In most states, having your permit means you can only drive if someone over the age of 21 supervises you. Unless you have a really nice older sibling, this generally means you can only go for a cruise if a parent is sitting next to you. But nothing kills your style like rolling up to the party with your mom in the passenger’s seat, amiright?
Everyone says driver’s tests are a piece of cake, but don’t let the hype make you overconfident about your skills. People really do fail. Trust me, I know. I failed my test twice — damn you, parallel parking — and know the struggle well. Here’s what happens when snagging your driver’s license takes A LOT longer than you expected:
It’s nearly impossible to ask someone on a date
“My mom (or one of my friend’s family members) and I will pick you up at…oh, you don’t want to go out anymore?”
You can’t drive alone
You can’t exactly blast teenybopper music and sing your heart out with the windows down when someone is silently judging you from the passenger’s seat.
You always have a backseat (OK, passenger seat) driver dictating your every move
It’s usually one of your parents yelling at you to turn the radio off and focus on the road, dammit.
You’re constantly begging people for rides
You’re not above groveling at your BFF’s feet when you really, really need a ride. And as much as they love you, they’re secretly tired of chauffeuring you around. You lose count of how many rides you owe your friends, and at this point you probably owe them hundreds of dollars in gas money.
You have serious FOMO
You miss out on so much cool stuff when you’re stranded without a ride.
Hitchhiking starts to seem like a viable option
Don’t do this. This is a bad idea.
Your friends mercilessly tease you
If you’re the only one without a license in your friend group, they’ll have no shame ridiculing you endlessly for your inability to parallel park.
You can’t hook up in the backseat
Because again, your mom or dad is probably sitting right next to you. Backseat hanky-panky is a benefit only license-holders get to enjoy.
You start to genuinely worry you’ll never get your license
Your mind leaps to absurd, dramatic conclusions, like being 40 years old and living at home all because you never passed your driver’s test.
You don’t have a real photo ID
This isn’t a big deal when you’re still in grade school, but once you’re in college and license-less it becomes more of a problem. Even if you’re under 21, you still need an ID to get into 18 and over venues. If you don’t have a driver’s license, you’ll need to pay up for a state-issued ID card or carry your passport around everywhere.
You have to ride the bus
It’s cold out and having to wait outside at a bus stop at 6:30 a.m. is basically your personal hell.
When you finally do get your license, you’re forever branded as a terrible driver
There are some perks to this, though. Your friends will never force you to be the designated driver and no one — except maybe a truly desperate younger brother or sister — will ever try to mooch rides off of you. Just make sure you buckle up every time you slide into the driver’s seat, OK?
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