In Loco Parentis
It's legend that parents should never teach their children to drive. I can attest to it. I was sixteen when my mother took me out for a drive on Martha's Vineyard with me in the pilot's seat. It went reasonably well until we approached our driveway on the main road. I'd mastered straight lines and gentle curves, but making tight turns wasn't yet in my back of tricks. Unfortunately, nobody'd had the foresight to tell me slowing first was advisable. I apprached the driveway at about 30 miles an hour and went for it. Recognizing impending disaster in the shape of a stone post hurtling our way, I went for the brake pedal. Alas, so did mother, and hit the accelerator instead. Crunch. Mom, of course, denied it. My brother was in the car and saw the whole thing, but mom continued to deny it until her last breath. Parents can, on the other hand teach their children to swim, best within twenty minutes after eating a big meal.
posted by John M Crowther @ 7:13 AM
3 Comments:
In England the driving symbol “L” for Learner and the license plate symbol for the country Luxemburg was once the same. Once upon a time, the English drove very slowly behind those occasional visitors from that tiny Benelux nation. I always thought that LUX, also meaning light or a box of soap flakes, might have been a more effective symbol but I was never able to convince the grand duke to change it.
Before my father would let me learn to drive he made me learn to change a tire and check all of the fluids, the oil, water, etc. Changing a tire was quite a chore for me and dampened my eagerness to drive. But I learned and did it. The roughest part was learning to change the gears. Dad took me way out in the country where there was no traffic and I probably did some damage to the clutch and never did well. Decided to wait to drive until we got a car with automatic gear shift. An old boy friend let me learn to drive his beautiful new Buick with automatic gear shift and had no problems with it. My first car had a gear shift that I finally mastered. It was a little dark red convertible Jeepster that came out in the early 50's. I loved it, it was fun to drive. But those tops did not stand up to the elements very long so never bought another convertible. Katherine
Oh boy... can I relate to your mom John! I taught three of mine... and miraculously lived to tell the tale. LOL
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