A Long Time Coming.

Today I'm taking my road test to get my driver's licence, the G2 portion of it. I went to boarding school when I was younger, so I missed out on doing my driver's ed at that time, then I moved to the city for university and never needed to drive. Now I find myself wanting to get out of the city on a regular basis, so it's time to get a move on. It has been a long time coming and finally about 3 weeks ago I was booked to take my road test. This is what happened.

I woke up in the morning feeling well rested and extra chirpy, knowing that I would finally be getting my licence that day. Made my coffee, took the dog out for a walk, I was already feeling very accomplished and successful. Got dressed in my Sunday's best, and headed to work with a smile on my face. My appointment was booked for 3:30pm, and when 1:00pm rolled around, I decided to Google map the location of the drive test. It would take me 27 minutes to get there.

Going through my checklist of what I needed to have with me (of course I did this at 1 in the afternoon from work, as opposed to making sure I had everything prior to leaving home in the morning), it suddenly dawned on me that I didn't have my glasses. My knees went a little weak as the joy and feelings of success drained out of me. Literally, I could feel it all leave me, the chirpiness and the pep in my step was gone. What a complete douche bag. Really? Did you really forget your glasses at home this morning? The frantic rummage through my purse began, out came the address book (yes, I still use a paper address book), my water bottle, papers, my wallet (quick check in the wallet to make sure I actually had my licence with me), my lunch bag, my umbrella, my hand cream, pens, tampons, lip gloss...my glasses were nowhere in sight. No pun intended.

There was only one thing I could do. Let me ask you, would you be weirded out if you got an all-staff email from a co-worker asking anyone if they had a pair of distance glasses to borrow for a driving test? Well, I sent that good old email out, and I got at least six responses back from people asking what part of the city I would be driving in, so that they could avoid that area. Anyway, a lovely email from one of our VP's ensured I could have her pair of glasses in my pocket or on my face within 10 minutes. So, off I go to the drive centre with a tiny pair of glasses that make me look like a cartoon character, with 1 hour to spare. I got to the drive centre 50 minutes later (Google maps you suck!), got to the counter, and this larger than life man looked at his watch and said I was 10 minutes early. I confirmed this fact with a sigh of relief, then he continued on telling me that I was supposed to be there 15 minutes early to leave some time to process papers. What the..."are you joking?" I asked. Nope, the solemn look on his face clearly told me this was no joke.

In the end, I lost my $40 for the first drive test I booked, and had to pay another $40 to rebook it for today. I also had a week of questioning from co-workers asking how my drive test went, and me having to explain a million times over that I didn't get my licence not because I failed the test but because on that day, I was a failure at life in general. Two good things came of it: I'm now friends with a VP at work, and I haven't left my glasses behind since then.

Wish me luck today.

Update: 5:53pm on the same day

Who knew you needed to provide your own car for the road test? In short, I went to the drive centre well ahead of schedule, glasses on my face, licence (G1) in hand eager to get started. "I'm sorry, you don't have a car? And you're here for the road test? Ma'am, you need a car to do the road test. Is it the actual driving road test you're here for?"
I'm sorry, did I studder? is what I felt like saying, but alas, I just left without saying a word. I don't think I'm meant to have a licence.