I feel 16 again...

Well, maybe that's a slight exaggeration. But I did have an experience today that every sixteen year old anticipates with great eagerness and trepidation.

In order to receive my driver's license (renewal) I had to take a driving test with an examiner in the passenger seat. =O This is what I get for being terminally honest.

I went in last week to renew my license. I was feeling so proud of myself for not waiting till the day it actually expired to take care of this little task. I was told I would have to fill out a half page of questions regarding events since my last renewal. Uhmmm, have you had any medical event which caused you to lose consciousness? Hmmmm. Oh, well. I cannot tell a lie; I did have that pesky little blood clot go to my lungs that put me out, so that's what I recorded. I took the form to the desk, and it may have been my imagination, but the clerk seemed to pale a little as she said, "Uh-oh." She asked me a few questions. She went into a back room to check with a supervisor. She came back and apologized as she informed me that I would have to be tested. I got the sense that maybe nobody else is completely honest on that form.

I didn't do any trial runs. I didn't study any manuals. I didn't even get nervous. I just did what I normally do. And I don't think the examiner was exceptionally impressed. I could have debated some of her decisions, but I just nodded and thanked her.

I passed, and I guess that's the important thing. Albeit with a lower score than when I was sixteen. But there are so many things where the reverse is true and I would score much, much higher today than back then: wisdom, salary, perspicacity, vocabulary, life achievements, weight, blood pressure, kisses...

I'll take the pass, and be happy. You know, I could have taken a fail and still been happy. Inconvenienced, but happy.

And that's the important thing.

(But some things never change, and I still celebrated passing my driver's test with a trip to Sonic!)