So mad at myself!! *cringe*

I can't believe what I did last nigth, I felt SUCH an idiot!! I have recently taken up having driving lessons again, and my instructor now thinks I'm at the standard where I'm ready to take my test... anyway, I have my own car which I go out to practise in (hubby has to accompany me).

So last night, hubby wants to go round his parents house, and I said "Ok, I'll drive!" So off we went in my little car.. I drove great - better than I've driven for a looong time, no mistakes at all!! I was soooo pleased!! So we get to his parents house and hubby starts saying how good I am doing etc etc etc and I felt great!

Hubby's little brother (the 18 year old know-it-all male chauvenist) has also been taking lessons, and had just passed his theory test, sohe was full of himself and how good he is at driving...( )

So anyway, the night comes to an end and we leave to drive home.... I get in the car, and now there are alot of cars parked along the street, so, I'm on a hill, theres a huge van parked right in front of me, and cars parked all down the other side of the road.... so I start the engine up, and STALL it?!?!?! I haven't done that for soooo long!! I can't believe it!! All hubbys family are watching at the door... laughing... so, I have another go... fine.. except my car doesn't have power steering so I have to do BIG pulls on the wheel to get it around the van parked in front of me.... I end up stuck in-between two parked cars... I'm sooo mad by now , so, I try to straighten up ready to pull off again... except hubby (in an attempt to help me) has put the car in reverse and not told me... so I fly backwards!! I just miss the parked car behind me!!! They are all still watching and hubby is LHAO.... I am SOOOO mad and embarrassed by this time, I just turn the engine off and get out yelling at hubby that he can drive home!!

I just can't believe everything had to go wrong at that exact moment... I have NEVER driven so badly before ever!!! ITs the first time they've seen me "drive" and now I can just imagine them all having a good laugh saying "gee's she's crap, she'll never pass her test" and hubbys brother saying "yeah well, she is a woman"....

ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!

Aww, Rhea don't feel too bad. If it means anything to you when I was learning how to drive I flubbed up a few times. Just in case you don't believe me or if reading these will help you feel a little better I'll spill 'em(although when I think back it makes me cringe so).

When I was learning how to drive Brian went with me. My old car had a really long nose to it and it took a while for me to get used to it. One day when we decided to go practice and it happened to be that my dad was having his house sidewalled at the time so there were quite a few people there along with my grandfather who was parked on the side of the road next to the driveway.

Anyway I pull out of the driveway and cut the wheel to turn and Brian tells me to back up a bit further because he didn't think my nose was going to clear my grandfather's car. Well silly me had bee driving a bit and felt confident I told him I was going to make it. Needless to say ask I put the car in drive and went forward my nose tagged my grandfather's car's bumper and make a loud THUD!! EVERYONE stopped to look and Brian jumped out of the car to see if there was any damage. All I could do was sulk behind the steering wheel and wish myself away from that situation. I felt so STUPID!!

Next, when I took my first test the instructor I had was a real jerk. Instead of teliing you what to do like 'Take a left onto this next road' he'd say 'Slow down here for 10 feet and signal your left turn signal and wait until it is clear then turn onto this road'. I was nervous to begin with and after he got done saying everything my mind was blank and racing to remeber everything thing he said. When it came time to do the 3 point turn he had me so confused but I was sure I did it right.

After that he told me to do another and he wasn't going to tell me what I did wrong. WRONG?! I didn't think I did anything wrong!! So my mind went racing again trying to figure out what I did wrong so I tried again but the guy wouldn't shut up. He kept talking... 'Now look over your left should... Now signal your turn signal...'

I'm screaming at him in my head and my heart is in my throat and I don't know what happened next but I did the stupid turn and the car came to a dead stop. He had pulled the e-brake and when I looked back I realized my car and a mini van had almost collided. I wanted to cry so bad and I got out of the car and sat in the back seat while my dad drove the car back to the DMV. Of course I failed but what I was doing wrong was I was looking over the wrong shoulder the first time. Argh!!!!

I went for a second test and failed that one because during another 3 point turn the guy failed me because my tire went a little into some guy's drive way......I don't think I need to say anymore about that.

So on the eve of my third test Brian and I were practicing in an empty parking lot but I was scared I was going to fail 3 times I was already on edge. Him and I got into a HUGE fight and I started crying and told him to drive me home because I didn't want to learn how to drive anyway. **sighs** I figured I was just abnormally stupid since no one else finds driving that hard why do I?

But I passed on my third test with no mistakes!!

If I can learn how to drive Rhea, ANYONE can.

Awww thanks Jessica!! I do feel better!!! I felt like that last night too - "I don't want to learn to drive a stupid car anyway"!!! :laughing:

Ahhhhhh Bod baby, It was the evil Hammies that made it happen.

Now please remember I love you before you read the next bit okay?

As much I love you and am sorry you had such a bad time I really had to pick myself up off the floor and wipe away the tears of hysterical laughter. You have to laugh about it, it was funny, and if you were watching someone else do the same thing (if I know you and your sense of humour) you would have laughed too! The way you wrote it made it sound like a Basil Fawlty skit. Oh you are such a sweety. Please don't be angry or upset, it happens to us all, if you had a year or two I would tell you of my escapades behind the wheel. I don't think they would have laughed to be mean but just because it would have looked funny. As for the Brother, he will get his!!! just pity the woman he ends up with one day. He is incidental and not worth getting upset about!!
You will do great, and after all wasn't this a good lesson to learn? not only about driving???

