October, 2014
I’m sat on the couch watching the clock. My palms are all clammy. Beep beep, Damn! He’s on time (again). Why am I so anxious? I’m learning to drive a Suzuki Swift not a Jumbo Jet!
I’m not sure what it was, but as soon as I sat behind the wheel, all of those nerves seemed to disappear. Was it the feeling of power? Being within touching distance of true freedom? Or the air-con? I guess maybe it was just the calming influence of my bald, 6’3” driving instructor sat in the passenger seat? Dave always made me feel relaxed. He had my weak points and anxieties down within a couple of hours so knew exactly what might be on my mind.
Any worries were laid to rest after a few lessons. I found that the lesson plan of learning something new, practicing it and then starting the next lesson with a recap meant soon, we were just meeting up for a nice little drive from Brighton to Burgess Hill and back each week. Sometimes we stopped for Ice-cream which sounds more romantic than it actually was.
Driving was going well, I had control of the car. I had found my biting point and kept it at the tip of my toes, ready and waiting for when it was time to learn the manoeuvres.
The first was the emergency stop. Tyre screeches and a puff of smoke, I had this one in the bag. I graduated and progressed onto the turn-in-the-road. This one used to spring up a few surprises (narrow roads, oncoming traffic, uneven road surfaces) But I paid attention to Dave’s instructions and it quickly became second nature. Parallel parking was the only one I HAD to get right! Not for me but for my wife (who’s been doing it wrong for years – she learnt with another school!) And when it came to reversing around corners and into car parking bays, Dave made me a master of these after the 2nd attempt (no one is perfect)
It’s fair to say that by the time my practical came around I wasn’t so much nervous but sad that my lessons may be over as they ended up being very enjoyable.
If you learn with L-Plates and are lucky enough to get Dave, look after him, he’s getting old!
Matt - 34, Brighton. Passed with 2 minors (which I contest but I wasn’t going to argue).
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