#52. Passing the Test (Wednesday, June 30, 2010)

What was your best day…of experiencing some success amidst a prolonged period of failure?

In the middle of the worst four-month stretch of my life, there was one brief shining moment that seemed to provide proof to me that things might not actually be heading down a permanent, irreversible downward spiral. So thank you, driving tester guy, whatever your name was, for not failing me for going 15 under the limit in a residential area.

The days leading up to my G2 road test¹ that Wednesday had been a mixed bag. I still wasn’t able to do the parallel park with good consistency, and some practice sessions with my dad had devolved into the usual yelling – to the point where he just waved his hands and said: “Just cancel your test tomorrow. There’s no point.” (I should note that I’d failed this test already once, at the end of last summer, for making too many small mistakes.)

In my state of mind, I am fully ready to do that. But fortunately, my mom doesn’t let me. The test is at four in the afternoon; so my mom says I can do a few hours of practice with her right before.

On Tuesday night, I watch 13 Going on 30². Then I sleep in to noon – usual practice for me at the time – take the bus to my mom’s office, then we get into her car and go through all the routes a couple of times. It’s a very productive two hours, and I feel ready to go.

So the test comes. The second I take the wheel, all of those complexities I’ve kept in my head dissolve into that simple instinct of driving. Things seem to be going really smoothly as I do my parallel park well, then go through the main commercial road³, then head into the residential streets.

During that part, the examiner asks me: “Do you know how fast you’re supposed to be going on these roads?” I look at my speed, and it’s 25 (I was always told 30, and go five below to be safe), so I tell him I’m going 25. And I’m sure that’s it for me on this test – while keeping a mental note to follow-up angrily with my parents and driving instructor. He just says: “The speed limit says 40, so go 40”, and nothing else.

I get back, and am dreading taking off on a five-day New York trip with my family tomorrow, having just failed my G2 for the second time. But then the examiner just casually says: “Good job. Just make sure you’re consistent with the speed on whatever road you’re on. You can hand this in.” He hands me his form – there are no marks on it with a check mark on the pass – and steps out.⁴

Well, that just made the upcoming trip a hell of a lot more fun.

In Ontario, there are three levels of driver’s license. G1 (just written test): a learner’s permit; G2: can drive but with a bunch of restrictions, and it expires in five years; G: full license.
A tier below A League of their Own, A Walk to Remember, Click, and The Butterfly Effect in the pantheon of big emotional movies for me (#57).
To get on there, there’s this traffic island that you’re supposed to drive on to (I’ve never seen this on any normal road); then look at the incoming traffic before merging in.
Though he may have just been in a good mood because it was the last test before Canada Day holiday tomorrow.