natebenma
Beach Club Dee
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2008
It has been years since my family has been on the Tomorrowland Speedway/Autotopia. Not surprising with my boys. I'm not sure if I have discussed the nightmare it was for Nate to get his license (he got it two years ago, when he was 18, and has not driven since). Ben is on track to do about the same.
Uh oh. I don't think I know that story.
"Driving Me Crazy"
There are two flavors of teenagers. Those who want to get their driver's license the second they turn 16 years old. And my boys.
Nate was not really motivated to get his license. He took his Driver's Ed class, and on the first day, they showed the movie of all the horrific crashes. I picked him up that day and he said "I'm never getting behind the wheel of one of those death machines! Or crossing the street." LOL! (#funnynotfunny)
He passed the class, got his driver's permit, but waited a few months before scheduling his driving lessons. When we called, we were told by the driving school "Oh, we're retiring at the end of the year so we aren't doing any new driving lessons"
UGH!
I found a new driving school.
I chose poorly.
The new instructor was horrible- he was ancient and in fact was the instructor who taught some of my local friends how to drive. He yelled at the students, made them nervous and after a few lessons, Nate stopped signing up for lessons.
"Fast" forward more than a year. Nate is now 18. His former driving instructor, who worked for the school that closed down, has now opened his own school. We signup with him- he is awesome!
I tried to get paperwork (not even a refund although I had paid in full) from the other school and he hung up on me.
Nate's 2016 summer job was to get his license before going away to college (late August) and before his driver's permit expired (a few days later, Sept, AFTER he would be at school). They won't let you renew the permit until after the first one expires, so if he didn't get his license before he went to school, we would have to go through that process again, while at school in another state.
Since the new driving school had just opened, there was plenty of availability for Nate to get his required driving lessons.
But scheduling an appointment with the DMV was a nightmare. It was like calling for a coveted Disney Dining reservation- I called several times a day to see if there were any cancellations resulting in an opening in the coming weeks.
Finally, I scored an appointment a couple of weeks before school started. In a pretty sketchy city, but still it was an appointment. Unfortunately, Nate's driving instructor was giving classes that week and couldn't take him, so I did.
Nate failed.
UGH!
We decided to put off the license project until Nate's spring break, and Nate seemed relieved.
Then my phone rang. Mark had found another appointment, 3 days before Nate was starting at UNH.
Sigh.
His instructor was able to take him to this appointment.
While he was gone, I was a nervous wreck.
Finally, Nate texted me.
"I'm done. I'll explain when I see you"
Crap!
When Nate and his instructor pulled up, Nate had a huge smile on his face.
"I have to explain that I have my license."
He pointed at his instructor "He made me send that text. I told him you were kind of high-strung"
Nate has not been behind the wheel of a car since- but he has not really had much need or opportunity- he left for college where he couldn't have a car, I drove him wherever he wanted to go the following summer and during breaks and last year he was in Wyoming with transportation included.
Ben is now 17 and in the process of getting his license.
He is showing about the same motivation that Nate did for getting his license.
I may or may not survive this process.
Last edited: