Road signs...

My eldest daughter recently took her driver's test for the first time. Yes, I say the first time because she is going to have to take it again ... in two weeks. Oh, let me just say, she is a great driver, passing everything on the road test except one critical thing. But I'll get to that in a moment.

She elected to take the test in the morning hours because the DMV would be "less busy." That turned out to be true, mostly, but it also meant sh had to miss the first hours of school, which probably wasn't my first choice for her. Oh welll, I acquiesced and she and I purposefully took the long way to the DMV hoping to get in some last minute practice.

Now my daughter is one of the smartest people on the planet, but she can tend to not pay enough attention to detail, especially when behind the wheel. She has the big picture down pretty well, but when it comes to driving she misses a few key indicators. An example of that happened as we were merrily making our way to the DMV. The lane we were driving in ended and so she just kind of meandered into the closest lane without the slightest hesitation, or the necessary signals. Being the calm, cool guy that I am, I said, "hey, hey," and began pointing feveriously toward the other lane, to which she gave no reaction at all, except to chide ME for not being clear about where she should go! It was, after all, my fault, because my gutteral attempts at communicating were not understood. (I actually think this is a common problem between men and women, men react by unttering the unintelligible to those who often find us alien and strange!) Anyway, after I apologized for not being clear I told her that she needed to follow the lane, or find another and signal appropriately.

Needless to say, this was NOT helpful as I was only "making her more nervous" prior to her test. Hmmmm.

Later that morning. Our van pulls up to the DMV with the examiner and my daughter safely inside, no dents visible and it appears she is still driving. Good signs, think I, but wait, they are talking and, well, it's not a smiley kind of I-passed-the-test talk, it's a serious kind of talk. They get out, walk toward the building. I wait, anxious, hoping for both good news and bad (I want her to drive, just fear letting go, LOL!) and then she catches my eye.

Now my daughter is a cool customer in public. No tears. Just a slight shake of the head that it's a "no go" for the license and my heart sinks, not for me, but for her. She has worked hard to maintain the GPA and other things necessary for her to get her license. The examiner, who seems to know me, says, "the lane we were in was a right turn only and, well, she went straight, in spite of the signs indicating she needed to go right and get on the highway. Other than that, she's a great driver!"

Aha, I knew it. I told ... wait a minute, that's not what I want to say right now. So I turn to her, give her a hug and say, "well, she did say you are a great driver, that's good!" And to then myself, half about her, but mostly about me, "but you didn't read the signs, which will get you in trouble everytime." Like father, like daughter, great driver but have to pay closer attention to details. Lessons learned and two weeks reprieve before I start worrying in earnest.