Thread: Speaking of the things kids do..

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Reading about kids and cars in Dave’s post about Lexi turning three made me think of something “car related” that happened with my daughter Diane. When she was growing up, she was best friends with Emily. We lived out in the country down a long gravel driveway off a paved road and Emily’s family lived one street over and down a bit. Diane spent a lot of time at Emily’s house and one evening after dark, she was still there. We called and asked Emily’s mom to send Diane home. A few minutes later, headlights came down our drive way but the car parked and the engine shut off. I thought one of Emily’s parents needed to come in for a while, but to my surprise, Diane came in and went up to her room. I knocked on her door and asked, “How did you get home?” to which Diane replied, “Emily’s mom let me use her car. She said I could bring it home tomorrow morning on my way to school.” Sure enough, Emily’s mothers brand new Mercedes was in my driveway – which would not have been a big deal except Diane was 14 years old… Sigh, and that was the beginning of Diane and Emily driving back and forth between our houses for several years before either got their licenses.

Oh by the way, Diane started driving go-karts, mini-bikes and dirt bikes when she was five. So Dave, if you read this – know that starting them young will lead to all kinds of “opportunities”..

Regards All,
Glenn

Thanks for the story of Diane Glenn, what is she driving now ? I was lucky enough to be allowed to drive our '55 Desoto from just out of the town limits to the local beach to go fishing with my step father. It was a approximately 5 mile drive down a windy gravel road onto the beach and just a single lane which was quite scary for a 13 /14 year old but I always said yes when asked if I wanted to drive. I have since obtained all classes of drivers license from motorcycle to heavy truck and trailer which I have held for many years so it does pay to teach the kids from an early age the responsibility of driving.

Not really the same thing but, when I was around 13/14 and it was time to bring in the hay, I was a shuttle driver.
That is I would bring trucks in from the fields loaded and drop it off at the barn and take an empty truck back to the field. It started with pickups that I was allowed to drive but then I would just jump in whatever was empty! So it was usually an F-250, F-350 and an F-600.

Big stuff for a 13/14 year old kid! And I got so I could shift as good as any adult! To jerky a take off meant bales falling from the top and the guys loading would bitch, so I made sure I learned how to be smooth!!

Lexi and Lisha were having one of their usual discussions the other day about drag racing---always entertaining to listen to!!!! Lexi, of course, says that she will be the driver! I asked Lisha if that meant she would be the mechanic? She looked me straight in the eye and said, "No Papa, I'm going to be the engineer." !!!!!! Must have something to do with two little girls sitting on my lap in the recliner watching NASCAR and NHRA on Sundays???????

Originally Posted by 34_40

Not really the same thing but, when I was around 13/14 and it was time to bring in the hay, I was a shuttle driver.
That is I would bring trucks in from the fields loaded and drop it off at the barn and take an empty truck back to the field. It started with pickups that I was allowed to drive but then I would just jump in whatever was empty! So it was usually an F-250, F-350 and an F-600.

Big stuff for a 13/14 year old kid! And I got so I could shift as good as any adult! To jerky a take off meant bales falling from the top and the guys loading would bitch, so I made sure I learned how to be smooth!!

Common stuff out here in farm country. Used to be any kid could get their "restricted" license early, but the state finally got smart and defined several different "classes" of license. The "Farm Permit" is issued at age 14, good for any driving associated with true farming, including to and from school to support being able to get home for chores. No joy riding, no deviating from the "most direct route" to & from, but it's still pretty lenient for real farm kids.

HE! HE! HE! good story Glenn. We got in to funny stories a couple years ago on here from when we were kids.
I still like the one where Dave's dad could tell how fast he was driving by how bad the bugs were smashed on his windshield.
HE! HE! HE!
Kurt

I lived about 10 miles from town when it was time for me to take drivers training. My mom took me in a couple of times but got tired of making two round trips a day, so she told me to just take her car (A ’60 Corvair) and drive myself. I’d park a few blocks from school and walk the rest of the way. I never got caught, but if I had been I would have been kicked out of class. My teacher asked me once if that wasn’t me he saw driving down the street near my school. Of course I denied it and he never mentioned it again. I think he knew, though.