I’m sure he’s more experienced than I am...’Cyclist Preparing To Run’ (c) 2012 Tony Alter. Used under a Creative Commons license. (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode)
Hello, everyone!
Well...this doesn’t often happen, but this week I got several slightly cranky e-mails from readers saying that, while they liked my posts about the importance of age for courier work, I was forgetting one very important thing: some experienced drivers can also be young!
I thought about this for a fair bit, and realised they were right; I was being silly. Some people would have started driving lorries or riding courier bikes sooner than others, which would make them experienced drivers at a relatively young age. I even had an example right in front of me – my ‘boss’ and favourite nephew, Stevie!
It wasn’t until I thought of Stevie that I realised just how daft I had been not to think about this point. My nephew never went to Uni, so by the time he was of age to get his drivers’ permit, my brother started teaching him how to drive a haulage lorry. By the time he was eighteen, he was setting out on his own, and now that he is in his late twenties, he’s been doing it for about ten years. That can surely be considered someone with experience!
So, yes, all you darlings were right: auntie Gertie was being very, very daft. I’m sure there are plenty of you out there in the same situation as Stevie, and who can call yourselves experienced drivers at the age of maybe twenty-five or thirty. So this post is my apology to all of you, for making the point that all young drivers are rookies who will make tonnes of mistakes. You knew that wasn’t true, and I should have known it, too! I suppose I just wasn’t thinking.
So this is my act of contrition. This may be my blog, but that doesn’t mean I know everything, or never make mistakes, or am some kind of goddess (just kidding – I am perfect and a goddess, and you should all worship me! Not really...). I am only human, and as a human, I have my ‘blonde moments’ (even though I’m brunette). This was one of them, and I’m sorry!
Hopefully see you next month.
- Gertie
x
