Chinese food drive

Riley is so tickled these days to be driving. Only five times behind the wheel and each time he gets better and better. He was even able to turn around in the bottom of our very tight driveway, doing a five point turn, but I was happy we didn't hit anything, garbage, house, concrete wall. There were a lot of obstacles to miss.

Tom wanted Chinese for dinner. He said he is picking the dishes. They are always the same dishes, Mongolian beef, Kung Pow chicken, broccoli beef , pork fried rice, fried pot stickers. I throw in an orange chicken for a spare. I ask Riley if he wants to drive to the restaurant for the pick up. He leaps up from his chair with alacrity, gathering up his wallet and the keys and heads for the garage. I have not seen this much enthusiasm from him in years. Considering how disinterested and fearful he was to get his permit, I have to smile. He must like me as an instructor.

The drive is uneventful. We are early so I ask for a pot of Tea for us, while we wait. Riley and I sit and just hang out talking. I love the camaraderie. I see a woman come in to the restaurant with the funnest looking shoes on her tiny feet. Red four inch pumps with bows and ruffles on the ankle. She hears my comment to Riley about how cool and wild the shoes are, as we are sitting close to the front door. She models them for use. Riley and I smile and laugh. The clerk at the counter calls out my name that our food is ready. Riley offers to carry the bag. What a gentleman.

We have one more stop to make. Tom has asked us to pick up a can of Copenhagen, a horrible product, but at the bottom, it was the motivation for his offering to buy Chinese for dinner. We go out for him to pick up the can of chew, and get Chinese as a reward.

Safeway is across a busy street. Riley gets in the car and drives. We stop at the edge of the parking lot of the restaurant. Riley looks both ways to make sure we have time and clearance. He has to cut across three lanes to reach the turn we need to get into the Safeway parking lot. He does the driving really smoothly. It is Saturday evening, so traffic is fairly light, but we do time the signals for breathing room between clusters of cars. The Safeway parking lot is busy and somewhat crowded with weekend shoppers. Riley finds a parking spot. We both go into the store, pleased with the driving experience.

Riley asks if we can get Cinnamon rolls. I say for tomorrow's breakfast, after all we already have fresh hot Chinese waiting in the car. He comes back with a four pack of muffins. He couldn't find the Cinnamon rolls. I get the Copenhagen. It costs almost $10 a can. I lecture Riley on the expense and what a waste of money a tobacco habit is. He nods, agreeing that his father is crazy to not give it up and to have started in the first place.

Riley drives us home. It is funny how you don't pay attention to directions until you have to drive. We have been driving the same route often, with me behind the wheel, and yet Riley isn't sure which way to go when he is driving. Things don't look familiar until we are close to home. Now that Riley is a driver, he will learn how to get around in town, remember directions.

I walk in the door of the house with Riley carrying the Chinese food behind me. I call dinner and the thundering steps of man and boy are heard from both sets of stairs. Tom unpacks and opens all the boxes. I tell the boys Tom goes first. Trevor says he needs to get to his game. The school basket ball team made the playoffs so the season is still not over. The Pep band is playing at the game. Tom tells Trevor to grab some food and take it with him. Classic Trevor, he picks up a whole family size box of orange chicken and says he'll just take this box with him to go. We all shout "no". He has to fill up a plate like the rest of us. He can't have a whole box for himself. He shrugs and starts dishing himself up a plate of dinner. I remind him there will be leftovers when he gets home. He can have seconds after the game. He is content. He wolfs down his plate and heads to the car.

I tell Riley I will drive Trevor as we are in a hurry. Riley responds with a shrug. He doesn't want to drive again. When the call to pick up Trevor comes two hours later, I ask Riley if he wants to drive down to get his brother. He says "No, Trevor would be too much of a distraction."

He is probably right. All Riley needs to ruin our good experiences is for his brother to be heckling him from the back seat. Another few drives though, and Riley will be ready for passengers, perhaps even his father. We will wait until the school program is over and he has done freeway driving, then Riley will really be able to show his stuff, with out everyone giving him commentary.

At a girl's night out at a friend's house, I heard the horrible story of her son's accident. He had stopped at a stop sign. A van was blocking the view of the other street. It looked clear so he pulled out, and was immediately T-boned by an oncoming car. He was seriously hurt as he was hit on the driver's side door. since he had the stop sign, the accident was ruled his fault initially.

While in the hospital, the police started their investigation. They found the other driver had been in several accidents exactly the same. Hitting cars at stop signs. Turns out it was an insurance scam. The van blocking the view was gone when the police arrived, but the van was the signal vehicle telling the car when someone is pulling out from the stop so they can purposefully hit them from where they sit out of view, hiding behind the van.

The driver that hit the boy, my friend's son, is now in prison for insurance fraud and probably numerous other charges. They almost killed a young man. I tell the story to Riley so he will be cautious and a defensive driver. He stops well back from the intersections and inches forward, peaking out to see if any cars are coming. I also warn him not to trust turn signals on other cars, they may have not realized their signal is on or decide to go straight at the last minute. Wait for the car to slow down to really tell if they are turning before you pull out. Check to make sure someone is not running a yellow light when you pull out into an intersection. Riley absorbs it all and becomes more confident and improves every time he gets behind the wheel. I know the instructors are also giving him pointers for good driving. Riley has a good sense of self preservation. I have great expectations that he will be an excellent driver in a month.