I bought my first car before I got my driver's license. It was an 85 Plymouth Reliant, four door, beige...a grandma car. Luke is talking about getting his license a lot lately, he has six months or so before he turns sixteen, I still got time to mentally prepare myself for a new breed of worry.
My Aunt Linda taught me to drive. When I turned sixteen, she and I worked together at a vending company. We went on "route" everyday, collecting quarters, stocking cigarette's, and changing 45s on jukeboxes. It was a ton of fun, I loved it. She had the patience to teach me how to drive the work van. It was a tricky standard, but I got the hang of it. Every morning, we would meet at the garage, pack up the van and head out for the next eight hours of route. If I got there before her, I would try to get as much done as I could, before she got to work. One day, I got to the garage early, I managed to get everything ready before Linda got there so I decided to start the van and wait. It could have been 10 minutes or so, maybe more... I didn't hear her come in, but there she was with a bizarre look on her face. I say "Hey! Mornin',...I was just about to take a nap....", she says "I bet you were. Next time you turn the van on, you oughta open the garage door.".
I am so glad we don't have a garage...the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and I could totally see Luke doing the same thing. :-/ Maybe I should find him a 85 Plymouth Reliant for his 16th birthday... haha.
