tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post2433391709359969577..comments2023-05-24T23:33:57.516+10:00Comments on My Unwelcome Stranger: "I’ve come for my licence"Denis Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-89427390789445492962010-10-11T00:26:29.688+11:002010-10-11T00:26:29.688+11:00And I love this one of yours, Julie M, though don&...And I love this one of yours, Julie M, though don't ask me to interpret your strange dream - apart from its obvious connection to your license experience! Julie L, yours is fascinating. Those surely were the days when women were not served in the bar, only in the lounge or in the car - even in Warwick in the early 70s service was refused to the women in our group when they walked into the bar and wanted a drink like the blokes. No deal. And I wonder if you did actually need to take that test to retain your semi license! What a pity not to have been able to keep it forever. Well, till the age when you need to have regular tests anyway! There are some aged people with licences who terrify me....[and some very young ones too...!]Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-28417742523467231582010-10-09T12:54:57.350+11:002010-10-09T12:54:57.350+11:00I LOVE that story. All 3 of them! Another to file ...I LOVE that story. All 3 of them! Another to file away in my 'how to write well' file...more please!! PS Things had changed by my licence time, but then I'm just so young :)It was 1970, I think. I had to do 3 point turns and hill starts and parallel parks in Tweed Heads -was nervous with the policeman and I think my leg shook so that I failed my park and had to go again. After that I had recurring dreams that I was driving on that stretch of road in Tweed while being chased by horses which (I thought) wanted to savage my hands through the window. But was it connected to the licence? I've never considered that before!Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03796734273732243982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-28851383008764215422010-10-08T20:36:05.623+11:002010-10-08T20:36:05.623+11:00This story reminds me of getting my first licence ...This story reminds me of getting my first licence in Oz. It was 1966 and I was 21, with a Kenya licence which the Australian police regarded with great suspicion. We were living on Lakefield Station (now nat. park) at the time and went to Laura for our licence. Three buildings - the store/PO, the pub and the cop shop, which was the province of the notorious Sgt Pocock (later infamous for the Cedar Bay raid). He asked me: "Think yer could drive as far as the pub, luv?" I looked at the dusty expanse between police station and pub and told him "yes". So we went to the pub where I bought him a beer (outside, no women in the bar in those days, not even in little Laura!) and he cheerfully game me a licence for car, motorbike, truck, articulated vehicle - the lot! I had them all until last year when my need for a semi-trailer licence was questioned by the counter clerk and rather than take the required test I declined to renew. Not something I use everyday anyway - or indeed ever...but I still hated losing it!Julie Lakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10268676551467882065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-44771602222401900502010-10-08T11:29:35.185+11:002010-10-08T11:29:35.185+11:00Ha! Lovely story Den. Truly one of the time & ...Ha! Lovely story Den. Truly one of the time & place. My mate (the "Bazza" on Facebook)had a similar experience in the (comparatively) larger Southport in the 60's. Bazza had, in reality, much more driving experience than most adults. He went for a drive by himself as his test while his father had a beer in the pub with the local Police Sargent. The licence was waiting for him when he returned. No such luck for a city slicker like me - quite rightly, my driving experience at that point was minimal.John Gnoreply@blogger.com