Oh Crap Bar

The little red car sat in the driveway waiting to pick me up. To be honest, I had no idea what was going to happen. Granny Dee had offered to teach me how to drive and I took her up on it. I didn't know what I would learn, but I expected it would be fun.

This wasn't my first time behind the wheel. My Mom and Dad had taken me out in the church parking lot and on short trips around the neighborhood. I had been the student driver for the three trips during driving class. This, though, was different.

I think it would be safe to say, Granny Dee was always on the edge. She is not the laid back, grandmotherly woman you might be imagining by her name, a name I gave her in my younger days. She told stories of cross country road races, said things a little too boldly for many people and seemed to have lead a life of adventure. I would not be surprised to see her in leather on a motorcycle. Even as a teenager, I thought she was pretty cool.

I walked down the steps and I could see her already sitting in the passenger seat. I was taken aback for a moment, but then got into the driver's seat. She couldn't teach me to drive if I wasn't driving. So, I drove. She directed to to go to a nearby parking lot where I could get used to the car.

So, I practiced parking, going forward and reverse. The basics while we talked. "We called that," she said pointing to the handle above the passenger door, "the oh crap bar. Well, not exactly, but close enough. As long as I'm not grabbing that, I'm not worried.". From there the conversation took off and she talked about how I couldn't worry her, she was too tough for that, and I settled in my mind that I would get her to grab that bar.

When there was nothing more to be learned in the parking lot, she instructed me to drive away from town, where there are dirt roads and farm fields. I turned a quick corner, glancing at her hands, she said calmly, "you'll want to accelerate in the corners.". I depressed the brake a little to hard and she talked to me about steering into a stop. Still her hands didn't move. I gunned it, throwing up a tail of dirt behind the car, she did say slow down. "The police sometime sit there," she said pointing to a little flat spot beside the road, "you're good go go.".

I don't know how long we drove for, but the afternoon passed quickly. Throguhout it she gave me calm advice as I acted foolish. It was a blast. When we returned to my house, we planned when she could teach me to drive again.

We went out a couple more times and she never did grab that handle.