The "LDub Family Driver #4" Story

It was an ordinary day. Brynn, our middle child, and I had just returned from the Lancaster State Police Barracks. That's where they give you your driver's test when you turn 16 and want to get your licence. When Brynn turned 16 she was anxious to drive so I took her in our VW Bug to a large parking lot near our house to learn to drive the Bug's stick shift. Always believed that people should learn to drive stick shift in case they encountered a situation where that was their only option if they needed transportation. She did well! Picked it up very quickly, but preferred our 1985 Boogie Green Buick Station wagon to the VW because the Buick was automatic. When we bought the Buick, Carol and I thought it was a neat car. Big as a boat with plenty of space for a growing family with lots of vacations and the light mint color was easy to keep clean. I can recall taking Brynn to school a few times and as we approached the school, she would get real low in the seat so none of her friends could see her in the car. Now, that tells how much she enjoyed the car. But, if it means learning to drive, the car will do just fine. I was convinced that she was ready to be added to the list of full time drivers in the LDub family so we scheduled a time to visit the Police Barracks for the test. Then she asked, "Can we take grandpaw's car instead of our car?" She didn't want to take the VW and it seems she was afraid to try to parallel park a boat, so I agreed to take the 1986 Buick LeSabre. She had driven the LeSabre a few times already. Test day arrived and off we went. She was pretty nervous, but I told her it was a piece of cake to take the driver's test. She passed the written part with ease and then was assigned a very young male officer for the driving part. I sat on the bench by the driving course and watched as she hopped in, adjusted the mirrors, put her seat belt on and started the car. I watched as she approached the first corner and stopped at the stop sign. I watched as she went through the cones without knocking over a single cone. Go Brynner!! Then I watched as she attempted to pull as close to the curb as she could. Uh Oh! Had to be at least two feet or more away from the curb. I saw the officer open the door and look at the curb and figured when we could come out again for a retake. Well, they returned and went into the office. She came out with the biggest smile on her face and asked if she could drive home. SHE PASSED! "How'd you do that with the parking job you did." Then she started by telling me, "Well, first, when we got in the car, he told me he really liked my name. Never heard of Brynn before. Then he told me he really like the shirt I was wearing (I can just see her blush when he said that). Then he said he thought the BANDAID (yep, the bandaid) I had on my finger was cute." This guy would have passed her if she had knocked over all the cones! When I questioned her about only getting half close enough to the curb, she said, "Then he opened the door and looked out. I thought it was over then, but he said 'good job.'" WOW!! So we have another driver in the family and I have to pay higher insurance rates! I did tell her to avoid going anywhere where she would have to park along a curb. Only places where she could pull into a parking spot! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.