I thought driving was supposed to be fun. Why else would everyone go through all the cost, effort and bureaucratic rigmarole of getting a license? Sure, people have to get places, but that’s what public transport is for. Driving is for getting around while also having a good time… isn’t it? Please tell me that it is. Otherwise, all this time and money has been totally wasted. I could have spent it on a trip to Paris.
Dad says I’ve got the wrong end of the stick – that driving is not ‘supposed’ to be anything. It can be fun, he says, but that’s not the whole point. He’s so infuriating sometimes. Like, what’s that even supposed to mean? I know what he’d say to that, too: that it’s not ‘supposed’ to mean anything. Eurgh! He’s so hung up on language. He even told me I shouldn’t say ‘make it snappy’ to the guy at the mechanic shop. Ringwood locals like things done fast, and I’m sure mechanics are totally used to hearing those very words, but dad still had to go and pull me up for being rude.
If you ask me, it’s rude to critique every little thing your daughter says. It’s like, just read between the lines. In the Ringwood area, automotive services need to be done at a snappy pace, and I don’t see the point of beating around the bush, even if it does come off as a bit brusque and presumptuous. See? I have plenty of vocab, but mostly, it’s a waste of energy to use it. Why gasbag around with long words when I could be pumping the gas and screeching off down the highway, as far from my nerdy dad as possible?
That’s what I thought driving was about. Now I’m hearing that I’m supposed to, like, be considerate of other people on the road – and even off the road – when it comes to my car use. This is not what I signed up for.