I knew a guy who moved away to Florida and waited to get his driver’s license until getting there – actually, he waited for everything, got a Florida learners permit as well as taking the test there – because he didn’t want to learn to parallel park, and he’d checked with a Florida online traffic school and downloaded the Florida Drivers Handbook that gave him the impression that they don’t test parallel parking at the Florida DMV. (I’ve heard the same about California actually.)

So, it’s his theory that the Florida driving test is easier than the Pennsylvania driving test. And then, of course, if you graduate from a Florida traffic school and have a Florida drivers license, those credentials will be solid anywhere else, even though the test is “easier.”

I just feel like that’s an awful lot of time and pains to take to cut a relatively small corner. I mean, why not just learn to parallel park? I’m not very good at it and I think it’s a pain, but it’s a useful skill to have to at least a small degree. I mean, driving itself is just a good skill to have, and a license a good thing. I have so many friends who didn’t have their licenses until they were way beyond sixteen – some who still don’t have theirs. I was basically the designated driver in high school, and not in the sense that I was the sober one (my friends and I didn’t really drink) – in the sense that I was the only one who had a license. As a senior in high school. And it’s not even like we lived in New York City or some other big city with extensive public transportation where it’s relatively useless to learn to drive. Pittsburgh is so much more navigable by car, especially if you live in the suburbs.

Most people finally come to their senses and get their acts together by age 20 or so, but sheesh. What, I repeat, are you waiting for?