Driving

I had an interesting realization recently: I knew how to operate heavy machinery before I had my drivers license. My Dad taught me how to run a mini-backhoe when I was 8 or 9. He took it to the back of the property and had me knock down some really tall weeds in the corner of our property. After that he would have me drive it around the fields he was working in because it was so slow. I dug a few holes with it but I never dug junctions while we were tiling.

After that he taught me how to run a skid steer. Never ran that too much. Then when I was about 14 I learned how to run the bulldozer, which filling tile ditches is like a dance, if you want to do it at any sort of speed.

The only time I was in the divers seat of a car prior to 15 was when we were towing around dead cars at home. And, even though I had never driven a car, my dad thought I knew which one was the brake. I was pretty young when he had me steer. Should have broke, ran the car into something and broke the turn signal.

So it goes.