When I was sixteen the local Driver’s Ed course was offered on a muggy, unbearably humid week in the dead of summer. The classroom was on the top floor of an old, downtown building, the kind housing a mixed bag of dentists, lawyers, and old travel agencies with faded posters in the windows, brown beaches and blue oceans now all a uniform dull gray, the dented and scratched selling point under the bold promise “You’ll never want to come home again!”
The classroom had no air conditioning — just a few windows propped open with books and rulers, pleading with ol’ Ma Nature for some heavenly breeze to keep us awake and help us get through the day. We panted and dripped and the room reeked like a pack of chalk crumbled like saltines into a big soup bowl of sweat.
It was a strange class, because nobody knew each other and we were all going separate ways after the week was up. The in-car lessons following the in-classroom ones were to be done one-on-one, with the instructor picking us up from our house and taking us to parking lots and quiet sideroads to master The Art of the Wheel.
I don’t know about you, but for me that week of Driver’s Ed classes was torture. Learning how to drive in a classroom is like learning to ride a bike in a swimming pool. It just makes no sense. Overheads were thrown up on screen and the instructor would spend half an hour drawing triangles to show us our blind spots. We would discuss the history and importance of seatbelts and watch lengthy videos of a camera pointed out the windshield of a moving car with the narrator saying things like “I see an intersection on my left. I notice there are no cars coming. I proceed through the intersection.”
It’s fair to say most of Driver’s Ed class is pretty foggy to me. My notes are long gone and there’s no way I could draw you a picture of my blind spot. But there is one thing that I do remember from those classes. One bit of one lecture on one afternoon that stuck in my head. It was when the instructor said that every driver goes through four steps on their way to learning how to drive. Tapping his chalk on the blackboard to get our attention he continued, “It’s just a matter of knowing what step you’re in.”
- Step 1: You don’t know you don’t know. You’ve never tried to drive a car before so you have no idea that you suck at it. All you know is that there are cars everywhere and people driving them. So what’s so hard about that?
- Step 2: You know you don’t know. Surprise! You can’t drive. You realize it the first time you make a painfully slow and wide turn into the wrong lane. It hits home when you tire-punch the curb and accidentally run a red light, but slow down for a green one you think should be changing. You can’t park, can’t parallel park, can’t park on a hill, and forget to signal. It’s depressing, but at least now you know you don’t know. You made it to Step 2, whether you wanted to or not.
- Step 3: You know you know. After a while it finally comes — the blissful day when you realize for the first time you can drive! Step 3 usually arrives after scaring a few pedestrians, enduring a few frustrating coaching sessions with your parents, and listening to a few dozen “Uh-oh, you’re on the road?” jokes. But you finally made it. And now you’re higher than a kite, sitting pretty on Cloud 10. Congratulations!
- Step 4: You don’t know you know. Eventually, it becomes old hat. You know you’re on Step 4 the first time you arrive at work instead of the grocery store on Saturday morning or land in your driveway with a sudden panic that you can’t remember the last fifteen minutes of your commute. “How did I get here,” you ask yourself, before eventually realizing that you must’ve just driven home in a waking dream, signaling subconsciously and turning effortlessly, your brain clicking over to autopilot without letting you know. When this happens you’re on Step 4. You don’t even know you know anymore.
But this isn’t about Step 4. It’s about Step 3. It’s about the great joy of realizing you’ve learned something new, something massively new, and can feel proud that your effort, practice, and determination have finally paid off. That first day you first realize you can drive is a wicked high.
And isn’t it a great sense of freedom when the road hockey rinks and street chalkboards of your childhood transform into highways to drive-ins and out-of-town parties? The world seems to suddenly shrink and open up. It’s cool thinking how many cities and places connect to the street you live on. That’s when you look up to the sky, smile and nod slowly, and recall the faded posters of the old travel agency downtown.
“You’ll never want to come home again!”
AWESOME!
I’ve been off my P’s for a few months now, but even my fully-established driving status hasn’t gotten me over Step 3. I still have many occasions where my knuckles go white on the steering wheel, and I say, “Holy crap, I’m drivin’ this thing!”
…Probably not the most comforting realisation for my passengers.
Yeah…you should probably work on not saying that out loud… heh.
That’s funny. I’m currently at the licensing office waiting for my brother to walk out with his driver’s license. Neat!
