On the Right Road
by Michael Donovan

Resources are scarce in our Back-of-the-Yards neighborhood.  The two local high schools do not offer driver education road training, and in many instances, the boys I work with do not have parents who own a car.  All too often, our youth end up buying a car and driving without a license or insurance.  There’s never a happy ending to those stories.  So when one of my mentees asks me to teach them how to drive so they can get a driver’s license, I am always happy to oblige.  It helps that I drive a “beater”, a 1998 Honda Civic with 199,000 miles.

Some say they already know how to drive.  When asked how that could be, some admit to “borrowing” a car or two in “back in the day”.  Sometimes their joy rides ended in accidents, so that news doesn’t provide me with much comfort as they get behind the wheel for the first lesson.

Last year, I agreed to teach a boy named Quinton.  As we were leaving the Center, another youth pulled me aside and said, “You don’t want to drive with him.  He borrowed my car and hit a light pole.”  Now he tells me!  So off we went, and on his first left hand turn, he kept turning left into a parked car on the other side of the street –with someone in it.  Quinton’s first words were “My bad.”  My first words can’t be printed here, but I can tell you they did not provide the positive reinforcement required from a good mentor.  Fortunately, the gentleman he hit was very understanding.   He assured us there was no damage, and waved us on.  I took the wheel, and we headed back to the Center.  Subsequent lessons did not get any better, and we mutually agreed that I wasn’t the right teacher for him.

My nerves finally settled down from that experience, so this summer when three youth asked for driving lessons, I agreed.  Starting in empty parking lots, we soon moved to residential streets.  Next came the more busy commercial streets, and finally onto Lake Shore Drive, and even the expressways of Chicago.  Unlike a driver’s education car, my car does not have a second brake on the passenger’s side of the car.  I can tell you, however, that the carpet is well worn where that brake would have been located.

Proudly, all of my guys, John, Darius, and Phillip passed the road test.  I know it’s a small thing, but our ministry provides a myriad of services, and we try to teach our youth to do things the right way.  There are no short cuts in life, and even driving legally is a step in the right direction.