The older we get, the things we once worried about don't really seem so significant.
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When we become parents, we have to deal with children who get really upset because some kid in the playground doesn’t like them.
Given we have issues like jobs, mortgages and bills to worry about, a playground tiff can seem like nothing.
But to the kid, it’s everything.
I was reminded of that while watching an episode of Driving Test (Nine, 7.30pm, Thursdays) last week.
I’d expected it to be a very silly show, where we would shake our heads in amazement and laugh at the terrible displays of driving by these learners.
What I got instead was a vivid reminder of just how important getting your driver’s licence can be.
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Sixteen-year-old Sarah was one of last week’s drivers – she has to work part-time so she could pay the $75 fee for each driving lesson and test.
She only just failed, but she was devastated. There she was on camera, doing her best to hold her emotions in check.
There wasn’t the feeling that she was over-reacting at all – she seemed genuinely upset about failing.
If you cast your mind back to when you were trying to get your licence, you’ll probably remember just how stressful the whole process was.
I failed twice before getting my Ps on my third attempt. The first time, I’d taken the test before I was really ready – which was why I managed to rack up 46 points (yes, it was scarring enough that I still remember the figure all these years later).
The second fail was hard too, because it was only by a few points and when I passed on that third attempt it was like a weight was lifted from my shoulders.
A weight probably came off my parents’ shoulders too because they would no longer have to drive me around everywhere and they could force me to drive my younger brothers around too.
Watching Driving Test – especially the reactions of 16-year-old Sarah – brought back a lot of those feelings.
Which was something I wasn’t expecting, and that will probably make me watch the show again this week.