to a Christian conservative group Willing to examine a possible law suits and also correct a bureaucratic blunder that has denied 4 decades of obtaining a legal right to drive because of reciprocal rules that prevent obtaining a drivers license. That denial has created a 7 figure income loss.It also concerns a refusal by public defenders to confront the bureaucracies and officials involved to correct when an attempt was made to correct it. That because of this it could go to a state or even federal SCOTUS http://www.theusmat.com/consumer.htm
Funny story.
A few years ago, the son of a friend of mine had taken Driver Ed but his dad got transferred overseas before he got his license.
The kid returned to the US a few months before his parents for his first year of college.
I told him I’d take him out driving to re-familiarize himself with it.
His dad was a special forces type who had several very high end driving courses. It was obvious he taught his son some stuff while overseas.
At one point, while driving I said “Look, I know the guy who’s going to give you your driver test. He’s a good guy but he’s going to want you to actually touch the brake before turning the corners.”
This kid was going full bore and in perfect control. It was actually kind of fun riding with him
These days, a stick is an anti-theft device.
“these days difficult to find stick shift car”
They’re out there, just gotta search for them.
Have 5 that I’ve collected over the years.
Ford, Mazda, Chevy, and Jeep.
I took my driving test in my Mother’s 63 Cadillac Coupe De
Ville. I think it was 19 feet long.
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