Mocha With Linda has started her very own meme. This is how she describes it:
This new meme’s purpose is to have us take a look back and share about a specific time or event in our lives. It will be fun to see how similar – or different – our experiences have been!.
I think I am going to like this meme a lot. Grab the button and the link and come play along. Linda’s theme this week is:
How and when did you learn to drive? Do you have any particular memories associated with getting your driver license? How old were you when you got your first car and what was it? Who paid for it?
Once upon a time in the history of the State of Idaho, with their parent’s consent, 14 year-old kids could get their driver’s licenses. I took Driver’s Ed my freshman year in high school and, on my 14th birthday, I went downtown to the police station in Bonners Ferry, Idaho and tested for my first license. The lady gave me the test and said if I missed more than 3 questions, I would fail.
The police chief was a friend of my parents. I saw the man at least once and sometimes twice a week in a social setting. When he saw me taking the driving test he came and stood behind me. After I marked my 7th answer, I heard him clear his throat. I reread the question, thought for a bit, and made a different selection. The same scene repeated somewhere near the middle of the test, then again just a couple of questions later. I finished the remainder of the test in silence and took it to the counter to be scored.
The lady at the counter told me I had earned 100%, then she took my photo and handed me a little green piece of paper. Back then one had to wait for the driver’s license to be processed and mailed to them.
A couple of days later as the police chief was having coffee with my parents, I went to thank him for his assistance on the test. He said, “I am sure I don’t know what you are talking about, but had I cleared my throat a fourth time, you wouldn’t have your driver’s license.”
~*~
As foir my first car and who paid for it, you can read about that by clicking here: My First Car Was a Motorcycle.
Thanks, Linda. This was fun!
What a neat story! I love this meme…fun time!
Connie
Connie — thanks for visiting. This meme is fun.
huh? I don’t get it. He cleared his throat twice and you got all correct. Why couldn’t he have cleared his tthroat a 3rd time?
.-= gigi-hawaii´s last blog ..It’s the bubbles! =-.
Glenda — he did clear his throat three times. Had he cleared it a 4th time I would have failed the test.
OoOhhh that is to funny! I loved it and I am glad it had a good ending. I can just see the whole thing.
.-= OJM´s last blog ..Whoop!New trailer for Twilight’s “Eclipse” =-.
Lavon — It took me years to appreciate the humor.
That’s brilliant, and I like the new meme which is particularly impressive.
.-= Doug´s last blog ..The Electric Privet =-.
Doug — see what happens when I start hanging with the smart kids?
You must have given your parents a run for their money on more than one occasion! Good thing they had friends like the Chief! Great Story, Q!
.-= southlakesmom´s last blog ..Snow is Mostly Melted =-.
Kelley — I think I was a remarkably well-behaved kid — at least im comparison to some of my friends.
That is a great story, Quilly! Seems like such another day and time, a kinder, gentler time.
.-= 2nd Cup Linda´s last blog ..Premiere of "Flashback Friday" ~ Your First "Ride" =-.
Linda — it was. I miss the small town feeling of everyone knowing and looking out for each other.
You just gotta love those lawmen! I know I do–literally. Great story!
CeeCee — lawmen are tops.
That is hilarious!
.-= Mocha with Linda´s last blog ..TSMSS – Symphony of Praise =-.
Linda — I didn’t think so when I was living it, but you’re right, it is.
Always a good thing to know a lawman or two.
.-= Thena´s last blog ..Flashback Friday =-.
Thena — I have met some pretty wonderful ones in my day.
Great story. Thanks so much for sharing. I’ll check out your first car post. Have a great weekend. Blessings, SusanD
.-= SusanD´s last blog ..Flashback Friday Debut – 3/12/10 =-.
Susan — thanks for visiting. I think my 1st car post is even funnier than this one.
ROFL! That is so cute! This meme will not do for me… too much erased from my brain! But I’m going to enjoy reading yours!
.-= Melli´s last blog ..Random Dozen… PLINK! =-.
Melli — I feel sad when people say they’ve forgotten their life mile stones – -and then I wonder what I have forgotten.
I think it would have made me so nervous to have someone looking over my shoulder that I would have missed more.
.-= Barbara H.´s last blog ..Friday’s Fave Five =-.
Barbara — I am from a large family and a small town, There was always somebody watching.
.
This looks like the funnest meme yet! You did really good with it. Soon we will get to know all your old secrets. I am too busy this week to do it but soon I might.
The older you get the more in your past you will have to write. Myself, I’ve done everything there is for a fellow to do and not be in jail or sued.
