My journey of getting my drivers license started in 2018 March (we were in Miami). Before taking the trip to Disney, we were planning for me to have a photo ID that did not have to make me carry my Passport. Thus started my journey of taking a Drug-and-Alcohol Influence course and test and then the knowledge test. Oh! What a day when I tried taking an appointment for my knowledge test at the DMV center for the first/ second time? Anirudh went missing in the Mall!! 😳
I almost had an heart-attack/ panic attack. We found him after a good 10-15 minute search. But My! Those minutes were the hardest. I was shaken and visibly shaking and had to calm my nerves all while waiting in line for my turn. I went in, gave the test and passed. It cost us $60 for the license process. But the learners license wouldn’t be mailed to me before our trip. So I HAD to carry my passport.
I never listened to Mr. Hubby about taking drivers lessons and getting my license (after road test, that is) in Miami due to the stupid reasons I made up in my mind - (I was scared to get in the car with a stranger in a place like Miami, we were going through a rough patch with regards to Hubby’s job and I thought my license was not such a pressing issue at that moment in time - stupid me 🤦🏻♀️
We then moved to NJ in July of 2018. I tried to restart the process all over in 2019. Prepared for the knowledge test. Went to a MVC center which did not administer knowledge tests. Wasted a whole weekend going there 💁🏻♀️
Went to another MVC center. Did not pass the first time as I had not revised the drivers manual in quite some time. Passed the knowledge test the second time in August / September of 2019. Took the number of a driving instructor from few neighbors. Called the person (an elderly person lovingly known as Alam Uncle, from Pakistan, moved to the U.S. in 40s and settled here. Said he was a teacher trainer or something of that sort meaning he taught teachers/ professors teaching techniques), scheduled driving classes (he insisted on 3 classes, I thought I was good with 2. Turned out he was more than right given that I cleared my road test on my 3rd attempt 🙁). During the lessons, when I was behind the wheel, it felt empowering to finally get out of the home and feel entirely free and sort-of independent to not be cooped-up in the house and just wasting away everything in me for the mundane daily stuff, escaping the feeling of not living my life for myself even a little bit. He usually kept talking about a lot of stuff like ZPG (Zero Population Growth), Bollywood songs from 60s, World issues etc. The drive lessons were mostly interesting. As my luck would have it, I had to give my road test 3 times before I got my license. The first time I gave my road test, I was almost finished and good when the examiner asked me something about the nose of the car, trying to hint to me that I was too close to the front cones. I, in my glorious stupidity tried adjusting the car when I hit the front cone, winning an automatic fail. The second time around I got so nervous that I struck down three spikes in the track itself - even before reaching the parallel park stage. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and I waited a good whole year before attempting to make one last road test appointment before the test permit document expired (which would have required that I restart the whole process all over). I was lucky enough to get my appointment just days before my document expired. This time I was very careful and kept my calm all through during the whole drive test process. I did the parallel park well and the K-Turn. It was time for the Reverse-Straight which I did ok-okayishly enough only(it was the easiest of all and I was a perfecto before), as I did not fully straighten the steering wheel in the other lane after the K-Turn maneuver (though I had gone a pretty decent distance in reverse), the examiner Mr. Dominic stopped the test process and gave me a pass - a green signal to get my license 😊 (I will be eternally very grateful to you for giving me the wings - figuratively that is, to feel a little empowered and a little better about myself). Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me a chance/ taking a chance on my driving skills. There aren’t many people (both in my past or my present), who do that for me.
🙏🏻🙏🏻
