What I learned about life from my first car, part 2

Yesterday, I talked about buying my first car the only problem was that I bought it not knowing how to drive it. You see, it was a stick.

When I was 15, I got my learner’s permit, which meant I could drive if an adult was in the car and at 16 I could try for my license. My mom’s car was a stick, a white Chevy Chevette. Fancy, I know. God bless her, she tried to teach me to drive the thing. We lurched, sputtered, and died down our driveway for about a week. That’s when mom decided that was all her nerves could stand and she told me I had to wait until she traded in her car for an automatic.

Months later she finally bought an Oldsmobile Cutlass Sierra. Again, fancy. But it was an automatic and much easier for me to master. In high school and when I was home from college, it’s the only car I ever drove. When I was away at school, I bummed rides from friends, rode the bus, or walked. Once I graduated, I needed a car so I could get to work.

So I bought my little Nissan Sentra. I had a friend with me to test drive it since I couldn’t. He convinced me it was a great car for the price and he promised to teach me how to drive it. I had the weekend to learn because on Monday morning I started a new job. Failure wasn’t an option because I had to make it to work on my own.

Like me, many of my college friends had just graduated. A few were still in school. We did everything together and I do mean everything. We ALL loaded up in my new car and drove over to a giant, empty parking lot. The weekend entertainment was going to be teaching me how to drive. Only one person in the car knew how to drive a stick, so he was up front with me. Everyone else was in the back seat, along for the ride.

Having a friend teach you to drive is a lot less pressure than your mom. Your mom is terrified that you’re going to die or kill someone. Your friends don’t really care. To them, it’s just a good excuse to make fun of you and laugh. And laugh we did, pretty much non-stop. I still lurched and sputtered, but it wasn’t as bad as the first time. It didn’t take me all that long to get the hang of it.

After a bit, I had mastered the parking lot, so it was time to hit the road. I didn’t do too badly. I died a few times, was late changing gears a few times, but not too bad. But then, the ultimate challenge presented itself. I was stuck at a light—on a hill—with a cop behind me! I was panicking, but of course, my friends were laughing their butts off. I was so afraid I was going to choke, but I didn’t. The light turned green, I made it up the hill and didn’t roll back into the cop. I had mastered the stick, all with a little help from my friends.

Buying the car without knowing how to drive it was a gamble, but you try harder when you know failure isn’t an option. And when you have friends in your corner who believe in you and are willing to help you out, failure isn’t even a possibility.

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