THIS IS US
Shifting Gears
A clueless driver gets behind the wheel after 16 years of city life
“Why am I even listening to you to begin with? You’re a virgin who can’t drive.”
I think about this cutting insult delivered by the iconic Brittany Murphy from the cult classic, Clueless, every time someone discovers that 2006 was the last time I drove a car.
(Don’t fret, I’ve had sex.)
After graduating college, between my 12.5 years in Manhattan and four in downtown Seattle, not once have I found myself in the driver’s seat again. For many lifetime city dwellers, this is a lackluster reveal. But for others who rely on such a conventional practice, that information is usually met with an onslaught of profound and curious questions like: How? And Why?
Innumerable vacations, visits back home, impromptu road trips, you name it, and I am consistently the D.D.D.D. — Designated Directions Deputy/Deejay. Or, more routinely, the backseat rider in a 4.72-star-stranger’s car.
I have walked and rolled and played passenger for so long, that as time went on, I thoroughly convinced myself I was terrified to ever grip my hands at 10-and-2 and be the mortal power behind a two-ton machine again, forced to continue this casually chauffeured lifestyle for…
