Driving Lessons

When I was a kid, I was always very fond of driving. I would often visited the arcade around twice a week or so to play them racing video games. It was probably the next best thing to driving an actual car. It was not long after that I became addicted to video games of the racing genre for it involved driving. I purchased loads of racing video game CD's which I later installed in my computer. The video games that I purchased were those developed by Electronical Arts(EA) Studios. The video games that they developed seemed very realistic. Also, I watched Formula One(F1) very frequently back in the days. At times I often aspired to become an F1 driver. This passion that I had towards Formula One was mainly because of the cars, which were designed to go fast. Another reason why I so desperately wanted to become an F1 driver was probably because of my childhood idol, Micheal Schumacher; a racing legend in the Formula One history books. He is also by my reckoning the best driver in the world, for he drives so very well on both wet and dry track conditions.

When I turned 17, my dreams of learning to drive a real car was made into reality, as I finally reached the legal age of learning to drive in my country. I was so anxious of starting my driving lessons. At times I would sleep restlessly for, the thought of how my first day of driving would turn out, kept crossing my mind frequently. When it finally came to my first day at driving school, my passion for driving was immediately turned off by the condition of the school itself. The driving school was in quite a bad shape and the stench of cigarette smoke was unbearable. The stench however was so concentrated that when you get back home, you'll be literally smelling like a smoker. That's not all. The bathroom on the other hand was 'GHASTLY'! It is probably the most horrid thing that I've ever seen hitherto. Anyhow, there was no turning back, for I've already signed up for the lesson. It was a do or die thing in actual fact. The first few lessons though were all about rule's and regulations, plus the 'do not do' stuff while you're driving on any tarred surface called a road. The lecture was in actual fact, pretty boring indeed.

The other students which shared the same classroom with me, weren't the least bothered of whatever the lecturer babbled during that 3 hours of torture. I on the other hand tried to fix my eyes on the whiteboard as much as possible; and hoped it did not deviate elsewhere. After the lecture had finished, I had to sit for a preliminary exam on the following week before I could acquire my Learning(L) license. The place at which the examination was held wasn't too far off the school. The exam was nerve racking as it was all computer based. One wrong click and you're 'carne muerta' baby. I only managed to get by the test on my 3rd attempt; not too shabby by my reckoning. A week or so later, I finally got my Learning(L) license. I was dancing in the streets when I finally got hold of my license. However, all did not go as according to plan when I finally found out that my driving instructor was none other than 'Mr. Foo'! Oh, how I shudder every time I hear his name. He was an old lad, who has been a driving instructor for more than 30 years. He was pretty hard on me; most of the times.

He probably treats all boys the same way. Anyway, the nicest thing he probably said to me was, 'your gear change from 2nd to 3rd was good, that's the way its done!'. Well it was sort of pleasant hearing him utter those words to me. Apart from that, if it wasn't for him(my driving instructor), I wouldn't be holding a Probationary(P) license on this very day.