s t e p # 1 : permit

Now that you (hopefully) have a handle on the more emo side of things, it's time you get ready for the more practical side of things. The side of things where I give you links to websites and feedback on what you should be looking forward.

No I'm not joking, I am literally going to take you step-by-step through what I had to get done, and what I had to take up. I will try to be as detailed as possible, though I will miss some stuff since I haven't done it in awhile. But I'm the one in the family who's done this most recently, and the only one who's started something for you, so you'll have to be satisfied with what you've gotten.

I will also tell you what helped me and hopefully helps you, so it's not just going to be spoon-feeding. I hope it will help you learn to think on your own and research on your own, because that's what I wish I'd been able to do when this whole thing started. When I turned 16 and my whole life became that much more dependent on me to get things done, instead of just asking Mom or Dad to do it and it getting done.

The first step was to get my permit. Once I turned 16, that meant a driving license. That also meant I was legally old enough to start working (tho yes Chick Fil A hires at 15, but 16 is when everyone lets you earn money), but at the moment I wasn't worried about earning money. Dad had offered me a job mowing the lawn for $10/wk which wasn't even that much at the time but it was on top of a $16/mo allowance that I got every six months or so in bulk and I figured I didn't have anything I needed to buy on my own so I could put it off until at least the beginning of 2019, if not until I turned 17.

But what should you do? Now that you know what I did (which was work towards getting my permit), make a decision that is all yours, no asking your mom what's the best:

Should you be working towards getting a driver's license?
Or should you be working towards getting a job?

I can tell you my opinion but before that I want you to make a decision, on your own. Without anyone else's input. Think about it, think about what that would mean, and then draw your own conclusions.

Here's a way to break it down and think through it clearly: say you have a job and not a license (and let's assume there is a car available once you have that license). Well, if you have a job but no license, you'll need someone to drive you there and drive the car back and then drive the car there to pick you up. Every single time you work. Will that be inconvenient for you? More importantly, no matter what it means to you, it's definitely going to be inconvenient for the driver, whoever it turns out to be. So consider the more emotional side: will you feel like an inconvenience, or feel so bad that you have to be driven around that it makes you cranky or mean or makes you feel like you're getting money that really should be paid to the driver? Will it ruin your working experience or your relationship with the driver bc you always feel indebted and guilty around them? In that case, it's best you get a driver's license first.

Now say you've got a license, but no job (again assuming there is a car available). Well, if you have a license but no job, you'll need the money to pay for gas. Mom and Dad aren't going to pay it, since you were the one using it up. And if you don't have the money to pay for gas, you can't very well drive around. And where would you drive to? And consider the more emotional side: would you feel like a deadbeat or failure to launch if you weren't making money at age 16? You don't need to feel that way, but are you going to, because if you're going to, there's nothing anyone can say that will change your mind unless they're saying "here's a job". And in the case of feeling like a deadbeat no matter what, it's best for everyone that you just get a job first, before anything else.

Okay. So now you've weighed the two options, have you come to an opinion? If not, keep thinking. Don't just think about what I said but about what you might feel or what might be a smarter decision depending on money or time or energy, etc. Don't go on until you've got an opinion on the matter.

Now here's my opinion: I would say job first while you're working on your hours. That might sound like a cop-out bc I never included that in the options, but hopefully you came to that conclusion on your own, through clear, level-headed thinking. If you didn't, that's fine, it doesn't make you less clear-headed, it just means I didn't clarify things for you to think through.

But remember, you can drive to and from work and rack up hours like nobody's business if you first get a job and then get the license. The license will take 6 months at the very LEAST, so that's six months you can be working and gaining money. And the sooner you start to make money the sooner you can invest it and make it build until you're in your 20's or 30's and hopefully have a nice pile of cash to sit on. But that's irrelevant and beside the point.

I would highly recommend getting a job before anything else. But make sure it doesn't butt in on your schoolwork, or homework, and make sure you're not stressing about it. If it's easier to get a license and then a job, have at it and good luck! No one is judging you and you're only 16. Besides, even if you were 18, lots of people only start work at 18, or after they've graduated high school. Lots of people put off college until 18 or 19 or even 20 because they're busy saving up for a car or an apartment or college or just random saving up.

So don't feel like I'm calling you an underachiever or someone who doesn't have much stamina, much get up and go, no motivation, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that looking back on the decision I made to pursue driving and getting hours instead of getting a job was a regrettable decision and I should have killed two birds with one stone by working while I get my hours in.

