21

JUN

Driving Miss Clumsy

posted on Sunday, 2009

I am so, so, so, so, so grateful to God…

 

For His mercy and faithfulness…

 

Because…

*sob*

I finally passed my driving practical test!

 

If there was ever a motor skills idiot, I am certainly one. When it comes to driving, my eyes, hands and legs just did their own thing and refuse to coordinate with one another. Go slow on the speed, fast with the steering, check your mirrors… my instructor would try to teach me how to do all three in tandem… patiently at first… then screaming in delirium at his “prize” student.

 

He did have the confidence that I possess all the necessary knowledge and skills and urged me to go for the practical test. Grudgingly, I agreed, and also convinced myself that it could be done this time. I was definitely more at ease on the roads, and not emergency braking at any potential dangers unlike seven years ago. The target was set to go for the test by autumn, before the harsh weather conditions of winter set in.

 

Up to the lesson before the test, I was sure that I could scrape through… and my instructor felt I should be able to pass with flying colours based on my performance during the lesson.

 

Well… it didn’t happen. I was shaking like a jelly during the second half of the test after a major boo-boo. One of the test sections was to be able to return to a location that the tester designated. Of all things, I forgot where that location was after meandering around to find a safe spot to turn back. To top the list of blunders, the car rolled back at the top of a small incline… twice… at the same spot…

 

The next step was to try and secure another test as soon as possible. I was happy to sooth my nerves and return only in a month’s time. Then my instructor called up and said there was another slot that another of his students had registered but she was not ready for the test as yet. But that was just 8 days after my failed attempt!

 

Um.... Should I? Should I not?

 

Everyone in the family encouraged me to go for it. I laid a fleece to see if my boss would approve my leave at such short notice. Absolutely! By all means, go for it! That was her encouraging response… and a chill went through my heart as I applied for leave… will it go to waste?

 

This second test was with another test centre and the test area is right in the heart of the city and Northbridge (the de facto Chinatown of Perth). Had four days of intensive lessons trying to get used to the vicinity and the notorious drivers. It was an absolute nightmare and on the morning of the test itself, I blanked out at a “Stop” sign, waiting for the non-existent traffic lights to turn green.

 

My instructor had lost his faith by now… he had no more tempers in him to flare. I was at peace though. The heavy rain and gloomy skies gave way to a beautiful day by the time of the test. I knew my family was backing me up in prayer. My colleagues were also thinking and praying for me… and the Lord was there with me no matter what might happen.

 

Forward parking was straight forward enough. Oh, must I do reverse parking too?! Sigh… I organised the gears and checked to see if I could reverse. But a truck had come behind me, and I waited for it to pass. Instead, the driver chose to wait and the tester told me to continue. Oh dear, he’s guiding me… is that an immediate failure? Anyway, as I started to do the manoeuvre, someone zipped into the spot! I had to go further down and find another spot. Oh no, I couldn’t count the required number of bays to do the reverse! Instead of bays, there was only the concrete pavement at this stretch of the road. Thank God, I managed to reverse between two cars, but I was really close to the car on my side. I should have re-aligned the car, which was relatively easy, but the preceding ordeal was too much for me and I was just glad to put the car in park mode. The tester kept checking the line outside. Dear Lord, let the car be parked within the bay itself!

 

Driving just down the next street, the tester suddenly told me to stop and park at a roadside area. This is technically not a bay, but a section of the pavement marked by a different set of brick colours on which cars are allowed to stop. This was similar to parallel parking but I was caught by surprise. Why stop here? Did he want to tell me that I had failed? How to reverse back into that pavement? Which way to turn the steering wheel? I was wildly turning the wheel left and right. And as I struggled, a car mercilessly zoomed straight into the spot. The Asian driver came out of his car and swaggered down the street. The tester and I looked back in disbelief and he just told me to move off. My heart sank like the Titanic…

 

“At the next traffic light, turn right and another immediate right after that…” While waiting at the traffic light, my mind was blank as usual. Suddenly, it struck me that I couldn’t turn straight into the rightmost lane as this lane allows for roadside parking. Thank God for helping me to check the traffic flow and I could see that cars are avoiding this lane. The lights turned green but by the time my car crossed the line, the lights turned amber again! During one lesson, I froze in the middle of the road and my instructor again erupted in fury. So having learnt a valuable lesson, I knew there was nothing left to do but to continue on… only to be stuck in the middle of the junction as the traffic had also stalled on the other street.

 

 

After what seemed like an eternity, the traffic cleared and I was able to get out of the junction. The tester reminded me that I had to turn right again and I acknowledged the instruction. Really hope that he realised from the line of parked cars on the rightmost lane that I had deliberately avoided that lane.

 

Back at the test centre, I forgot that I needed to park the car for the test to end. Panic… panic… the carpark was full and circling around meant that more errors could be committed. The tester instructed me to drive out of the centre and park at the roadside… parallel parking! Why so many parking situations in this test?

 

Up to that time, I had not been able to do parallel parking successfully on my own. Thank God that the two parked cars on either side were quite far apart and I didn’t have to worry too much about reversing in and hitting the one at the back. The tester again poked his head out of the window and said that was very well done. Huh?! Honestly, my instructor would have said it wasn’t close enough to the curb.

 

“Let’s talk about your results…” I let off a relieved yet sceptical giggle, bracing my heart for bad news. “There were a few questionable manoeuvres…” Then he said a few good things…

 

“You passed.”

 

“WHAT?! I PASSED?”

 

My hands were shaking as I held the score sheet. It took some time before I could find my instructor to break the good news, and he had been thinking of how to console and encourage me after the test.

 

Hey Joe, guess what?! I passed!

 

His face lit up amidst a look of utter disbelief… This was really how he looked!

 

It was indeed a miracle.

 

A mighty miracle for the motor idiot!

 

I can only say that God is so good… so, so, so, so, so good!

 

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

1 Chronicles 16:34