(no subject)
I need an icon that has a face like this on it:
Because it would explain what happened during my first "driving time" for Driver's Ed.
I went in there thinking I would be pretty good. Really, it's not until you get into traffic that you realize what a shitty driver you are. I knew before I was good at smooth accelerating and braking (illegal residential driving FTW), and I thought I was okay driving around other cars. And driving down roads with other cars isn't hard at all (which means I'll love the freeway). It's at intersections and turns and crap that I freak out.
I won't lie. The driving instructor was a really cool woman who did her job well by telling me every single thing I was doing wrong. But that was really stressing me out, and I was gripping the wheel really hard, pressing the accelerator too much and I failed at braking. Here are what I think are the factors to why I sucked really hard at driving today:
- I had never driven on a street like that.
- I wasn't expecting to drive on a street that day.
- I didn't know that area of town.
- I wasn't used to all the multi-tasking.
- The speed limit was 35 mph. Not 30 mph. Not 40. 35. And I could keep it consistent at 30 mph fine, but 35? Wasn't working.
I know all the stuff in theory. Leave four seconds of following distance between you and other cars, look in your rear-view mirror every time you get ready to stop, go the speed limit. I did really well when someone else was talking to me, but neither my friend nor my instructor said much. The instructor talked to my friend a lot and calmed her down. But when I tried calming myself down by talking to myself and telling myself what to do aloud, I was told to stop. And they thought this was part of super-stressing, when it was quite the opposite.
I'm now super nervous about the next driving sessions. I used to have all kinds of confidence with this, and that's all gone to shit because of this drive.
Because it would explain what happened during my first "driving time" for Driver's Ed.
I went in there thinking I would be pretty good. Really, it's not until you get into traffic that you realize what a shitty driver you are. I knew before I was good at smooth accelerating and braking (illegal residential driving FTW), and I thought I was okay driving around other cars. And driving down roads with other cars isn't hard at all (which means I'll love the freeway). It's at intersections and turns and crap that I freak out.
I won't lie. The driving instructor was a really cool woman who did her job well by telling me every single thing I was doing wrong. But that was really stressing me out, and I was gripping the wheel really hard, pressing the accelerator too much and I failed at braking. Here are what I think are the factors to why I sucked really hard at driving today:
- I had never driven on a street like that.
- I wasn't expecting to drive on a street that day.
- I didn't know that area of town.
- I wasn't used to all the multi-tasking.
- The speed limit was 35 mph. Not 30 mph. Not 40. 35. And I could keep it consistent at 30 mph fine, but 35? Wasn't working.
I know all the stuff in theory. Leave four seconds of following distance between you and other cars, look in your rear-view mirror every time you get ready to stop, go the speed limit. I did really well when someone else was talking to me, but neither my friend nor my instructor said much. The instructor talked to my friend a lot and calmed her down. But when I tried calming myself down by talking to myself and telling myself what to do aloud, I was told to stop. And they thought this was part of super-stressing, when it was quite the opposite.
I'm now super nervous about the next driving sessions. I used to have all kinds of confidence with this, and that's all gone to shit because of this drive.