Friday, June 26, 2009

Driving in the Wrong Lane - Occasionally

Finally, after months of watching my friends flash their 'P' licenses about and endless bugging courtesy of my parents, I've started on my driving course.

Needless to say, like any road virgin (although I have a slight suspicion I'm uniquely terrible), I'm hopeless at handling even a petite Kancil on the road.

On the first lesson, my instructor took me to the industrial park near my house (at USJ 3A) for the basics. Poor man, I think I may have took a few years off his life just maneuvering on the empty roads.

Honestly, my mantra for the first few rounds of the area went something like this:
Clutch! gear! clutch! break! gear! Turn! Accelerate! OMG sh*t! Ahhh! Break! Engine dies..


Yes, my face did resemble a great work of art during an "OMG!" moment..

Now I wanted to take some pictures for this post, but I think given my, shall we say 'lack of expertise', both my hands are best placed on the steering wheel. So I've provided a blank space below for you to focus on and imagine a car swerving around the corner and accelerating - in the wrong lane.


Now as time went on (I've just completed my fifth lesson now) I did get better - well, sightly anyway. But fortunately for me I have the most patient instructor ever. Not only does he say things like "That's OK" each time I jerk the car to a screeching halt or when I let the engine die on the highway, he keeps telling me that it's perfectly normal for some people to take time to adjust and get used to driving.

I'm not buying it though. I can't help it if I go into a catatonic state each time a huge truck passes by, or if I slam the accelerator instead of the break pedal when approaching a traffic light (although I must say, dear Kancil manufacturing people, putting two very small pedals with opposite functions side by side in a terribly small space is NOT a good idea!).

So for my sake and for the sake of all drivers out there (aren't i thoughtful?), I don't think I'll be driving on main roads for quite awhile once I get my 'P'. What can I say, some people are meant to drive; others are meant to have chauffeurs. ;)

1 comment:

Fiona said...

hahaha! thats perfectly alright! That only means you drive like me!
=D join the club..