8) Driving

     You know, I prided myself on being the best driver in my family. I still hold on to a lot of that pride, actually, despite my experiences with driving. I wasn't a fan of learning how to drive at first. It freaked the freak out of me. I got to take my drivers training classes with some friends, which helped soothe my nerves, but it still irked me that I needed to learn how to drive. Don't get me wrong, I HATED, DESPISED, WAS APPALLED by the fact that my parents had to drive me anywhere. I refused to date until I could drive. I didn't do a lot of things because I didn't want my parents to drive me around.

     However, once I started driving, I caught on quickly. I was able to avoid driving all winter, somehow. That was a relief, but it made me nervous for the next winter when I would ACTUALLY have to drive in the snow and ice. During my fifty hours of required practice driving, I became quite the excellent, safe, and well-qualified driver. I drove the speed limit, made a full stop at a stop sign, I would check both ways before crossing an intersection, and I would check my mirrors and speedometer roughly every 10 seconds. I was a good ol' driver! My mom would make comments that encouraged me like, "Jefferson, I think that you're the safest driver of all your siblings." It was a rather accomplished feeling. Especially, since I was better than all of my siblings.

     Alas, it was not too last. I was able to drive six months accident-free. In January of this year, I got into a somewhat minor accident. I was playing basketball for around three hours and ended up driving my cousin home. I was exhausted and my attention span was at its breaking point. I was pulling out of a parking lot, making sure to check both ways, and I hit another car. While it was definitely my fault, I had some reasons. First of all, there was a big frickin moving truck blocking my view from the left, so that didn't help. I was inching forward to see, and I decided it was clear enough to go. As I took my foot off the brake, I noticed a car coming. Me, being the responsible driver I am, put my foot on the brake to stop before I pulled out in front of the other red Toyota Corolla. To my dismay and disappointment, my foot was not on the break, but on the gas... Me, in a big tank - Chevrolet Suburban - and them, in a toy car - Toyota Corolla. The damage looked worse than it actually was. My car was pretty much in good condition. The radiator cap broke, but it was drivable! The other car fared poorly in comparison. Their whole right side was janked up. Then one of the passengers had a panic attack and they ended up taking her to the hospital.

     All in all, no one was injured, the cars were repaired, and I was $700 poorer. Logically, I would be considered an average driver, but I'M STILL A GOOD DRIVER, I SWEAR!