I’ve got 2 brothers that are up to get their license and it scares me to death. I’m not ready for them to drive.
No one ever really taught me how to drive. My grandpa taught me how to parallel park, but other than that, I was on my own. I don’t really remember much about my first driving experiences, but after I was allowed to go out by myself, some fun things happened. My first outing after dark, I didn’t know where my headlights were. I was freaking out. I ended up finding them and driving most of the way with my high beams on.
And I’m constantly in Step 4. I hardly remember how I get from point A to point B anymore.
….. If I ever meet you in person, remind me not to get in a car with you driving.
LOL&LOL, at both of ya’s
hahahaha… just because I don’t remember getting to my destination doesn’t mean I don’t get there safe and all in one piece. I drive the same road every day. I go the same route, every day. I see the same cars, every day. It gets kind of boring, so my mind wanders a bit.
Hmm…. ok, I’ll allow that, as long as it doesn’t wander into oncoming traffic or a tree :P
I am currently in the very early stages of learning how to drive! I’ve been for three lessons with my mummy dearest, and she’s a really good teacher! Although I am going for my manual license and have only been in her automatic. But still, it’s good fun! When I got into the car for the first time I think I was at stage 2, knowing that I don’t know. But right now I’m still cautious, but I think I’m a bit over-confident… I haven’t hit anyone yet though, so I’m still going strong!
Congratulations, Neil on remembering any of your driver’s ed class! I don’t think I remember any of my classroom instruction. I do remember that my instructor made us wash, wax, and clean the interior of his car to learn how to “maintain our cars”. I knew that was b.s. even then, but I had to go along with it. I also remember an extremely awkward moment when the teacher and I were driving along when the Conway Twitty song “I want to know before I make love to you” came on the radio. Very embarrassing!
omg that is embarrassing! I never thought people actually did driver’s ed classes- I’ve only seen that like once in an 80s american movie! Well I guess we did Keys for Life in Health last year… That’s like a unit in term 4 that we did learning about road rules and learning everything you need to know before getting on the road. We got actual L plates and a certificate after the course so we didn’t have to do a computer theory test when actually applying :)
Its offered, but I could never get in to take it. I tried, but never made it. My brother took it and he said it was the best ‘do nothing’ class he ever had. They just cruised around.
Sweat and chalk mixed! I would’ve barfed my way right out of that classroom and never gone again!
I have my first boyfriend to thank for teaching me how to drive and though he was wild, I think he taught me well:)
Now I know I know, I have to check in with the list any day I want to drive.
On the days I know I don’t know, I can call a friend or hire someone from “Driving Miss Daisy”, company:)
My high school driver training instructor was famous for outing previous kids’ mistakes. It was both highly entertaining, and highly motivating for the current students not to make any mistakes!
Eg. Instructor: “I’m not going to tell you who hit the gas instead of the brake at a stop sign, hitting a car full of cute boys, but her initials were jdurley.”
HIgh Ten Awesome!!! =D
Geez, Jdurley, how helpful of you to be an educational anecdote!
Hilarious!
Hahaha ooo, well you know I might do that sometime too :P I’ve often thought of accidentally running a hot L-plater onto the curb just so I can get out saying sorry then flirt and get a ball date -__- Drastic times call for drastic measures
I haven’t even tried to get my liscence yet. This post has given me a helpful heads up on what to expect.
I had driver’s ed in high school, but the only thing I remember is the scary teen accident video they showed to scare us into being responsible drivers. I know the teacher took us out driving, but I can’t recall any of it. What I remember is my patient, calm dad taking me to a parking lot and teaching me how to drive. When he pronounced me ready to take the road I remember being petrified, but I did just fine under his guidance. I love these really warm memories of my dad. Thanks.
P.S. I’m at step #5: Reaching the age when You don’t know…where your car keys are! My 84 yr. old mom is at step #6: You used to know…but now drive 10 mph on the highway. Oh, I almost forgot, there’s also Step 5.3: You don’t know how…to drive after dark. I’m coming up on that one soon. LOL!
What a wonderful memory to have, Kathy.
I never did get to see that scary video, but I’ve heard of it. Of course, I never did get to take driver’s ed because it always filled up so fast.
I anderstand you, I’m loving driving car too.