"Come on down"

Anyone old enough to remember this catch phrase will know that the presenter of the show commands the ‘contestant’ to come out of their studio audience seat, and meet him/her on the stage.  Cue bright lights, cameras..... “action”!

And it is a little like that on the day of your test.  I went down this morning with one of my learners to see the ‘theatrics’ live so to speak.  We parked up, got out the car, and stood just as a test was about to begin.  It is a little like a stage show.   Who are the players?

The examiner:  Out he/she comes, calls out your name, polite intro, inspect your driving licence, asks if you want anyone to accompany you on your test, and strides out the test centre confidently, professionally, assuredly.

The candidate: Nervous as anything, sitting and waiting, thinking “blimey, I thought the dentist was bad, it has nothing on this wait”.  Feeling alone, nervous, anxious, worried.

The driving instructor (Tom): Sat there, enjoying the moment, this is what all the hard work has been for, feeling nervous, but feeling confident, knowing that this learner is about to become a full licence holder.

Let’s look at a typical pre-show:

We have a time for our test, an exact time...... 11.37hrs   Tom turned up at your door at 10.30am  You showed him both parts of your licence, he hid them away somewhere, somewhere you can’t quite remember now.  He asked you what you want to do.  You mumbled something incoherent, and basically got over to him that you are a quivering wreck.  You got in the car, set yourself up, felt in a little way comforted by the fact that Tom was doing everything, and saying everything that he normally does.

10 minutes in, you realise that this was the same car, it was still Tom, this was still you able to drive, and life is perhaps not quite as bad as it seemed this morning when you first woke up.

You do some more driving, you ask if you can do a manoeuvre, you do it, “great stuff” says Tom.  You have so many thoughts and feelings going on in your head it is not believable; you’re thinking “is this normal”?

Tom directs you slowly but surely towards the Test Centre.  You drive in, you have been here a few times before, you know the routine.

The Main Show:

Tom directs you into the Test Centre, “Blimey, this is tight” you think to yourself.  But under the guidance of Tom you park up.  You are glad he reminds you to turn off the engine and take the key out the ignition!  Driving licence... check.  Brain.... check.  Tom.... check.

We sit, we wait.  Dentist time.

Out come the professionals, the examiners.  Ask for your licence.  Ask if you want someone to accompany you.  Escort you out.  Do the eyesight check.  Do the show and tell.  Suddenly you realise, all 3 of us are sat there, and this is it, this is actually it.  You turn the key, Tom has told you, as soon as that engine is on, it is ‘game on’ until the engine goes off.

You drive out the Test Centre, drive around for 38 minutes, you will do 1 manouevure, 10 mins of independent driving, a little dual carriageway driving, maybe an emergency stop, and before you know it, they will be handing you a certificate to say you have passed.

At some stage later in the day, you will be at home, sit back, and be really proud of yourself.