Question of the Day, Sunday, April 3, 2016

[stewball]

I never learned to drive and I'd never drive in this country if I could drive.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
I think I was 19. I took lessons so I couldn't tell you what kind of car it was. I don't remember.

Dad tried to teach me but it didn't work out. He was a NYC fireman and he was the one who drove the chief to the fires. What does that mean? He drove like a NYC cab driver. Would YOU like to take lessons from someone who drives like they are a NYC cab driver?

He never stopped driving like one- even if it was just to the grocery store. Weaving in and out of traffic, speeding, tailgating. All that fun stuff. I was working so I paid for professional lessons. My first car was a 1981 Monte Carlo

oh my!

  i've ridden in NYC cabs before, and that can be a truly harrowing experience!

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
I learned to drive in NY also. 

i learned to drive in a rural area of NY State, which made learning easier but gave me no experience driving in city traffic.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
I learned how to drive at 12, but got my license at 16. First car was a 1969 Ford Fairlane, I was driving that same car when I had my car wreck in August of 1986. Only real humorous driving story I had was getting pulled over by a Missouri state trooper for speeding (and I was), he gave me a ticket, as well as what I thought was a very unnecessary tongue lashing. After he was finished with me, he was walking back to his car, and fell flat on his face after tripping over a rock. At the same time, I took off, and as I had been sitting in a puddle, proceeded to spray muddy water all over the back of his uniform, especially around his posterior. I literally laughed myself horase as I was traveling along Interstate 44 on my way home. True story.

another who learned to drive early! 

ahhh, that's a very funny story! 

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

We started out learning to steer the car sitting on our Dad's lap. He always drove Oldsmobiles. It seems like it took forever for our legs to get long enough to sit on the seat and drive with him sitting next to us. We lived in the country and we learned how to drive on country roads. You got a learner's permit first, then a license at 16. But the three of us kids knew how to drive by the time we got the permit.

your story brought back fond memories for me!

  my dad let me steer the car in our driveway, while i was sitting on his lap, when i was (probably) 4 years old. i loved steering the car!

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
Indeed. I ended up teaching our son how to drive; Rick simply couldn't do it as he was too nervous with DS behind the wheel. I started him out on stick because that's all we had at the time. Took him into the parking lot at our junior high school and he drove around in the parking lot. He was so happy and he kept grinning. He looked over at me and said, "Well? What do you think?" Wasn't watching where he was going and ended up out on the main road....right in front of an oncoming car. I'm yelling, "Stop! Stop! Stop!" Thankfully, the car driver was paying attention; he swerved and got out of the way, which was good because DS stalled the car out in the road and there we were.

I looked at DS and said, "Get out of my car." He knew not to say a word; he got out of the car, we switched places and didn't speak the whole way home. That was probably about the time, my hair started to turn white. 

Thankfully, the next day went better. But when I told Dad what happened, he gave me their car (which was automatic) for DS to learn to drive. That went much better. And he took his drivers' test using my parents' car, instead of mine. 

And to this day, when DS drives any stick, he grinds a lot of burger! Our DIL has a manual tranny on her Honda Civic; DS can drive it into and out of the garage.....if he's really careful, he won't stall it.

Oh, and when we were in Vegas, DS got a speeding ticket when he was driving to work one morning. He never told us. When I got into work about a week later, a co-worker came over to me and said, "Hey, was that your son pulled off along xxxxxxx Road? Sure looked like his car!" That night at dinner, I said to DS, "So....did you pay your speeding ticket yet?" Busted! "Mom, you weren't even here! How the 

 did you find out?"

To this day, he has no idea. And it wasn't too long after that he was talking to a buddy. I don't know what they were talking about, but I heard DS say, "No, I'm not going there. Believe me, my mom will find out. She ALWAYS finds out! Even when she's not home, she knows what I'm doing!"

Mothers always have eyes in the backs of their heads. Or, luckily in my case, somebody who sees something and usually lets me know about it! 

 

great story! 

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

I never learned to drive and I'd never drive in this country if I could drive.

i can identify with that!  

   even though (or maybe, especially because) i live in a rural area, i've seen some really crazy driving. of course, i've seen some just as crazy driving in some of the cities in which i've lived too.