Driving at night with no lights on....

So, before I get all into this story, let me tell you first that I don’t drive on a regular basis.

Backtrack….I got my license as most do at 16, and had my G1, then after two attempts at my exit test, I got my G2. I am also a procrastinator, I won’t lie about that one…..so needless to say, I put off my G2 exit test until the last possible day. Literally…I had to get a temporary license to carry me through the 15 days between when my license expired and when I had my test…that's how long I put it off for. So anyways, I go to my test, all confident thinking ” I got this one in the bag!”. I drive it, and I FAIL! How horrid…., because tell me how I had to LEAVE MY CAR in the parking lot and bus home with a plastic bag full of all the stuff I needed from my car (how ghetto I felt no words can explain…), since my license had expired and the temp license was also expired…I was now left with nothing.

What a dream squash.

Well it turns out that I didn’t even really think that I needed my license, I commute via bus to school in the city, I walk to work and if I did need a ride anywhere my Mom and G were more than happy to drive me around. I had every intention of going to get it back, but it just seemed like such a hassle, because I had to go right back to square one and start all over again with the written test and then again with the driven test.

So as I do, I put it off for a LONG time again, about 6 months, and then I got pregnant. I kept saying, “well now that I will have a baby, I am going to need to drive, so I should go back and get it…”. BUT AGAIN, CLASSIC me, I WOULD put it off for another YEAR! and I didn’t go back until after I had N and she was already 3 1/2 months old.

I only went because fate had it planned that way for me, my Mom ran into some unfortunate circumstances with her license (something I’d rather not get into today..if at all..) and I had to go back to get mine to be able to drive her back and fourth to work. So one (brave) day, we bused down to the ministry of transportation office so that I could write my test and get on the path to getting back behind the wheel (and to come to the rescue for my family).

We arrived before it opened with hopes that we would beat the line up of eager 16 year olds who were there for the first time, but alas, it seems that I had forgotten all about being an excited teen about to get my license…you actually do get up in the morning…and it seemed like half of the town had managed to get there before the doors even opened.

So we waited in line, and I just prayed that everything was going to go quick so that I wouldn’t have to leave my spot in line to nurse N or change any dirty diapers. WELL Murphy's Law had another plan, as usual, and when I am about 10 people away from being able to get to writing my test, N wants to eat. So being the confident nursing mother that I am, I put on my nursing bib and wriggled out boob and managed to hold and feed N. (I wasn’t giving up my spot in line and there were no washrooms for me to even retreat to and let my mom stand in line for me)

So here I was standing in line waiting, nursing. ….

When I got to the desk the lady definitely gave me the weirdest look I have ever gotten (because she probably thought I was 16, since I pretty much look 12, and I was there to get my G1, oh geezzze…great, nursing 16 yr old in public… that's a lotbad stigma in Western society, unfortunately) and I had to continue to nurse as I filled out paper work, had my picture taken AND wrote the test.

Talk about awkward. Try nursing a baby in a chair with an attached desk, in a room that's about 12′ x 12′ and full of teenagers, while you write a test, and try to hold the baby, and the paper at the same time…..Well anyways, I passed with flying colours! (Not really, I would have failed if I got one more wrong and IMAGINE if I had to have gotten back into the line to do it ALL OVER, OMG…that would have sucked.)

So back to the main story…driving with no lights on…

Since I have gotten my license back I really don’t do a lot of night time driving. I’m usually home and settling in by at least 8:30 or 9 p.m., But tonight, I had to drive my Mom, her friend and sister out to a Surprise 25th Anniversary party, and pick them up at 10 p.m…. After dark…..

So I pack up N in the car, start it and I’m sitting there in the dark and I realize, my Mom has a totally new car since the last one I used to drive frequently, and I have no idea how to turn the lights on….I scramble a bit, call my Mom (who didn’t answer) and eventually managed to turn something that turned on the interior lights.

Now call me crazy, but I just assumed that my exterior driving lights were already on, being that my inside ones were, I mean why would you need the inside and not the outside [BLONDE MOMENT…and I’m not even blonde…I realize why now, btw). Keep in mind, I haven’t driven this car at night, nor have I driven any car at night in almost 2 years!

So I get to driving and I was following behind a car for a while, not really thinking about anything other than driving..I switched lanes because I felt as though I was starting to ride his butt a little, so went into the right lane and just drove. People were then riding on my butt, and I started to get all nervous because there were so many cars all around and I felt like every time that I would look around, that I would jolt the car too much. Not to mention that it was just really DARK, and I was thinking “Wow, I really don’t like driving at night anymore, either I need new glasses or I’m just getting old, and uncomfortable with driving….”.

So I make my second last turn, and I’m driving on the road, and that's when I realized the most that it was so dark. I guess because there were no cars around me with their bright lights added to the road. I’m driving concentrating hard on the lines (mainly because I couldn’t see them) and I almost started to get dizzy. Then all of the sudden the lines start to CLOSE IN ON ME. My heart was racing, and I was thinking I was passing out or something, and I was so worried for baby until I realized that the lanes were MERGING and I was about to drive onto the shoulder!!!! I actually laughed out loud at myself after and just continued driving thinking “ I must be really tired…no more driving at night, this is scarrry!” (yet another Brunette-Blonde moment..)

I made my final turn onto the street and since it was a side road I decided to put on my high beams. MUCH better! So i continued driving in a lot more comfort, turning my high beams off when I approached someone. and turning them back on when they were gone. I crossed the intersection, and the driveway I was turning into is the second one, and since it was a rural area, street lights every million years, it wasn’t very visible. And again, I’m just thinking “Holy, being out here really does make a difference in the darkness at night”, as I struggle with all my might to make sure that I actually make it on to their driveway and not the grass (Since it was a big party, a lot of people were parked on the grass which threw me off a lot, and even when I did pull onto the driveway, I still thought it was grass until I pulled ahead another couple of feet…lol, c’mon it was DARK!!)

So after all that, I pull in, get everyone in the car, and pull out. As I’m making the turn onto the road I mention to my mom about how much I am not enjoying driving at night because of how dark it is, and that I really don’t think I’ll do this again. She peers up to the front seat (because obviously she sat in the back with her Granddaughter ), looks to the road and says…

“R, the lights aren’t even on!”

OMG! I drove 20 minutes with no lights on at night. and the “high beams” I was using, were actually the lights. I’m lucky I didn’t get in an accident or pulled over!…..Only in the life of me….

Until next time.

R Xoxo