writing4fun

Another forum which sets homework set the topic as ... P Platers.

An explanation ... I don't know if anybody in other countries has this rule but here in Australia when I first got a driving licence we had to display a sign with a big red letter 'P' to tell the other drivers that we were 'provisional' drivers. We had to display this for 12 months. It was supposed to make other people a little more tolerant but that isn't what usually happened. Anyway this was my contribution to that topic.

I USED TO BE A ‘P’ PLATER

I feel sorry for P Platers, I used to be one too.
Ok, it was a while ago. - How long? - Well here’s a clue.
The radio was playing well loved hits like “Maggie May”
When I first got my licence and went motoring that day.

My ‘57 Holden had chrome that shone so bright
That when the sun was shining you were blinded by the light
Its seats were made of leather and its sides had strips of chrome
That framed the blood red panels; it was like a second home.

That car had personality it had to have a name.
A female name for preference, so Betsy it became.
Proud as punch was how I felt, when driving that old car,
With a big red P Plate sign that you could see from miles afar.

I loved to go out driving and thought others felt the same
But they honked and yelled obscenities as down the road I came.
I was sadly disappointed, but ignored the nasty trend.
I was 10 foot tall and bullet proof when Betsy was my friend.

I think that the chrome plating on the bumper hurt their eyes.
But the P Plate’s what they hated, that’s all I can surmise.
‘cause the swearing dropped considerably and everything improved
When I’d driven for about a year and the P Plate was removed.

I’m in my latter years now; that old car I once enjoyed
With its shiny chrome and P Plate has long since been destroyed.
The car that I drive now has seats of fabric covered foam.
Its plastic moulded bumper is without a trace of chrome.

And I’m sure that if a P Plate were introduced to it.
This car would throw a tantrum and its motor would just quit.
There’s a pretty darn good chance that it would even hide the key
If I tried to stick it’s bumper with a big red letter ‘P’.

But that’s probably a good thing, that my car is sort of staid.
It helps to go unnoticed to deflect mistakes I’ve made.
Not that I make that many! Not this aging female driver,
I’ve been driving almost 40 years, so I must be a survivor.

But I’m noticing a strange thing, though this car is so sedate,
The tooting of the horns has started up again of late.
It’s really quite perplexing. What does it really mean?
Because there’s just no shiny chrome or P Plates to be seen.

© Leonie Parker - Thursday, 24 July 2008

ZonaJewel

How much fun was that?! And very relatable! I remember my first car too, and was completely overinflated...even though we (Max the car and I) never made it past the mailbox at the end of the long gravel drive. The car had a cracked block, and Dad sold it and got me one that didn't need a new engine. But wow that took me right back there! And the thing with the honking starting again? I should't worry...they put those horn buttons in all the wrong places now!

I loved it.

ZJ

writing4fun

Thanks for the reply Debra. So that's what the problem is, they are putting the horn buttons in the wrong place. That's comforting, ha ha. It's funny though isn't it, we really love our first car and none of the others ever quite measure up. I know I never named any of the others.