英语小故事第314期： The Driving Lesson (1)

“I think he’s finally beginning to like you,” Gwen said to her boyfriend Darren. “He told me that he enjoys his weekly driving lessons with you.”

“That’s nice to hear,” Darren replied. “He’s disliked me since the first day we met. I don’t know what I ever said or did. Maybe it’s because I’m the wrong color? Or because I’m old enough to be his grandpa? But it’s nice to hear that maybe we can eventually become friends. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten upset when I yell at him for his driving mistakes.”

“Oh, he doesn’t like that at all. I wish you wouldn’t yell at him during his driving lessons. It makes him upset and nervous.”

“You know, I try not to. But I get so irritated sometimes. He does things like drifting into the next lane. He sees the car in front of him but doesn't see the red stop light above him. He forgets to check his blind spot when he changes lanes. We’ve been practicing for at least 20 hours now, and he’s still making the same dangerous mistakes. Someday he might be driving you around, and one simple mistake could get both of you killed. I yell because he needs to wake up when he's behind the wheel. One second can be the difference between life and death.”

“Yes, I know. But he's just a kid. Besides, there are other ways to wake someone up.”