We Are Young

Dear God,

Thank you for watching over me today so that I wouldn't be endangering my friend's sister's life (she was passenger) and the lives of everyone else.

It's exciting turning 16 because you can apply for a provisional and get behind that steering wheel, being able to get from point A to B all by yourself - the sheer control. Then when you pass the tests and be handed with the keys to the metal container and combustion engine - the absolute freedom on the road with all those other drivers, independance. I managed to postpone this milestone for all sorts of reason but the real source was the lack of confidence; being afraid to control something that could take away lives.

Finally, the drive came. I got my license. Engraved in my spine was, "I am good a driver. I can do this. All by myself." I managed to get myself into town at 5pm and parallel park on the right hand side without being trained to do that particular maneuver. Yes, dealing with impatient drivers and horns tooting [doing that ain't going to make me move any faster, that's all I'm saying].

5 months down the line, I am involved in one of the graduation short films. After careful consideration (which lasted 5 whole minutes, I put myself forward to be van driver. Diesel. Within 10 minutes I was stressed out because of clutch grabbing at the top of the hill. I got used it after driving up and down so many hills.

Every day in that van, it was a near death experience - half way through turning into a junction and a car comes bombing at me, possibly approaching a give way too fast, a car deciding to u-turn when I approached...

Today, was probably the worse. It was the second graduation short film that I was involved in, last minute.

If we spent most of our lives being afraid to do something then we would never get anywhere. Of course, I don't mean, robbing a bank just to experience it [let's be reasonable - legal, moral and ethical]. I don't regret having recently received my license but if I had the opportunity to get behind the wheels of a different engine or brand, I would.

Amen.