“If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough”. It seems fitting the father of the quote was racing legend Mario Andretti. Mario, whose stellar career spanned three decades, was no stranger to adrenaline spikes.
In those times when called on to don my imaginary Driver’s Ed cap, I empathized with Andretti, growing an intimate acquaintance with the adrenaline rush effect. More than once.
College campus parking lots – the larger-and-emptier the better – served best for early lessons.
When I was an adolescent farm boy venturing forth as a new-driver wannabe, all the vehicles of choice were of the manual transmission (stick shift) variety.
Pasturelands were spacious across Okmulgee County and our country dirt roads were seldom, if ever, crowded. The motor vehicles my brother and I cut our teeth on included a 1955 Studebaker pickup and a pair of aging tractors – Farmall and Allis Chalmer.
Here now in the heart of bustling mid-town Tulsa, we must make the most of reality. On one or two occasions at taking my driver’s ed spot in the passenger seat of a new student’s first car I realized with a pang of apprehension the vehicle was, in fact, a stick shift model. Such days became especially memorable!
Fortunately – thanks no doubt to a keenly-alert guardian angel on hand – I recall only a couple times when I was called upon to abruptly shout , “No, No, No. STOP now!” During other spine-tingling close calls I somehow drew upon some inner reserve of calm to, in the moment, reign in the scream reflex.
Reflecting now on the many miles covered in the adventurous world of driver training, I take almost reverential pride on the keenness of mind and the resilience of so many international students. Facing an array of challenges, proving themselves triumphant.
©2024 Jerry Lout