Scary, or funny?
In the midst of my bitching on Tuesday, I neglected to mention some of the funnier things about visting my grandparents...
First, let me get this out of the way.... in retrospect, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to visit on my grandpa's birthday. The dude's 80, and he's not exactly getting stronger. I'd feel like an ass if I didn't go... after all, I'm the only grandchild. Apparently, from talking to my mum, he loved the cake and stuff, so yeah... it was worth it. And screw off, I'm allowed to have a heart once in a while!
Now, on to the funny.... with his 80th bday coming up, my grandpa had to take a driving test. This doesn't seem overly funny on the surface, until you know that he's a fucking scary driver. It's not that he's dangerous, it's more that he knows how to get his way on the road... and does. he regularly cuts people off because he knows he can get away with it (he's clearly old, but the handicapped sticker b/c of my grandmother being in a wheelchair seems to give him extra powers). Now, he passed his test (it sounded basically like a longer version of the G1 test).... but when he went to get his licence renewed, he forgot to bring the proof of passing with him. That should have been a sign to the licencing people, no?
Anyway, after that, I made some off hand remark about how he had been driving for 60+ years, so it probably wasn't a big deal. He agreed that it was pretty straight forward, but then his me with this little nugget...
"60 years? I've been driving since I was 10! And you know what? I never actually took my licence in the old country."
That makes me feel safe on the roads. It really really does...
First, let me get this out of the way.... in retrospect, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to visit on my grandpa's birthday. The dude's 80, and he's not exactly getting stronger. I'd feel like an ass if I didn't go... after all, I'm the only grandchild. Apparently, from talking to my mum, he loved the cake and stuff, so yeah... it was worth it. And screw off, I'm allowed to have a heart once in a while!
Now, on to the funny.... with his 80th bday coming up, my grandpa had to take a driving test. This doesn't seem overly funny on the surface, until you know that he's a fucking scary driver. It's not that he's dangerous, it's more that he knows how to get his way on the road... and does. he regularly cuts people off because he knows he can get away with it (he's clearly old, but the handicapped sticker b/c of my grandmother being in a wheelchair seems to give him extra powers). Now, he passed his test (it sounded basically like a longer version of the G1 test).... but when he went to get his licence renewed, he forgot to bring the proof of passing with him. That should have been a sign to the licencing people, no?
Anyway, after that, I made some off hand remark about how he had been driving for 60+ years, so it probably wasn't a big deal. He agreed that it was pretty straight forward, but then his me with this little nugget...
"60 years? I've been driving since I was 10! And you know what? I never actually took my licence in the old country."
That makes me feel safe on the roads. It really really does...
posted by Iain @ 8:32 AM
1 Comments:
At 4:11 PM,
Anonymous said…
Ah yes, Grandpaw driving in the old country. My Gramps did the no test thing, just bought a car and dove, hell, insurance, why bother.
He was damn scary, driving around central London in rush hour, people would fight for the back seats. Stop? Yield? Signal? Hell, look. Not a concern,he had the world's only invincible Peugeot.
That's a my story.
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