The Drive Thru McGregor Style of Parking

Parents have a very important role in their children's lives - they feed them, nuture them, show them right from wrong and in a lot of cases - they also teach them how to drive....

Now technically in my case, that's not quite true - my parents must have somehow sensed my "leadfoot" tendancies (before the numerous speeding tickets I was eventually issued with!) early on and for some reason weren't that keen to let me drive once i got my learners permit. It took them leaving the country for 6 weeks and a lot of begging to big sister libby for me to first get behind the wheel, and once I did, boy did I love it !!

Anyway - I think my parents have tried to make up for the fact that they missed those early days by kindly allowing me to drive everywhere whilst I'm back in oz - whether it's to the local shops, to pick up uncle frank, halfway across Queensland or just down the coast. They then feel that they should make up for years of missed opportunites by helpfully reminding me how to drive.

So a typical journey involves Mum's long stories (usually told without a breath) being intercut with "i think it's 60kph on this road susie" and “try not to run her over susan, it would get the day off to a bad start” and Dad's silences are suddenly filled with "one little second, two little seconds, three little seconds"and OH MY GOD the excitment when we are in a big carpark and he spots the perfect spot “ooohhhh yes, that's definitely a drive thru”....

I have to explain here what a "drive thru" is and it's quite hard but let me try - I also have photos to help. Basically it's a park that involves there not being many other cars around and it means you drive thru a perfectly good park to AN EVEN BETTER park that is also available....
Satisfied, the happy couple walk off into the distance, knowing their car is well parked and will remain unscratched upon their return...