Your Convey

Learning to drive is a unique experience; it is fun for some people, but for me it was about of confusion and edginess! I first decided to learn driving in my late teens, primarily due to encouragement from my boyfriend. I had limited funds, and did not want to ask my parents to foot the bill. So we searched for driving schools that offered cheap lessons. However, many of them charged fees that were way beyond our means.

My 'clever' boyfriend then decided to teach me to drive. He took me in his old car, out to the open field or countryside where there were no traffic, people, animals or property that I could cause damage to. During those days, driving tests were taken in manual cars, so we had to learn our driving in manual cars. It was miserable - he was not patient and could not understand why I could not do certain things properly, such as engage the gears smoothly, pressing the clutch and not the brakes, and so on.

Finally we gave up on each other; furthermore I was angry with his impatience and poor explanations. I was however determined to go ahead. I saved up enough money and went to a proper driving school. Lessons were still not cheap; driving schools did not offer discounts to students or senior citizens. Anyway, the instructor was clear in his explanations and the lessons were structured. The driving test was a breeze and I got my license at the first attempt.

Dad was proud of me and bought me a new car, which made me very nervous. It was not cheap, and I had to be very careful whenever I drove out. Driving soon became very stressful; however my brother helped me solve the problem. I exchanged my new car for his older car (which was about three years old).

I have been driving for umpteen years now; however driving a new car still cause panic and anxiety. So once again I resorted to the old tactic and let my husband drive my new car; while I cruise around in his older car. Fortunately we do not change new cars or models at the same time.