7 lessons for driving me crazy!

Well, today was the day. No, I didn't take the driving test in the yellow lego car, but...that would have been more fun! My appointment was for 8:00, no sweat, whoever was the tester would probably be in a relatively good mood because it was still early in the morning, nothing to get them upset yet, right?
Well, no.
I walk in the DMV, and there's a couple of people sitting in the chairs, but I didn't know why. Not like they were in line, or anything, so I asked anyway, and the one lady said no and she pointed to the man standing at the end of the room behind the desk. So I started to walk toward him and that's when the morning digressed. Apparently the red "Do not walk past here" signs really mean what they say, no matter if you're never going to be attended to otherwise. Walking past the signs was my first mistake. My second mistake was noticing my brother's name on the test list (okay, it jumped out at me, I had to notice it. There was a red line next to it, with the three or four names above it crossed out.) Well, actually, noticing it wasn't the problem. Verbalizing that notice was. The man at the back started shooing me out ("oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize!")and I was pretty much tripping over myself to get out of there quick enough. Then he politely informed me (okay, it wasn't really so polite) that those lists were not for public viewing ("I'm sorry!") and that I should not be looking at them (whispered "I'm sorry...") Okay, so my third apology wasn't really a whisper; it was more like a pathetic squeak as I tried to become one with my chair. Then he shuffled the papers around a bit and said "if you're hear to take the driving test you need your permit out and ready." This was not directed to me, but rather to the world at large. Well, Alyssa was there for her driving test so she humbly removed her permit from her wallet and walked to the do not enter sign. But she did not pass it this time. Lesson number one learned.
Actually he asked for Jared, as his name was on the list (we were swapping because my driving test date fell in the middle of band tour. My mom called on Tuesday to make sure it was okay, they said, oh yeah, that's fine, don't worry about. You can just switch when you get there!). However, they lied. It wasn't fine, he was worried about it, and you can't just switch when you get there because "that's not how we do things around here." My mom was my hero at that point because she kindly reminded him that we did call and they did say it would be okay. "well, make sure you call and change it for your son, because that's not how we do it here!" Yes sir, lesson number two learned. Never trust anyone.

Lesson three: Always, I repeat always know where your lights are. Even if they turn on automatically and you will never use the manual button, know where they are anyway. It's a good idea to know where the parking break is too.
On to driving...my first mistake driving was the stop at the parking lot entrance. FYI it is the law to stop before the sidewalk, not over the sidewalk. No it doesn't matter that you can't see any cars coming from behind the sidewalk. You stop there. That was lesson four.

Oh yeah, lesson five: don't drive in the parking lane! I was all thinking about turning into the correct lane on a one way street (thanks Josh!) that I was driving in the wrong lane on a two way street. There was a car coming behind me and he was like "why are we driving in the parking lane?" as if it was obvious that I was in the parking lane. Hello people, the last time I drove more than ten minutes was 20 months ago (only one tne minute drive in the entire 20 months, too) and that was in Charlotte, NC! They don't do parking lanes on most road in that city, how am I supposed to know that it's a parking lane?!? But I was and I didn't, so I got marked down on that.
Parallel parking was...okay. Not perfect, but not horrible either. (Thanks for showing me how yesterday, Mom!). My Y turn (to which I have always referred as a 3 pt.) was good--only three points, but I'm afraid I was a rather uncourteous driver to all the other non-existant drivers on that road because...I didn't signal that I was turning around.
Lesson six: always signal!
Oh yeah, Lesson seven: always Always ALWAYS signal when you pull away from the curb. Yes, even when the only living thing in a mile radius is yourself, you still do it. That's roadside courtesy. (Sorry, folks, turn signal overdose is not a big thing in my lovely southern city either.) I couldn't park on a hill (not mention it wasn't even on a real hill, we pretended) because I didn't remember that my parking break was to go on. I'm sure if it was a real hill I would have remembered. But I didn't.
Hm...what else? Oh yeah, the turn signal thing, pulling away from the curb. That, too.

But as it turned out, inspite of all these previously unlearned lessons, HE PASSED ME!!!
Not to mention my very loving, endearing tester was about the most intimidating man I've ever met and that I almost cried when he was "going over my test" with me and my mom--outside in the freezing cold...why couldn't we have done it comfortably in the warmth? But, I was the first person he passed all morning. Thank You, Lord! I was praying about this so hard, yesterday and today and getting a lot of people praying for me. So if you prayed for me, thanks so much! He really does answer prayer! (Well, I also prayed that my tester would be in a good mood, and he pretty much wasn't, but I can take a no to that prayer. I passed!) So look out, world, cuz' Alyssa is cruisin' by!