Practical Intelligence

[Storm Bay]

Interesting, I have no sense of direction either.

 

My mother has trouble with right & left and has a poor sense of direction, which my dad teased her about. My dad has a great sense of direction as long as he's not in the bush (aka forest/woods). eg when they used to go hunting he & his buddies set up a system where if one of them got lost they'd fire x number of times. One day my dad got hopelessly lost and finally fired the signal. He was 100 yards (or it might have been feet) from camp. It turns out he has the worst sense of diection and was always getting teased by his hunting partners.

 

I hired a wonderful instructor. I told him I didn't understand how to drive the car. I mean I didn't understand things like controlling the car, where exactly on the road I had to aim for, etc. He explained it in detail and then I understood and had no problems at all. My parents seemed to think I was just supposed to know those things. Why would anyone assume that that is a natural skill?

 

I think I'm a pretty good driver now.

 

Good point. I didn't get on well with my dad, but he did a great job of explaining things like you mentioned. I learned to drive in a Ford Torino station wagon (that must be dating me, since I don't think they've made those for quite some time). However, I learned in a rural area with stop signs but no stop lights. As a result, no one taught me how to drive in the city (Vancouver, BC, so a decent sized city) & I had to figure out how to read amber lights, etc, on my own, but once I forgot and drove through a red light while a blind man was crossing the street. Thankfully, I drove right through and didn't it anyone, but I think anyone who learns to drive where there are no traffic lessons needs new lessons when they get to the city! along with the problem with the stick shift I mentioned (my dad told me at what speeds to shift, but not why I had to shift.) I did become good at the stick shift & it is my favourite way to drive (we called it standard shift), but we drive automatic vans with our dc, so that's out of the question right now.

 

This reminds me of a moment, though. I was a gifted kid yet I managed to drive through one post of a sign at 17 because I was rummaging for somemthing when I was driving. Thankfully, no one was walking on the side of the road, but I was very shaken up for a long time. No one saw me, either, and I was too scared to turn myself in. It taught me a huge lesson.

Edited November 26, 2011 by Karin

[Storm Bay]

Frankly, I'm glad I did not get my license at 17. I did not know what the heck I was doing. I think that is probably true of many 17 year olds. And drivers ed is pretty minimal. And you are right about people being taught how to drive often in only very specific places. I'm a very cautious driver and I respect my limitations. For example, I won't drive through NYC. I know I couldn't handle it.

 

Some states & provinces have really upped the driver's ed/training component. Here teens have to take an official class and have restrictions when they first drive. In BC you have to have a learner's license for a year & have a magnetic L stuck on the back of the vehicle whenever you drive. the following year you have to have a different letter attached (I think it's an N). I'm not sure how effective these are. I actually drove very well most of the time and never drank & drove, but teens are teens, and even isolated incidents like the two I described can cost lives. Of course, plenty of experienced adult do stupid things while driving. I'll stop now, because dangerous drivng is one of my soapbox issues and not really what this thread is all about.

Edited November 27, 2011 by Karin

[zaichiki]

Frankly, I'm glad I did not get my license at 17. I did not know what the heck I was doing. I think that is probably true of many 17 year olds.

 

Really? Wow. I think I was a great driver at 17. And I drove/drive in NYC, too. Different strokes for different folks, obviously.