Sunday, July 27, 2014

community moment: drivers ed course


My summer has been mostly productive in participating in the complex system required to get a driver's license.  It's like a ladder with extra slides, rock walls, and bungee cords attached.  It's not all that complicated until you factor in the specific qualifications of your person... and then it gets fancy. Fortunately, I'm about as normal as you get - I'm precisely the age one must be to obtain a license, and have committed no crimes.  So you can say my summer has been boring.  The two weeks of drivers ed was a sweet spot, though.  I enjoyed it.

On the first day, my two best-friend-neighbors (there's a catch - they don't go to my school) and I approached a town home labeled "10."  This was to be our settlement for the next three hours.

We climbed up a steep flight of stairs just beyond the front door, which was an easily claustrophobic experience.  At the top, we reached the classroom of GREG'S DRIVING SCHOOL.  The word GLENN was written on the whiteboard ahead of us.

   
This is GLENN.  He sported grey gym shorts and a white t-shirt tucked in, smelled faintly of cigarette smoke, and wore a friendly, weary expression.  He would be our teacher.  

Before this dawned on us all, we thought we were actually in GLENN'S DRIVING SCHOOL and needed to evacuate immediately.  

No, we were in the right spot, settled within a sea of plastic tables and chairs.  Real traffic signs were nailed to the walls, saying things like "SPEED LIMIT 50."  Other than a small Shrek figurine, these were the only decorations.  

Glenn went on to pass out folders to every local teenager in the room, most of whom were mellow and politely engaged throughout the rest of the course.  Glenn would lecture us for an hour and a half at a time, rattling on about everything automobile-related.  He was an organized speaker, and did a good job at being detached and engaged at the same time.  

We would take a quiz on the lesson each day, which meant note-taking was crucial.  The fifteen-minute break was our salvation.  It would be a stiff, air-conditioned hour and a half.  Sitting next to my two friends, I felt the need to be just a little goofy.  This pressure didn't mesh well with the need to pay attention.

So, the break.  A sunlit walk to 7-11.  To describe it fittingly, I'd say it felt like melted butter running down my back.  


These are my two best-friend-neighbors.  Our two table mates are in the picture way above.  I think I wrote "THANKS, GUYS" to... thank them for being there?  It was somewhat impulsive.  Weird.  I came to really like Jenny and Alec, though, so it all worked out.  Eventually, we all would walk to 7-11 as a parade of five.  There was no awkward tension - just people being nice to other people.  It was an idyllic community moment.  

Highlights -- 


Trying Doritos Loaded, the newest product at 7-11!  Triangles of cheesy breading and melted cheese!  Ewww!  The first batch was additctively enjoyable.  The second was too much to handle.  We quit buying them after that.


Doodling in our notebooks was also a huge deal.  

Aaaaaand... we all passed our final test!

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