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Show y JC1ST STUFF BY JflM The lady was grinning from ear to ear. She said "Ma'm, it seems we've had some trouble with screen 11. It's been registering all wrong answers." an-swers." Well, that made me feel a little better, but I figured the true test would be the results of screen 4. Luck must have been with me or my prowess as a driver pulled me through. I only missed two the second time around. Now, not only am I licened to drive for another four years (with only -2) Iam full-fledged, 100 percent Mrs. Jan F. Patterson, and I can even cash checks to boot! After trying numerous times to cash checks that said: "Pay to the order of Jan F.' Patterson," using identification that claimed:: "Jan Fuellenbach", in a town where no one knows who is who, I decided it was high time to take the final plunge and get my name changed on my driver's license. I called the Department of Transportation to find out what a name change entailed. All I had to do was take a copy of my marriage license down" and they'd make the change for a small fee, of course. But there was no written test, no riding test, no verification from the courts, so J figured I had it made in the shade . . . I filled out all the forms and stood in all the lines, I even flashed the proper documentation as to the current standing . of my marital status. As I stood at the last window and pushed rrfy last form, along wtih a check, through the window, the lady smiledand said "Ma'm, you're within the birthday limit, if you'd like, we could just renew this for you. It'll save you five bucks." "Great," I said. "What do I need to do." Then my heart sank. The written drivers test was the only thing stopping me from getting my drivers license renewed, She told me that I could miss up to five. Let's face it, nobody likes to take the drivers' test. Most people study for it or at least glance through the drivers' hand book. But, I figured I'd been driving fbr almost eight years " and, although) my record wasn't flawless, I considered myself to be a fairly concientious driver. I weighed the odds and decided to take my chances. I mean, if I could miss up to five . . . 1 Well, even the drivers' test has changed. No longer do you stand at the counter, number two pencil poised in paw, ready to write down the answers. Today, it's strictly video iin the big city. You stand i n front of a video screen and the questions flash in front of you. You select the answer, push a button and that's it. Of course, if you select a wrong answer) it's like jack-pot time in front oft a 'one armed bandit in Vegas. The lights flash, the buzzers buzz and Vour heart about stops beating. Everytime my machine bleeped "WRONG", my hands got a little more 'sweaty, my knees a little more shaky and I -would frantically glance aroujxl to. see if anyone had noticed my mistake. I was allowed only five mistakes, and according to my machine, I was rapidly approaching ap-proaching jny mark. Finally the machine said the test was over1' and I went up to the counter to claim my score. "I was at screen 11, I said. "Ma'm," said the lady at the counter, "you had 10 mistakes. V My heart sank. Was I going to be barred from the wheel for the rest of my life? Would I be relegated to hoofing it from here on in? r "You do have three chances," the lady commented. "Why don't you try screen four." 1 figured I had a fighting chance. At least this time I was familiar with the questions, or so I thought. I turned on the screen and could tell by the first question that it was aa entirely different test. I knew I ,w&b a gdnner. I finally, finished the' test and humbly walked back to the counter. |