Ride, Baby

After an eight-year absence, I've recently returned behind the wheel. I got my license right after I turned eighteen, and drove for about two years sporadically. But then, life slid by, I got out of practice, and whenever anyone asked me about driving for a bit, I became wary of making a mistake.
I was a good driver as a kid, and liked it well enough, but to be fair, never found a car paramount to have in Bucharest. Public transport works well enough, and finding a parking space can be downright criminal, so owning a vehicle never appealed to me much.

The only part of it that did appeal to me was the freedom it entailed. I remember seriously considering taking it up again during the pandemic, unwilling to face the draconian and largely useless measures the great council of in-charge numpties was implementing at the time.
Thankfully, though, this is Romania.

I recently heard Tim Robbins talking about the idiotic, coercive pandemic rules on Joe Rogan. He recalled a visit to Romania with his theatre group (one I missed, though I was lucky enough to see him as a teenager on one of our stages). He asked people in his audience what the vax rate was here - 40%(thank God for that). When Robbins asked, a bit surprised, how come, the Romanians had a very apt answer:
"We lived under dictatorship for many many years. We got very good at pretending to follow idiotic rules while doing our own thing."

I admit, I felt that was an apt representation of our national spirit, and indeed, Romanian trains were a perfect example of that during the pandemic. I did get one or two ticket inspectors chiding me about not wearing the mask, and arguing back at them, before pulling it up demonstratively until they left the car again. Most of the travelers did the same, and so a private car was unnecessary.

But you know me and my desire for the road. I used to think it was a sign something was amiss in my life, you know? This constant need to be somewhere else, to try, to discover new things and reinvent myself. As someone quite extraordinary put it - the distances in my eyes. Now, though... I don't know so much it's a sign of a bad habit, or anything nefarious in general. Maybe down the line, I got gypsy blood in me somewhere. And it turns out, no matter how good life is, I still wanna go, go, go.

So maybe it wasn't about wanting to change my life, after all.

So after some to-and-fro, and with one or two destinations in mind, I signed up for refresher driving lessons. I admit I was a bit wary. I was lucky to have an excellent instructor as a kid, but now, choosing someone new, I was worried of getting someone impatient, shouty, all those things that would make me a worse driver, you know? However, I do think I've lucked out again. My instructor's super patient and fun, a kind of person I can resonate with, though he does occasionally challenge me by saying stuff like "make a 45 degree angle". As though I knew math.

Anyway, I'm about halfway through my refresher course, and remembering I enjoy driving quite a bit. I like speed, but less than I did at 18. More so, I like the feel of gliding along. I can't wait to drive with my own music. I took a road trip with my cousin last month, and that was one of my favorite bits - gliding along the highway with good music. Precious.

And while I wasn't 100% sure I'd have good reason for taking the lessons, other than a few trips we've got planned next month, it seems the Universe provides. Gradually, life's been showing me more and more avenues and opportunities - ways in which a car could be deeply useful, or at least, the ability to master one.

And since it's Tuesday, I thought I'd say hi to @ablaze and show you what would be in my playlist if I was behind the wheel.