But here's the first step you need to take in order to get a permit (job will come later, getting a permit is more important). < just to clarify, I am NOT contradicting myself when I say getting a permit is more important than a job. When I say "getting a permit", that is like saying "getting permission to get your hours in for a drivers license" or "getting permission to control a car". While getting hours in is less important than a job bc you can drive to work. But to drive to work you have to get a permit. So it's not a contradiction, if you were confused. If you're still confused, drop a comment, or just talk to me in person. You're my sibling, and I made this blog for you. Feel free to talk to me about it.

So, STEP ONE: how to get your permit.
I lost all my info I had written down about how to get your permit so I'm going to redo it from scratch and hopefully not miss any info you need. First, go to the City Hall (at least I think it's the city hall, you'll have to ask Mom) and tell the lady you want to get your permit and need the forms. She'll hand one, maybe two?, papers to take home and fill out.

Once those are filled out, you go to the DMV (or wherever it is you take the permit test) and hand it over. They'll take the papers, give you others to fill out, IF I remember correctly, and you'll fill those out. I think. Then take papers (idk where the papers are coming from, if it's the DMV or City Hall, but you have papers, that's all I remember) and take it to the back room - if you're still in Kentucky. If you don't live in KY anymore, I have no idea where to go. But it will be a classroom and it will be very quiet. It will be the lady at the desk talking very quietly, telling kids what to do or how they did, and there will be pencils, erasers, and desk creaks. That is all. You hand over the papers, she puts them in a drawer, and you take an eye test thing. Just put your chin on the place she tells you to put it, and look in the thing she tells you to look in and just do what she tells you to do. Then she'll hand you the test and tell you to get a pencil which will be in a cardboard box and you'll go sit down. Fill it out, the questions go vertically and it's roughly two questions across, six ish questions down. Standard testing, but if you don't go to school you won't necessarily know what to do. You'll figure it out on your own pretty quickly. Once you're done, join the line waiting at the desk, if there is anyone, and hand her your test once you're there. Put the pencil back, and wait for her to Scantron your test. To pass, you cannot get more than 8 questions wrong. The first time I took the permit test, I got 10 wrong. The second time I took the permit test I got 8 wrong.

So don't sweat it. If you have to retake it again, it's inconvenient for you and the driver to go back, but the lady at the desk has your file in the drawer so when you go back you can march to the back instead of having to stop at the front, and you can retake the test. You'll tell her your name, she'll look through the drawer, and find your file. You'll have to say your full name - like, Mairi Greer - not just your last name. If I remember correctly. My memory sucks and it was a year ago so this is probably no help at all. Sit down, take the test, and hopefully you'll pass on the second time.

dw if you don't get it the second time either. Lottie's friend, Micah (used to be Berry, got married this year so now she's Longfellow and no I'm not joking) took it three times before she passed.

If you pass, she'll Scantron it, say, "Congratulations, you passed. You got [blank] questions wrong." And then you'll say thanks if you're polite, nothing if you're not, and put the pencil back. She'll hand you a paper that basically states you did pass, and you'll march down the hall, back to wherever it was that you filled out the papers to take the test in the first place. You'll hand over the paper and they'll give you another one - you'll put down your name, weight, eye color, height, and then sign it. Be careful bc this signature is going on your permit and you don't want to mess it up.

They'll take the paper and you'll go and sit on a chair, look at the lens of a big camera, and then there will be a flash and the person behind the counter will hand over your permit, still warm from the printer.

And there you are, a new driver. If your driver is 21+ and willing to be driven home by a newbie, you can start tracking your hours right there. Before you leave, they'll give you three sheets of paper, one is instructions about what to do next and it's not very helpful at all, and the other two are sheets to track your hours - one for night hours, one for day. All you need to do is the hours, you don't need to sign off on the hours yet. Mom and Dad will do that in one whack once all of them are done. Or you can ask them to sign it every time you're home. I just let them do it in one whack and Lottie was like "why is she doing them all right now???" and found it funny and weird so ig that's not what you're supposed to do but I still don't know what to do bc she never said what other people did, she just laughed at what I did so you're on your own if you're confused about that. You can always ask Mom and Dad what they want to do - whether they want to sign off on it now or when you're done - and they can tell you what they prefer.

Once you're home, you're ready to start driving, but that's another post. Good luck on getting your permit, tho. And don't be too concerned about your picture - 1) I loved my picture, so yours might turn out really well too but I wouldn't count on it 2) you're only going to need it for at most two years and then they'll take it and you'll never see it again 3) nobody ever looks at your permit. I don't think people ever saw my permit after I showed them when I got home that day. Unless you get pulled over, you don't show ppl your permit that much except maybe to text a picture to your friends in which case it's all on you if your picture is being seen by people other than your fam or your friendly policeman issuing a ticket for you.