> My husband, better known as wintermute (or wm) around here, has finally gotten his temporary driving license this past weekend.
>
> For those who don't know, wm is from England and we just got married in November. It's taken a while to get his paperwork moved along, but finally we had the documents that we needed to get his temps at the BMV (or DMV or BMW or whatever you call it).
>
> wintermute never needed to drive in England as he lived in Croydon, just south of London, and could get everywhere by public transportation. He had done a bit of driving on a temporary license there, but never got his full license before moving. And unfortunately I live in a more country-ish area, so now he needs to be able to drive before getting a job.
>
> We've been out driving twice now. Yesterday we just did about 40 minutes worth in a parking lot so he could get used to the steering and the feeling of the car. He did pretty good though he did have a tendancy to veer to the left a bit.
>
> Today I took him back to that parking lot and then we headed out to do some small roads to start out on. He did really well and after a while we even tried a stint on a state route. He's got a few things to improve on, but overall he's doing really well.
>
> And to be honest, I think I'm doing better than I thought *I* would. I know it's really hard as a parent to teach your kids how to drive, but there's a part of me that thinks it's harder to teach your spouse. I mean it's not like I can talk to him in a really authoritative tone. I have to be careful to correct without demeaning him. But I seem to be doing OK so far...
>
> - famous

Well, this seems to be a lively thread. But before I start reading it, (you guessed it) I have a comment. Or three.

I used to have a summer job teaching driver's ed. Some of the students were high schoolers, but others were middle aged. A few (the scary part) were people who had tried and tried to learn to drive and had come to me for some kind of magic. Even when driving through a blackberry patch, or when the driver confused the brake and the gas pedal, or when someone hit the panic button on the interstate, or we went through a gap between two trucks that wasn't really wide enough, I always managed to keep a calm voice. Even when my insides were tied in knots, I sounded calm. It probably saved my life a few times. I've been a little crazy ever since.

Any adult who learns to drive a little late will find that they have really been handicapped. My daughter-in-law was almost 30 before she got her license. Guess who taught her to drive. Anyway, for the first time in her life she had the freedom to go where she wanted to go, when she felt like going, and didn't have to depend on anybody for transportation. She has been running up some whopping gas bills ever since. I guess she is making up for lost time.

I remember getting a driver's license back in August of 1949. Even in those days it was freedom. Make that FREEDOM!! Gas was 25.9 cents a gallon and my father had a company car, so my sister and I took turns driving the family car to school. I seem to remember a surge of popularity about that time.
Howard