The Walk of Shame

My wife has helped a quite a few teens over the years get their driver’s license. As a parent I can attest to the fact that often the last person that should help a teen get practice driving is mom or dad. It is so easy to see real friction and fighting in the car become such an overwhelming issue that you could actually crash the car. This last week Anne helped one of our 20 somethings actually pass her test. This was such an awesome experience that the tester actually complimented Anne on being such a great mom to the gal. This gal was really nervous and doubted she could do it.

The real time of testing came when one of our older teens, who can actually drive rather well, bombed his test. His assumption or hope was that because of the instructor also being African American that it would be a slam-dunk on the driving test. Yet, the unfortunate reality for this young guy was that he couldn’t parallel park. Anne actually had him practice drive in our little mini-van before doing the test. As the tester lady had him attempt to parallel park he couldn’t get closer than a few feet away from the cones.

Now the time comes when you have to do the walk of shame. Yes, the last thing any guy wants to have to do is tell someone that they bombed their driving test. So as he approached Anne it was clear that skin color or good looks couldn’t get him his license. So the walk of shame hung over his day. I was quick to text back and say please tell him that I also bombed my first driving test for something just as silly. Yet, the reality is that it takes time to get over the walk of shame.

It is too easy to fixate on your present circumstance and make the false assumption that you can’t do better. Yet, the reality for me was that I took the test the next day and passed with a 100%. My hope is that this young man will dust off his ego and let go of the shame to take the test again this coming week. I know that he will pass or as they say ‘cut the mustard’ soon.