When I was 16 and getting my drivers license I often wondered what life would be like when I was 32 ... it seemed so far off but at 32 I would have been driving for as long as I hadn't ... I wondered how access to a car would change my life ...


before 16 when I wanted to see The Grateful Dead my dad would drop my brother and I and some friends off at Irvine Meadows ... we would usually go all 3 days they were there ... and I once we camped out there for the weekend ...


after 16 I followed The Dead for countless summers ... loading up my Jeep with my shit and anyone who wanted to go and have a blast driving around the country catching any show I could ...


before 16 road trips consisted of my mom, dad, brother and I ... one in particular I spent the entire trip riding around the east coast listen to Soft Cell till I actually wore the tape out ... then spent the rest of the trip begging to stop at a record store so I could get a new copy ...


after 16 I did something I had dreamed of most of my life ... I got in my car in New York and drove alone to California and had an absolute blast ... it was the most empowering trip I ever made ...


before 16 if I wanted a frozen yogurt [my coffee of adolescence] I would have to beg someone to take me to Fashion Island to get a Heidi's Frogen Yozart [cute name huh]


after 16 any time I wanted a Starbucks I would cart myself to the store ...


before 16 I had to take the Big Yellow Animal Wagon to school each day ...


after 16 I drove myself and my best friend to school each day ...


before 16 if I were to go out with a guy we either had to hang out at home or get one of our parents to drop us off and pick us up somewhere ...


after 16 I could spend the evening making out in my car ...


before 16 my dad took me to work every Saturday and Sunday morning and picked me up at the end of the day ...


after 16 I could get a job anywhere I wanted cause I could get there myself anytime I needed to be there ...


I would say at 15 I was pretty smart to know life would change for the better once I had a license ... it provided me such an opportunity to experience things on my own ... to make my own choices ... and to see all that was out there ... next month I will finally have been driving longer than not ...


damn I am getting old