Maybe I should have taken Driver's Ed after all

(Sorry I have been absent on posting lately....as you can see in my right sidebar, I've been a bit occupied. By the way..... I LOVED IT!!!)

Yes, you read the title of this post correctly. I never took Driver's Ed. In fact, I didn't even have a driver's license until I was....um....should I even admit this....19.

I know!

What kept me from having that precious little card stating my legality to operate a motor vehicle you ask? Basically, I didn't see any point to having a license at the time. I had no car, and I didn't have enough money to purchase one either. My parents were in a bad financial spot and I felt horribly guilty asking them to spend what little money that had on a car for me. It kind of stunk, but I made due. I walked a lot, or hitched rides with friends. Looking back, this was totally lame. I should have just broken down and bought a little junker to drive my tookus around in, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20.

So, maybe I didn't spend an hour of each day during 1st Semester Sophomore year in Driver's Ed, but when it finally came time for me to venture out and get that license I studied hard...the little book that you get at the DMV that is. I took the written test and aced it with flying colors. I immediately took my printed results up to "Dragon Lady" and scheduled my driver's test. Yes, she really was known as Dragon Lady. Not only did she not have the... uh...best looks...but her demeanor was so terrible and mean and haughty and what other terrible way can I describe her? EVERYONE was afraid of this lady. To deal with her at the counter was a frightening experience in itself, but you could manage. You then spent the next several days praying fervently that she would not be the one sitting in the seat beside you during your test, checking off mistake after mistake on her little clipboard. I'm not kidding!

When test day came, I indeed had the worst luck and got Dragon Lady as my tester. And yeah, I failed. As in, not only did I "run over" the huge orange cones as I tried parallel parking, but I think I may have demolished them! I looked over at Dragon Lady with pleading eyes, just hoping she would be merciful, but there was no mercy in her icy stare. I got a big fat FAIL. It was as if I were sitting in the same car with the Soup Nazi, only in DMV form, and she was shouting at me, "No driving for you!!".

Crushed, but not ready to give up yet, I marched {okay... practically crawled} back in to the DMV, and scheduled another appointment. A couple of weeks later, the DMV gods must have been smiling on me because not only did I get the nicest tester they had, but I again ran over the cones while parallel parking, and she STILL passed me! Hooray for me!

So for a good solid 12 years now, I have proven that the nice lady at the DMV did not go wrong when she passed me. I'm a good driver, I'm a safe driver. Heck, I'm even pretty darn good at parallel parking now! I only speed minimally....okay well maybe we'll let that one go, because I do like to go at least 5 over at all times. I had never even been pulled over until 4 years ago on my way back from Utah. I got a fat ticket, but I totally deserved it. That is what happens when you are going EIGHTEEN over in Oregon. Woops! I've learned my lesson though.

Well, one day last week, I had a moment. I still shudder to think what could have happened. I was in a lane that can either go straight or gives you the option to turn left. I wanted to turn left, so when the light turned green, I mozied my way out into the intersection. Out of nowhere, I see this big truck coming up right beside me, in MY lane. Why is he in my lane!!! I quickly slowed down and swerved to get out of the way. {See, I'm even a defensive driver.} The man in the big truck did not look happy, but after we were safely out of the way and back on the road again, I wondered what in the world HE had to be mad about. He was in MY lane and could have killed a mother and her 3 children after all!

I let the shock of what had almost happened roll through me until I was relaxed enough to think clearly again, and then it hit me. He wasn't in my lane. I was in HIS! I really wasn't in the lane that I thought I had been in at all. I was in the straight only lane!!! I had been the one who had almost annihilated myself and my children! The shock rolled over me once again, knowing that I was completely at fault for the almost accident. No wonder the man in the big truck looked so angry! I felt like the world's biggest moron, but I was so thankful that we had avoided an accident.

So yeah. Maybe I really should consider hitting a few of those driver's training classes that I see all over town. If you see me driving around in an ugly white car with a dude sitting beside me, don't be alarmed, it's just my instructor!