Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Women Drivers...no wait...Elderly Drivers

Yesterday, after a very long, boring day at the office I headed to the grocery store for a few odds and ends.  I don't know if it was the impending rain for the week but it was a bit crazy.  I don't quite understand it but it is what it was.  First of all the shopping cart area was almost void of carts as they were all residing in the parking lot.  Second, it was almost a constant traffic jam up and down the aisles of the store.  You would think there was a snow storm coming or something.  I guess the idea of fall and winter brings out survivial stuff in people.  When done with picking up the few things I needed I headed out to my car.  There in the middle of the drive in front, sideways was a huge Lincoln with a very elderly lady at the wheel.  She had a handicap thingy hanging from her mirror and was waiting for the very first handicap slot that was filled.  I was walking behind her to my car when I saw the backup lights come on and she was backing up.  I ran pushing the cart in front of me.  I could see my life flash in front of my eyes and the brief thought was that she would forget she was in reverse and rev it into the store.  I got to my car and then she started honking at the car in the slot.  The Lincoln lady was totally blocking all of the traffic and the car she was waiting on was not moving, at all.  HONK! HONK! HONK!  Finally, the parked car moved and Lincoln lady moved in.  I watched as she creeped into the slot, a bit crooked but it was next to a no parking spot and not too bad.  She got out of the car, stooped over and trudging, walked around and noticed she was a bit off, slowly made her way back to the driver side and backed in and out to get it just right in the lines.  When she was where she thought she should be she went in to shop totally oblivious to the havoc she had created.  That, my friends is where her family should take her driving privileges away from her.  I'm a bit afraid of little old people driving tanks.  We had to take my grandmother's privileges away when she cremated a couple of mailboxes in her T-Bird.  Sometimes it just has to be done and I don't look forward to grounding my father in the future. 

7 comments:

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

You might be writing about my mother in law!

Char said...

my old toyota had a huge dent from something similar to that. I was leaving the grocery and an old man backed out of a handicapped spot without looking behind him. he t-boned me and then everyone was mad at me because I was mad at him - what?

Daryl said...

There was a piece on the news about 'elderly' drivers and how to remove the stigma of taking their car keys away by a family member they are asked to visit a counselor who evaluates their reflexes and memory and determines if they get to keep driving or turn over the keys.

Kay said...

Scary but someday that older lady could be me if I get the courage to drive again. Yikes.

Anonymous said...

I think losing your liscense must be one of the hardest things about getting older I know it will be for me. I hope my dad is able to drive till the day he passes I can't imagine him not driving.... I am sure I will lose the ability as I age - I am already a iffy driver!!!

Janie B said...

I remember how mad my grandmother was when we took away her driving privileges. It was hard on my mom when she lost hers, too. It will be awful to do that to my older sister someday! They'll have to cart me off when they take mine away. Driving is freedom. It's independence. What a terrible thing to lose.

Gloria said...

Sorry, but the way you wrote this post had me in stitches. I know it's a serious issue but really, I could just see it and it was hilarious. Seriously though, I had a little old lady shoot backwards out of a parking slot in the car park of Sainsburys, a large store in England. The sound of the impact was massive and I thought for a brief moment I might die but no, but my car did. Old lady leapt out of her car ran over to me saying she was sorry but she was in a rush and doing last minute chores before leaving the country that very afternoon! She asked me to trust her and that she would be back in London in two weeks. Somehow I trusted her and yes, she contacted me some two weeks later and arranged the considerable repairs to my car. Guess Old School might make up for their havoc in other ways!!!!

Great post!