Thoughts on Parallel Parking

How did my parents manage with just one car
in the early days of their marriage? It was the norm.
Mothers stayed at home with children. Shopping
for groceries must have been challenging.

My mother did not have a driving license until
my father taught her when she was 35. Imagine.
In Colorado, teens could drive at age 16.
My sisters could not wait to get a license.

Not I. Summers during college when
I returned home, I worked downtown at
a local bank as a bookkeeper. Busses ran
from Belmont to downtown every two hours.

My parents strongly encouraged me to get
a driver’s license in the event of an emergency.
Finally got mine at age 19. I highly recommend
not trying to teach your own children either.

My father, bless his heart, was a task
master, and I abhorred his parallel parking
lessons at the local high school on the weekend.
He stood about 6″ from the front of the car

and instructed me to drive forward. Of
course, I panicked and stalled the standard
shift car each and every time. Telling me I
was not going to hit him did not help me.

The first semester of my junior year was
spent at college and then I flew to Heidelberg,
Germany to study for three years, When I returned
to the US, I was in my mid-twenties. I had

not yet driven a car. Apparently my “emergency”
never materialized. My Uncle Joe gave me
a used car to drive for my first university job.
Later I would teach full-time and commute

two thousand miles per month for three
years to complete graduate work at another
university 90 miles away. Driving has been a
necessity for me. I can’t say I enjoyed it.

When our children were of driving age, we
opted to have them take private driving lessons
from a driving school instructor and driver’s
education classes at the local community college.

There are some things better left to professionals.
Driving lessons, music lessons, etc. I still
do NOT like parallel parking and will drive
until I find a parking space.

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