Fail?!?!

Failed my driving test. Failed badly. Failed on several counts in fact. Driving to pass a test is different from driving in the real world. One of the unexpected manouevres I was asked to perform was to back 30 feet along a curb. Really? Now when exactly does one find that necessary in real life? I would argue in fact that it's a slightly dangerous thing to back that far on the street. Well, I was pretty close to the curb to begin with, having been asked to park the car curbside, so I didn't have much wiggle room. About 6 to 10 feet behind me was a driveway, in other words, a break in the curb which allowed me to ride the curb a little. If there had been no break, I wouldn't have been able to ride up the curb as I wasn't "wobbling" at such an angle (or speed) as to have pushed up and over a 4 inch barrier. However, because I ended up just on the curb, instant fail. If that wasn't enough, when instructed to pull out from the curb and resume driving, I didn't look over my shoulder to my blind spot; rear vision mirror and side mirror, yes, but not the blind spot. According to the box ticked on my test form, this is regarded as dangerous driving. I always check my blind spot when changing lanes, but pulling out from a curb in a very quiet street, no I didn't. Instant fail. One has to treat pulling out from the curb in the same way as changing lanes. Reading the report of my test, Andrew (the tester) also noted that I failed to stop behind the lines. Not that I failed to stop, but that I did so over the lines. Honestly, I thought I was behind the lines in every instance; I was regarding the front wheels as the marker (I think that's what I was taught all those years ago), but it seems I should take it from the very front of the car. Lessons learnt. Very frustrating.

Allow me to let off some more steam by describing Andrew to you. A white guy in his 50's, Andrew moved slowly and heavily, much the way he explained the reasons for my numerous failures. He had a pot belly and seemed uncomfortable sitting down. His voice sounded a little strained, which added to the impression of his general discomfort. This is not a happy man. He didn't introduce himself (so I did the honours) and grunted when wished "a nice day". He used to be an instructor and was good enough to spend some time at the end of the test explaining exactly what I'd done wrong and why it was important that these rules I'd broken needed to be adhered to for the safety of everyone. I appreciated the advice, and there's certainly no arguing with it, but his explanations were so laborious, and his voice so whiny, that I just was about ready to strangle him. Instead I thanked him and silently hoped that I get a different tester next time.