When we moved to the US in 2010 I had to do a driving test even though I had been driving since 1978.
At the Bureau of Motor Vehicles after the written test the officer asked me if I wanted to take the driving test that day. So of course I said sure!
The officer then asked me if I was aware of the manouverabilty section and showed me a picture of some bollards (orange cones). Was I confident that I could park within them? Of course I could!!!
Well off we went. Alas what I did not know was that I didn’t just have to drive within the cones I had to REVERSE the car between the cones.
You guessed it I hit one of them and failed immediately. So we rescheduled the test and I practiced, practiced, practiced till I was confident to take the test again.
Fast forward to this morning when our 17 year old son Aaron took his test.
I was reliving the bollard episode and was shaking with nerves for him. Much more so than when I took that second test myself.
I was so very glad I had failed that test eight years ago because I knew if he were to make a mistake he would probably not feel so bad because he knew what happened to me.
No need to worry though Aaron passed first time he cleared those bollards brilliantly.
BLESSING #2 – Understanding why a setback can be useful
Booming Banter 