Driving Lesson

So there we were. My son and I out for a driving lesson. The day before, we'd spent an hour or so practicing in a parking lot. Signalling. Shoulder checks. Turning left and right. Stopping. Starting. Getting into the right part of the lane instead of into oncoming traffic. We were ready. Out into traffic we ventured. Stopping at lights. Doing shoulder checks. Watching for vehicles and pedestrians.

I guess I should have seen it coming. I'd travelled that way before many times. But I didn't. "Keep in the right lane son." I said pleasantly. "We'll keep in this lane down to our destination." In my mind I was thinking "The right lane has the least amount of hazards. We should be o.k. No shoulder checks or having to make it safely into a left lane".

So he kept in the right lane. About that time, I remembered the the right lane was an EXIT only for the freeway.

There wasn't time to change our minds. Suddenly, we were making our way onto the on-ramp.
"OHHHHHHH" I panicked, "I wasn't prepared to teach you this yet....". Then, seeing as how we didn't really have a choice to do anything else, "Well you'd better do a shoulder check and floor it. Get it up to 100....100 ......100!!!!!". "Ohhhhhhh!" he panicked. "I wasn't prepared to learn this yet...Mom........helppp!!!!".

Fortunately, the next exit was close. We got off there and circled back to the other road we'd been on. This time, we stayed in the left lane. Both of our heart rates eventually returned to normal (and his brother's in the back seat). We'd survived the unexpected.

It made me think of times in life where the right hand lane turns into an EXIT only for the freeway that you haven't yet learned how to drive. I'll give you some examples.

Being an in law. Being an outlaw. Working for a living. Finding out you no longer have a job to go to. Being a parent. Letting them fly the nest. Buying and selling real estate. Seeing the price of gas double and triple sometimes in the same day. Food prices. Natural disasters. Being struck with illness.

The fact is, that doing 100 kms on the freeway is a whole lot different than practicing in a parking lot. The fact is that when the right lane exits onto those freeways, you've got no choice but to get on, and get going as fast as you can to get up to speed. The fact is that you go from the theoretical to the practical in under three seconds. You'd better figure it out quick. The fact is you haven't had enough practice in a safe environment. You're not ready. The fact is that nine times out of ten, you survive the unexpected. And eventually your heart rate returns to normal.

Now, someone, pass me that cool washcloth to put on my head!