Kidlet is getting her license!

My youngest baby aint a baby no mo. Nosirree. She's 17 now and she's about to get her official drivers license. That means she can  head out (escape) into the wild blue yonder all on her own . I'm happy for her and sad for me and I'm a little bit scared.

She's doing a pretty good job at driving. She's cautious, doesn't speed, and she follows the rules. Which means the other drivers are going to roll right over her. Caution is a good thing but she's so cautious it's going to take her ages to get wherever she's going. There has to be a 2 mile wide open gap between cars before she feels comfortable enough to pull out onto the street. She stops at least 2 (17) car lengths behind others when approaching a stop light. She's just really super duper cautious. The first day she takes off for school on her own, I'm sure I'll be glued to the window watching her drive off. With tears in my eyes. And an ache in the pit of my stomach. It's not her that I'm worried about, it's all of the other crazies out there whose erratic driving will probably scare her to death. 

We had an encounter where she didn't plan her lane strategy far enough in advance and didn't have time to turn when she wanted to. The good thing is that it doesn't bother her to have to drive around the block and try again. Somehow, I see her going around the block for a better approach becoming a normal thing. For a long time.

I'm not making fun of her, really I'm not. It's just hard for me to grasp not knowing how to drive, because I've been driving since I was about 10 or 11 so it's second nature. I figure that after being a passenger for 17 years, it wouldn't be hard to get behind the wheel and just go. I guess that's just the difference in people.

I will give kidlet credit - she remembers all of the rules she was taught in driving school. She schools me when I've done something wrong when I'm driving. She isn't a lead foot Lucy thank gosh so she won't have to buy brakes twice as often as the rest of the people out there. She doesn't tailgate, she doesn't switch lanes every 3 minutes, she's just super cautious.

I can honestly say that I've only used the invisible brake pedal on the passenger side once or twice since she's been behind the wheel. So all in all, she's doing a great job and I should slow my paranoid roll. I only hope that she learns to relax a little and enjoy driving. And not get run over by the other crazies. Cross your fingers and wish her luck.

Go fund you? Hell, go fund ME!!!

I've been seeing lots of requests on Facebook about people needing financial help from friends, family and strangers. Some of the requests are legit. Catastrophic illnesses, overwhelming losses due to mother nature, the unexpected loss of a family member - that kind of stuff. There are times when I'm willing to consider helping out someone but today I saw a post that just frosted me. 

A woman was getting a divorce and in her previous life her husband was the primary wage earner in their household. Since she was divorcing him, she needed help because she didn't have much money and times were tight.

Really? Really? Times are tight everywhere people! Starting over again on your own is HARD. When I got divorced I didn't have a pot to piss in. My ex made 5 times what I did so I didn't worry about saving up lots of money for the bad times. I was flat broke and could barely afford the rent. I went without eating so my kids would have plenty and to save money. I scrimped and scratched but I DID NOT create an account to ask friends to give me money.

I'm sure there's more to the story than what I could read but I'm just saying that I'm insulted because it seems like in today's time, the youth are a bunch of weak, lazy, babies. In my day, if you needed money, you took whatever job came your way - good or bad, and you did your very best to be a fantastic employee. You saved money for rainy days. You didn't expect for someone to bail you out when the going got tough. You just worked even harder. And you worked multiple jobs if need be. Don't even get me started on customer service!

I'm sure there are plenty of people who will disagree with me about being miffed at the divorcee's request for money. Everyone needs a helping hand now and then - I get it. But to create a go fund me account and broadcast it all over social media just seems ludicrous. If I could make it, anyone can do it. Thanks for letting me rant. I'll get off of my soapbox now and go back to work.