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Cold Wheels
Apr. 4th, 2012 01:44 pmI have never taken driving lessons. Never. Well, unless you count learning how to put on the handbrake in case someone forgets when stopping the car to open or close the garage door.
The elder of my two older sisters was able to pretty much finance all her postsecondary education (to the PhD level) with scholarships and summer jobs. Since she was so well-off and would no doubt be in a position to buy her own car any day now, our parents decided it would be a fine idea to get her some driving lessons once she was old enough to learn. My brother also excelled academically and earned his PhD but was never quite as prosperous, probably because he had a number of expensive hobbies and tastes. But our mother said it was different for boys and he was sent off to lessons too. That left the middle sibling without parentally-provided driving lessons and she was left to learn on her own time and her own dime, after she had left university. Ironically, it was she who ended up doing all the driving and fetching and carrying for Mum after Dad died and Mum moved into a retirement home.
By the time I was of licenceable age, I might have been able to persuade my parents to foot the bill for driving lessons, but somehow I had little incentive. I was the last of the kids left at home. We were no longer a big bustling family with different people dashing off in different directions and if I needed to be driven anywhere, Dad was usually available. Or I would walk or take the bus, which gave me better opportunities for people-watching.
I bristle whenever I hear someone smugly proclaim that "Driving a car is a privilege, not a right." It's even written in the front of the Ontario Drivers' Handbook. Did my father consider it a "privilege" to wait out in the car for me to get out of a rock concert which was supposed to finish at 11 PM but in fact did not let out until 12:30? Is it a "privilege" to drive around all day doing errands for other people? Or to go round and round the block looking for that elusive and sometimes expensive parking space? Yes, I realize that a car can be useful for things like camping trips and other forays out into the country. And for people in certain jobs and with certain shift schedules, it's virtually a necessity. But as far as I am concerned, driving is neither a privilege NOR a right. It's a task, a sometimes-useful skill, a responsibility. And frankly, it's a responsibility that most of the time, I am quite happy to be without.
The elder of my two older sisters was able to pretty much finance all her postsecondary education (to the PhD level) with scholarships and summer jobs. Since she was so well-off and would no doubt be in a position to buy her own car any day now, our parents decided it would be a fine idea to get her some driving lessons once she was old enough to learn. My brother also excelled academically and earned his PhD but was never quite as prosperous, probably because he had a number of expensive hobbies and tastes. But our mother said it was different for boys and he was sent off to lessons too. That left the middle sibling without parentally-provided driving lessons and she was left to learn on her own time and her own dime, after she had left university. Ironically, it was she who ended up doing all the driving and fetching and carrying for Mum after Dad died and Mum moved into a retirement home.
By the time I was of licenceable age, I might have been able to persuade my parents to foot the bill for driving lessons, but somehow I had little incentive. I was the last of the kids left at home. We were no longer a big bustling family with different people dashing off in different directions and if I needed to be driven anywhere, Dad was usually available. Or I would walk or take the bus, which gave me better opportunities for people-watching.
I bristle whenever I hear someone smugly proclaim that "Driving a car is a privilege, not a right." It's even written in the front of the Ontario Drivers' Handbook. Did my father consider it a "privilege" to wait out in the car for me to get out of a rock concert which was supposed to finish at 11 PM but in fact did not let out until 12:30? Is it a "privilege" to drive around all day doing errands for other people? Or to go round and round the block looking for that elusive and sometimes expensive parking space? Yes, I realize that a car can be useful for things like camping trips and other forays out into the country. And for people in certain jobs and with certain shift schedules, it's virtually a necessity. But as far as I am concerned, driving is neither a privilege NOR a right. It's a task, a sometimes-useful skill, a responsibility. And frankly, it's a responsibility that most of the time, I am quite happy to be without.
