I've been driving for over forty years, and I can get from A to B without cracking up my car. I drive defensively. And after a couple of stiff speeding tickets for letting the Mercedes do no more than what she was designed to do, I've learned my lesson and keep to a reasonable speed. Still, driving is not anywhere near the top of the list of things I'd call myself any good at.I failed the driving test the first time I took it, steering so clumsily around a corner that I went up onto the curb. I never did master a standard transmission. Occasionally I have to take a 15-foot truck to Yale or Harvard to pick up books or supplies, but I sweat over backing it up and into tight places. My grandmother didn't drive, my mother didn't drive, and my daughter doesn't drive. Maybe it just doesn't run in the family.
The great thing about background extra work is getting to pretend you're something you're not. For most of the people I work with in films, that means getting dolled up and casually exiting a limo, eating in a high-end restaurant or club, dancing at an over-the-top wedding reception. Not me. Been there, done that.
Being a bus driver, on the other hand...!!!! That's something I can take real vicarious pleasure in. Slouching casually back from the dusty lot towards the depot with a fellow driver, shoulders a little slumped after a hard day of piloting that yellow behemoth up hills and around cul-de-sacs....for me, that took some acting.
Well, I guess all the driving-is-fun genes went to me in the family, then! I love to drive and I'm good at it. In the 40-something years I've been at it, I've never received a ticket - thank you, God - and never been in an accident with the exception of one at age 19, rather minor - she hit me, and a crumpled fender, the other guy backed into me, a few years ago. And I do have a lead foot, sometimes I hear this little voice inside saying "Zoom-Zoom"! And to prove my point, in the last 5 days, I drove 4 plus hours to Tucson, drove the same back, both through rush hour Phoenix, and drove the 3 plus hours to Los Algadonas, Mexico, and back, that one in the same day. I do love to drive!
ReplyDeleteYour favorite sister - Leslie