I think a lot of us old people got their license when they were fourteen. I am glad you did. Mine was only good for going to and from school. At sixteen I got the real thing.
That was back before someone invented driver’s ed.
..
Jim — I am no spring chick anymore. AARP sent me a birthday card last year. This is a fun meme. Come and join us. Linda says this will be a regular Friday feature.
Quiily – I AM playing! You didn’t TELL in your post that she asks a QUESTION! I can almost always answer a question! I just don’t think of things on my own!
.-= Melli´s last blog ..Random Dozen… PLINK! =-.
Cool, Melli. I fixed my post to make this week’s theme a bit more clear.
You were allowed to drive a car at 14 years old??? When I see 17 year olds driving here I fear for my life! LOL
.-= Akelamalu´s last blog ..Friday 55 Flash Fiction # 110 A Delicate Operation…. =-.
Akelamalu — daylight driving only — but you are right, there is much reason to fear for your life when kids drive.
Great story!
This is such a fun meme and I’m so enjoying reading the different experiences we’ve had.
.-= Kim´s last blog ..The Very First FLASHBACK FRIDAY =-.
Kim — there seems to be a wide range of differences in cars & confidence.
That’s very funny.
There’s corruption everywhere.
.-= Nessa´s last blog ..Flash 55 – Avian Love =-.
Nessa — shhhh!
ROFLMAO!!! Only you Q. I was just rolling with this. Excellent This could be fun but it’s on a wrong day for me. I do 5 posts on Friday as is LOL
.-= Thom´s last blog ..What Safari Animal Are You? and Sunday Morning Sex =-.
Thom — do this post any day of the week you wish, and just link on Friday.
that is a great story!!! so what did your parents say?
.-= sara bowyer´s last blog ..Flashback Friday =-.
Sara — my parents said, “Nice. Now buy your own car.” Or do you mean what did they say to Don? I don’t remember, but they had all been friends forever, so I doubt they were surprised.
What a fun post! Nothing like a small town, I did not grow up in one, but spent most of my adult life in one and raised my daughter in one. Nothing like them. I read your first car post… how funny. I bet your dad was fit to be tied. lolol
until next time… nel
.-= Nel´s last blog ..Flashback Friday #1… =-.
Nel — I have lived in a coople of smalltowns, and in fact live in one now. I love them.
you tell the best stories from the past!
here one is not allowed to drive inependently until the age of 18. and the only legal way of learning to drive is in driving schools.
when i passed my driving test (at the age of 21 – i had to pay for it myself so it was only possible when i got a job) i said i’d drive anything (not that there were many options – we lived in ‘socialism’ after all) but a Renault 4. guess what my first car was?
.-= polona´s last blog ..waiting for spring =-.
LOL! That’s the way it works! My first car was a station wagon. Every time I hit a bump the back window would roll down and the back seat would fold. It was my camping car and I loved it.
My uncle lives in the sticks and the kids in his area are allowed to drive to the bus stop at age 14 (although some keep driving all the way into town to school). The only things I remember about my driving test were 1) the one question I failed: motorcycles have to keep their lights on 100% of the time –please tell me WHY I had to know this at 16 to drive a car?!? and 2) I will never be a good parallel parker. (I have since added driving backwards to that list, but at 16, those 2 stood out!)
.-= kcinnova´s last blog ..Friday memes =-.
Karen — divers licenses used to be good for ANY vehicle, sowhen they certified you to drive the car, they also certified you to drive a motorcycle and a big rig. Then some body realized A.) more specialized knowledge and more thorough testing was necessary, and B.) more money could be charged if one needed multiple licenses.
That’s a good driver’s license story! Fourteen, wow. I don’t know if I’d want *my* fourteen year old driving?!
I could have used such a friend when I took the test LOL I was just sharing my story with my daughter — I can still remember the exact question that failed me, almost thirty years later. Just don’t ask me what I had for breakfast today…
.-= Susan at Stony River´s last blog ..Friday Flash 55: About Time =-.
Susan — I had homemade lentil soup for breakfast today. I don’t remember any of the driving test questions Don “hurrumped” me into revising.
Glad you succeeded – he would have made me more nervous standing there than he would have been of help
.-= Nicole´s last blog ..Yellow Wagtail, Schafstelze, Motacilla flava =-.
Nicole — I came from a big family. I was used to being watched. I don’t recall it bothering me then, but I am certain it would now.
Wow, a driver license at fourteen! I think that’s impressive.
This is an interesting new meme. Congrats, Linda!
.-= Rosidah Abidin´s last blog ..Fun Kindergarten Trip =-.
Rosidah — join the meme. I think you will like it.