Yeah, I grew up in a suburb where there was essentially no public transit. Without a drivers license you couldn't really go anywhere. One time the rest of the family went away for a weekend and I was left home with only the manual shift car ... succumbing to cabin fever, I strapped on my sneakers and walked into the center of town, about a mile, and then walked home.

That is exactly what happened, Jesse. Pulled away from the gate and waited. But after all that, we're only a few minutes late.

Hubby learned to drive stick in the Forest Service. He was put in a full fuel truck and was driven out onto an active runway, the driver hopped out and said, "The next plane is due in twenty minutes, get the truck off the runway," and he walked away. Hubby stripped the gears all to hell, but he got the truck off the runway. Things were different in the '70s.

in the hope that one of them will take up more of my time and need to be considered when I make decisions

You know, the more one thinks about it, relationships need a better PR manager. Once a woman gets used to life on her own, a man (or what have you) doesn't have as many value-added features as you'd think.

Timelies all!

I learned to drive at a driving school.(with a little help from my parents) Never learned to drive stick, because neither of my parents know how. (Apparently my uncle- my aunt's then-husband- tried to teach my mom. He was not the most patient of men...)

That is exactly what happened, Jesse. Pulled away from the gate and waited. But after all that, we're only a few minutes late.

And that part's because of the bullshit scheduling they do now to boost "on time arrivals"! I don't know why that pisses me off so much, but it does. I think it's the NYC-LA route that used to be exactly 6 hours and now they schedule it for like 6.5.

Argh. Give me an answer, other department, so I can go home!

Or, how long do I wait before I leave anyway? I could theoretically check for an answer from home with a glass of wine. But would that aggravate me more or less? Hard to say.

When I was in 10th grade, almost all the electives were cut, football was cancelled, and the school shut down for two weeks in the middle of the fall semester due to lack of funds. But we still had drivers ed. Ah, Michigan priorities.

He just (as far as I can tell) disagrees with the fundamental job of government, regardless of what's in the official documents from way back when.

There's a certain contrarian streak in (usually) straight cis white dudes that makes them think this way, I swear.

I mean, they don't know what the fuck they're talking about, refuse to listen to facts, and are smug little shits, and it drives me nuts. I have friends like that.

(ALSO? STEVE ROGERS: NOT A FUCKING LIBERTARIAN.)

(Like, when the fuck did they get full custody of the idea of freedom? Fuck those guys.)

I'm waiting in the hotel room for shrift, and I'm watching Olympic badminton.

Huh.

I mean, I guess I see how it's kind of like doubles tennis. Just...what makes you think, "No, my heart is really in badminton"? A dislike of running so much?

I learned to drive stick on tractors years before I learned how to drive a car. Got my license at 16 after taking drivers ed in school, like almost all kids in my school did. Living in the country, having a drivers license was essential for my high school social life.

This was me, entirely. I drove my stepdad's old car, though, didn't get one of my own until college.

in the hope that one of them will take up more of my time and need to be considered when I make decisions

You know, the more one thinks about it, relationships need a better PR manager. Once a woman gets used to life on her own, a man (or what have you) doesn't have as many value-added features as you'd think.

And that and that.

(ALSO? STEVE ROGERS: NOT A FUCKING LIBERTARIAN.)

And that.