Mocha With Linda has begun a new weekly meme called Flashback Friday. She’ll post a question every Thursday, and then Friday we can link our answers up on her site. Sounds like fun!
The flashback question this week is:
How and when did you learn to drive? Do you have any particular memories associated with getting your driver license? How old were you when you got your first car and what was it? Who paid for it?
In my very first driving experience as a teen-ager, my dad asked me to move the car from where we had washed it to where we usually parked it. He got in the car with me but gave me no instructions at all. I knew enough to turn the ignition and put the car in reverse, but I backed out a little too fast, and he started to shout, “Hit the brake, Hit the brake!” I said, “Where’s the brake?”….and backed over the mailbox. My dad had a fairly short fuse, but thankfully he started laughing instead of getting angry, probably realizing that just because I had been riding in a car for 15 years didn’t mean I had picked up on how to drive it.
I took Driver’s Ed. in my local high school, but the next summer we moved from our little tiny town to the whopping metropolis of Houston. I could drive in my neighborhood, but the freeways scared me. I’d take the feeder next to 45 all the way from my house to church — about a 30-minute drive. Once I tried the freeways, though, I loved them: I loved going faster and having no traffic lights.
I have never actually had my own car in my own name, which is fine with me. We had some little tannish thing that I learned on — I’m sorry, I don’t know the makes and models of many vehicles. Then in Houston we had some kind of big monstrosity that was the family car, but I could use it for most anything. It could look a little purplish in certain lighting, but I thought it was a faded black. I was horrified later on to hear my mom call it “Ol’ Purple,” to think I had been driving an actual purple car.
Do you have any interesting early driving experiences to share?
Stray Thoughts 
Great story. Thanks so much for sharing. Have a great weekend. Blessings, SusanD
Made me remember, my Dad taught my Mom how to drive after they got married. I was number 5 of 6 kids, so he had alot of experience and patience by the time he taught me.
Oh! I didn’t KNOW she was asking questions… Quilly didn’t mention that part! I would LOVE to do this! I’ll go get on it!
WHAT in the world was your Dad THINKING to not say ANYTHING to you??? LOL! That is too funny! I can’t imagine letting my child behind the wheel for the first time without FULL instructions BEFORE turning the key! 🙂 And I’m laughing over you and your Ol’ Purple too!
That’s hilarious! Guess that’s why today’s Driver Ed in a Box is so specific – it practically starts with “this is a car” !!
A friend told me about a very abbreviated lesson with her teen daughter recently. The girl got in the car and with her left arm positioned “just so” on the door/open window, and her right arm on the console holding a drink said “I’m ready.” Mom told her “you do have to touch the steering wheel” and canceled the lesson for the day.
Oh, I meant to ask – email me what part of Houston you lived in. Maybe we were neighbors! You’re one of the few people besides me who calls the road next to the freeway a “feeder.”
Oh my, you got off to a bit of a rough start! Thanks for sharing your funny story.
Funny story!
I was the same way about highways. Maybe because we lived way out in the boonies and there weren’t any. LOL
What’s wrong with purple? LOL
What a funny story. Thanks for sharing…
until next time… nel
Just returning your Friday Flashback visit.
I’m your new follower. 🙂
I’ve got a driver’s license but I hardly drive. I think I should start driving and practice.