This Is How We Roll

Tirael gets behind the wheel of the car he is renting from us for his driving test, a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu.  Eighteen year old Tirael is wearing driving gloves which he clamps down firmly on the steering wheel of the Malibu and announces to me with his big white smile; "I've been waiting to get my driver's license my whole life!"

After we get going I ask Tirael if he has taken any formal driver's training and he tells me no but that he has spent many hours practicing driving on his video game set, including two hours just before he came today.  "You mean like Grand Thief Auto?" I respond, thinking about cars smashing other cars, hitting people, dogs, cats, trash cans, going airborne and shooting cops.  He tells me yes but that he likes to play such and such a game (I can't give you the name here because I could only understand about half of what Tirael was saying).

"You're beginning to make me worried" I tell Tirael.  "Oh, I cut da speed way down and just cruise around town, nice and easy like" he assures me.  The test goes on and we didn't hit any objects or shoot any cops and Tirael does well enough to pass so maybe he's on to something.

I had a 16 year old guy today who did take driver's training and promptly blew through a four way stop early in the test.  Just before we went through his dad said; "Sam, watch it!" and Sam responds; "Dad, quiet.  I'm taking my test!". 

Then there was another 18 year old guy who didn't take any formal instruction who drove one handed the entire way (actually one palm on the wheel which he would remove to use the turn signal, which meant a second here and there when no hands or palms were on the wheel).  That was fun. The concept of traffic checks, where to stop, actually stopping, turning into the correct lane and a bunch of other stuff was quite foreign to him.  Lucky I carry a spare pencil for my score sheet.

One twenty year old woman arrived for her test today driving an old Pontiac Grand Am which was filled with trash.  The front passenger side seat where I plop my rear end had about three dollars worth of change on it (actually didn't feel too bad).  The floor in front of me had empty pop cans, food wrappers and other crap, both center cup holders had large but empty Styrofoam cups and I had to take a bulky box out of the open glove box so we could close it (ended up somewhere in the back seat).  Periogan had a thick stack of papers that she pulled from the glove box because she was looking for her insurance and registration documents and somehow they couldn't be stuffed back in so the stack also ended up in the back seat amongst all the other garbage. 

My mom always told me not to wear underwear with holes in it because if I got into an accident she didn't want me (actually her) to end up embarrassed.  Thinking about it, Jackie thinks the same as my mom.  This has never been a big concern for me however and after a while I actually felt comfortable riding in that cluttered Pontiac.

This is how we roll.