I do think you are wonderful, I really wish I had been there but I have the feeling you would have been mad at me for laughing too. But I would have been laughing with you not at you!!! Have a giggle girly!

Why is it we always do worse when we are being "watched"! In Canada we have what is called a graduated license system. That means once you pass your 1st road test you can drive under certain conditions. Within the next 5 years you have to take another test to "fully" pass. If you flunk the second test your license is revoked! When I went for the second test it was pouring rain - I could barely see out the windshield. The little punk who was my examiner was nasty right from the get go - he didn't like being wet I guess. A large part of the test was highway driving, but there had been a major accident on the highway and the traffic was jammed. He told me to go on the highway and wanted me to merge over 2 lanes - I couldn't move 2 feet let alone merge! I finally managed to merge and was almost run over by a huge truck. I was so stress by the time I was off the highway that I couldn't do anything else right (rammed the curb during the 3 point turn). Let us just say I badly flunked and my license was revoke. At least they gave me a chance to do it again a month later. It was at a different centre with a nice examiner and let us just say I aced it!

Don't worry - you will do great!

Thansk guys... I'm feeling better already!! :laughing: And Bundy, I know it was funny, and the thing is if it hadn't been THAT particular family, I'd have been LMAO too, but they love to get stuff they can use to make me feel stupid.. you know, the kinda people who will NEVER drop it.... , but you're right, and now I am thinking about funny it must've looked... and poor hubby... he really got it from me!! haha!! :laughing2

Ain't learning to drive fun?!?! My Dad was the designated driving teacher in my family, and he did OK with my sister. Me, on the other hand... He would correct me about something in his gruff way (he's a Marine, if that says anything. All my friends were scared of him when they first met him ), and I would start crying. I've always been overly emotional. Finally, after one of these lessons, he went stomping in the house and Mom asked how it went. He just said to her "You're teaching her how to drive."

I did have an experience similar to yours. I drove Earl and I to meet a friend of his who had just moved to Denver. She was living in the downtown area, and the only parking around there is parallel parking. I don't like parallel parking, but I can do it. Well, not according to Earl, at least not on that day. He did the same thing as Jessica's instructor. "Look over your shoulder. You're getting too close to that car. Get closer to the curb." I could have parked just fine if he had shut up. Unbeknownst to me, his friend was watching the whole thing out their window. Finally, I was so mad about the whole thing, and he was saying "Just let me park the car" and I just said, "If you don't think I can park it, we're going home." And off we went. Brianna (his friend who I later worked with) later said she could see the whole thing, and could see how mad I was getting at him, and me yelling at him, and then taking off. Fortunately, she knew Earl well enough to understand the situation, she knew how grating and know-it-all he could be.

Anyway, we've all been there at one time or another.

MY big trouble was with a stick shift. I had been driving an automatic, since I was 13. My first husband had a '66 Le Mans, with a three-speed. Of course, the first time, I stalled it out. He made fun of me and yelled. This got me nervous and I, never got the hang of it. Finally, I gave up and decided to stick with automatics, forever.

At 19, I was given a '64 Impala, with a 3-speed. Left alone, to figure it out, I mastered the stick shift. Since then, I've owned and driven many sticks. Our current truck has a 5-speed and I've had no trouble with it.

Rhea, girl...don't worry about a thing. It always seems to happen at just the wrong time. Next time you go over there, show them how good you are and then they'll forget about the incedent that happened.

My mom was always the one who taught my brother and sisters how to drive. She was really cool and would let us drive around parking lots and side streets when we didn't even have our permits yet. There were times when my sister and I would beg her to drive by ourselves eventhough we only had our permits, and she would always give in and let us drive. Of course we were always careful. We had so much fun!

I couldn't stand driving with my dad. He was the biggest "front seat driver" that I've ever met! He would always tell me to slow down, or stay in your lane, or watch out for this car or that car...." I just got really sick of it, so I couldn't drive with him AT ALL! And the thing was, was that I was driving just fine. He also tried to be a front seat driver when I had my license too! I couldn't believe it. I mean, HELLO! I think I know how to drive if I've got a license.

Good luck Rhea!

I know I responded about 10 minutes ago????

Well, anyway, Rhea. I'm indignant. I know that your MIL is just like, or worse than, the one on "Everybody Loves Raymond." Ooo, that makes me mad. No one should be ridiculed. They are so lucky to have you in the family. Well, hubby knows you're a gem, even if he made you mad that night. As for young know-it-all, he's a smart alec kid. Don't worry about him. But the adults should have known better, and he needs to be told to grow up. You're an angel to even visit. I'm sure you do it for hubby's sake.

Wow that's weird, Jeanie, your last two posts are exactly alike, except the last one says "hubby" in two places, instead of Sam. :tounge2:

Rhea, don't feel too bad...I know it must have been really embarassing, I would have been too, but I just bet your hubby's family has a few stories they could tell about their first driving experiences, too!!! Just don't give up, or let them make you feel bad!!!!! You go girl!!!!!!

Strange! The first post disappeared completely, and I edited the second to delete S's name. I noticed Rhea didn't use it. Then both versions of the second post appeared. Twilight Zone time! I deleted one. Thanks, Debbie.

Aw, your welcome love....hope you didn't think I was being nit-picky....just noticed the two posts in a row, exactly alike except for the names.

Poor Bod Baby!!!
I am so very sorry! Don't let 'them' discourage you - you will be a GREAT driver!!! But...you all do drive on the wrong side of the road over there. hahahaha
Chin up toots! They aren't worth it!!