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Apr. 29th, 2003 11:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tedwordsI don't know if I mentioned this before, but Annie recently received her driver's license and now has a registered vehicle on the road. And if you don't think that's an unsettling thought, then think again.
Here's proof if you needed some:
"I have an appointment with my doctor tonight in Providence," she told me when I called her from the cell on the way to home.
"Is Mom taking you?" I asked, winding through the S-curves on 95 that pass through Providence.
"Um, I'm not sure if I want her to," she replied, with a hint of hesitation in her voice. She had something in mind.
"You want me to drive you?"
"Oh, no," she replied, very definite about this option. "I want to drive in my car and I don't want you making noises while I drive." It's true. I am a nervous driver with her. I kind of make little noises like an animal in pain and tend to slam my foot down on an imaginary brake and brace my hand up against the ceiling, in perpetual fear of a head-on collision.
"So you want to drive alone?" I asked. Oh, and yes, by the way, my blood pressure did rise up a few notches.
"I think so," she replied.
My decision?
"You're okay with her going to Providence?" asked Josie in amazement when she returned home from work.
"I think she's got to learn some time, right?" I replied calmly.
"And it's better than having him in the passenger's seat," said Annie. "But wait a minute...my gas is almost on empty..."
"Then it needs to be filled," I pointed out.
"Then I'll need to fill it," she fretted. For some reason, the thought of pumping gas was more troubling to her than driving to the big city of Providence.
But we provided her with instructions on how to pump gas, braced ourselves for the worst, and sent her on her merry way. And I sat down to continue on my quest for Zelda with TJ.
About twenty minutes later we received a call. Annie on her cell phone.
"I took the wrong turn!" she was crying on the phone.
"Okay. Calm down. Where are you?" asked Josie calmly.
"I don't know!" wailed Annie.
"Are there any signs? Any landmarks? Anything?"
Josie tried to talk Annie through it, but after fifteen minutes of this, handed the phone to me in exasperation. Annie was screaming into the cell phone by that point, on the point of total collapse.
I was actually pretty good. Very soothing. Calmed her down. Even after realizing that she had ended up onto Route 146 about twenty minutes from Providence. I guided her to an unidentified McDonalds and realized that the best option was to drive to meet her and have her follow me home.
So I went off my merry way. Next hurdle came as I passed the Rustic Drive-In (known for being a drive-in that specialized in porno movies in the 70s) on 146. I reached a fork in the road. I called Annie to determine which way to go.
"I don't know," she said. "I think I stayed in the left lane. Take a left." So I veered left.
No she didn't.
After another twenty minutes, I stopped at the wrong McDonalds, but I was able to figure out where she had stopped by talking to the cashier (see...here a guy who can ask for directions. Go me.) That's when I received the next call.
"Ummm... Dad?"
"Yes?"
"I kind of...locked my keys in the car..."
Well, anyway, I just returned home at 10:30. And I still have some shreds of sanity left!
"Did you learn anything from this?" I asked Annie as we waited for AAA to arrive.
"Yes, never drive on 95 again," she replied.
"No, there'll be more 95s in your life," I said. "You've just got to stop being afraid of them. Tackle them head on. Take a chance. That's how you learn and grow."
Hmmm...was I talking to her, or to me?
Here's proof if you needed some:
"I have an appointment with my doctor tonight in Providence," she told me when I called her from the cell on the way to home.
"Is Mom taking you?" I asked, winding through the S-curves on 95 that pass through Providence.
"Um, I'm not sure if I want her to," she replied, with a hint of hesitation in her voice. She had something in mind.
"You want me to drive you?"
"Oh, no," she replied, very definite about this option. "I want to drive in my car and I don't want you making noises while I drive." It's true. I am a nervous driver with her. I kind of make little noises like an animal in pain and tend to slam my foot down on an imaginary brake and brace my hand up against the ceiling, in perpetual fear of a head-on collision.
"So you want to drive alone?" I asked. Oh, and yes, by the way, my blood pressure did rise up a few notches.
"I think so," she replied.
My decision?
"You're okay with her going to Providence?" asked Josie in amazement when she returned home from work.
"I think she's got to learn some time, right?" I replied calmly.
"And it's better than having him in the passenger's seat," said Annie. "But wait a minute...my gas is almost on empty..."
"Then it needs to be filled," I pointed out.
"Then I'll need to fill it," she fretted. For some reason, the thought of pumping gas was more troubling to her than driving to the big city of Providence.
But we provided her with instructions on how to pump gas, braced ourselves for the worst, and sent her on her merry way. And I sat down to continue on my quest for Zelda with TJ.
About twenty minutes later we received a call. Annie on her cell phone.
"I took the wrong turn!" she was crying on the phone.
"Okay. Calm down. Where are you?" asked Josie calmly.
"I don't know!" wailed Annie.
"Are there any signs? Any landmarks? Anything?"
Josie tried to talk Annie through it, but after fifteen minutes of this, handed the phone to me in exasperation. Annie was screaming into the cell phone by that point, on the point of total collapse.
I was actually pretty good. Very soothing. Calmed her down. Even after realizing that she had ended up onto Route 146 about twenty minutes from Providence. I guided her to an unidentified McDonalds and realized that the best option was to drive to meet her and have her follow me home.
So I went off my merry way. Next hurdle came as I passed the Rustic Drive-In (known for being a drive-in that specialized in porno movies in the 70s) on 146. I reached a fork in the road. I called Annie to determine which way to go.
"I don't know," she said. "I think I stayed in the left lane. Take a left." So I veered left.
No she didn't.
After another twenty minutes, I stopped at the wrong McDonalds, but I was able to figure out where she had stopped by talking to the cashier (see...here a guy who can ask for directions. Go me.) That's when I received the next call.
"Ummm... Dad?"
"Yes?"
"I kind of...locked my keys in the car..."
Well, anyway, I just returned home at 10:30. And I still have some shreds of sanity left!
"Did you learn anything from this?" I asked Annie as we waited for AAA to arrive.
"Yes, never drive on 95 again," she replied.
"No, there'll be more 95s in your life," I said. "You've just got to stop being afraid of them. Tackle them head on. Take a chance. That's how you learn and grow."
Hmmm...was I talking to her, or to me?
