I learned to drive sitting on my father's lap,
steering anyway <G> -- and he taught me to drive a truck with a stick
shift before he'd let me drive anything else, as soon as I was tall enough to
reach the pedals. I had to learn how to change a tire, drive a stick
shift, how to check tire pressure, and check and change the oil -- ALL
before I took my driver's test. All of those things have served me well
over the years.
Too bad most kids today don't get this
kind of education - most people - especially the younger kids - can only
drive an automatic, and wouldn't know how to operate a clutch in an
emergency. Or even how to begin to change a tire! (Thanks,
daddy, for teaching me all those things...)
I still cherish the memory of my first
test drive with a DVM examiner when I was applying for my first driver's
license. I was about 18, and hadn't the advantage of the current
drivers' training available in schools. My husband taught me how to
drive and he taught me many defensive techniques....how to deal with adverse
road conditions (read "mud" and "slippery" and "steep".) He also taught
me to downshift with a double-clutch, as syncro-mesh transmissions hadn't been
invented yet. I honed my skills and went in for a test drive. I
did several neat downshifts and finished with a successful parallel
park. The examiner said, "Wellllll.....I guess I'm going to have
to issue you a license."
I'd driven our old livestock truck many
years ago with a low and high range splitter, but one of our daughters could
best me at that. She is a superb truck driver and worked for several
years delivering windows and lumber for our family company. I don't
drive our 20' gooseneck trailer often enough to be any good at it, nor even a
2-horse bumper-pull, but I'll bet I could polish up on that, too.
<But having "put up with" silly stupid car (and truck) salesmen over
the years, where I usually know more about whatever car or truck I
was interested in buying than the salesman, an ad like this just kind of
annoys me.>
I agree with you, Carla. When my husband and I
went truck shopping almost 4 years ago, we had a particularly annoying
salesman at the Ford dealership. When we found the truck we wanted to
buy (F350 extended cab diesel dually 4x4) and wanted to take it for a
test drive, the salesman tried to hand the keys to my husband, who said,
"Give 'em to her...it's gonna be her truck." The guy
looked nervous and asked, "Have you ever driven one of these
before?" I said, "Have I driven what? A truck, a 4x4, or a
dually?" He was a condescending idiot throughout the whole
process. But I took perverse pleasure in watching him try to park
it when we came back...he had a heck of a time maneuvering it into it's
slot. After he finished (my husband and I had gone back to our
vehicle to discuss the truck and price in private), I said to him
very sweetly, "You should have told me yo! u hadn't driven one of those
before...I would have parked it for you." <VBEG>
