My junior year is over. This past year proved to be more than just another “grade.” Filled with plots that seem to be found only on Dawson’s Creek, my junior year offered insight, revealed life, and most importantly, was entertaining and fun.
License to thrill, kill, etc..
Here I am, waiting in the hall of the Guam Department of Motor Vehicles. What was I doing here? Well, people usually come to the DMV to do three things, a) to register their vehicle, b) to re-register their vehicle and c) to get their license. The latter is the very reason I am here.
Yes, the coveted and almighty license, the very reason I exist. After failing countless times, this was what I desired. The quest became part of me. Okay, so I failed a few, er, um, no that’s exaggerating it, I failed a lot of times. I’m only human.
By now, you’re probably wondering, “Who is this loser?” “Why can’t he pass a simple test?” or “Where the heck is Guam?” Well for your information this “loser” has a name- Paulo. Second, I can’t pass because I didn’t practice enough, and lastly Guam is an unincorporated U.S. territory in the Pacific. So there... Happy? Oh yeah, I’m not a loser. Well, maybe. You decide.
Okay, getting back to the matter at hand. I am here in DMV’s waiting hall awaiting my impending doom. The people all walk in, walk out, wait and block people in the hall. Geez, where do all these people come from? Did I mysteriously land in the middle of a freakshow? I really hate coming to these places.
It seemed like years, till the driving instructor came out and asked if I was “Paaa—uuuu-loo how do you say this? Pont-eh-mayor?” Yeah, sure hooked on Phonics worked for him. I said yeah. So we went to my car.
So I was driving. Yeah, I was cruising. I really didn’t want to go to the parallel parking place. You know that feeling you get when you have to perform a solo, talk in front of a group of strangers, or know you’re going to get that F on your test? It was that feeling of something really adverse coming at you and you couldn’t do anything about it- you had to face it. This was that kind of situation. Okay, so let me see. Drive Forward. Honk. Signal. No was it signal, then Honk? The hell with it all. Now, I slowly back in… little by little… Now I have to jerk the wheel the other way and ease myself in. I did it. What? I did it! Now it was a breeze from here.
I drove, signaled, drove, signaled, and looked at my mirrors until he told me to pull over at Bunny Market. What?! Don’t tell me I failed. I did everything right. The instructor walked out. Oh no this is it. He’s gonna tell me to get out and he’ll explain my mistakes. What mistakes?! I did everything correctly. Imagine my surprise when he walked into the store, and walked out with a pack of cigarettes. Whew… I didn’t fail.
The rest of the test just seemed to pass by. I found myself parking at the lot at DMV, when he said to meet him at window # I can’t remember. He then went in the employee’s entrance and left me in the parking lot.
I was ecstatic. I was overjoyed beyond belief. I was so happy that I didn’t see the person in front of me. I bumped into her. “I’m sorry,” I said. How embarrassing.
Oh well.
I received 5 demerits, and I wanted to question it, but this was not the right time to do that. I was just relieved to have finally passed the test. This one “good” thing seemed to erase all the “bad” (bad isn’t even the word) experiences associated with the whole license process.
After an equal amount of waiting in line to take the picture, I took it, I got a receipt and was instructed to go claim my license.
Now this was it, just imagine, the whole thing in slow motion, with the song “We are the champions” playing in the background. I approached the underpaid government worker and gave my receipt. In exchange I was given this little sheet of laminated plastic with my picture. This was it? This was what all my trials and tribulations paid for? Oh the heck with it all.
I thought, “Would my life change drastically?”
Hehe, this was just the beginning.