I mentioned that my street had all the amenities of a city park. There are donated bicycles to ride, tricycles, plastic motorcycles, skateboards, slides, as well as other fun items for kids… dolls, stuffed animals, plastic 3 and 4 wheelers, etc. I have even seen an occasional plastic swimming pool and a swing set available, but they’re difficult to reserve because they’re in constant use.
When you’re in your car and you approach a city park where there is a crosswalk, you’ll see a yellow warning light, as well as a sign that advises you of a reduced speed limit. My neighborhood can’t solicit sufficient contributions to have these safety aids installed by the city, so the parents have manufactured some make-shift signs to warn the drivers of the ‘city park’ ahead. “Slow children, speed limit 20 mph” is a common one. “Children at Play” is another. I’m destined to be a waiter because of the neighborhood I live in. I love taking my wife out to eat at the restaurant together, but I never wanted to work in one.
One more comment about our city park and the children playing there. When I was 16 years old and preparing for my driver’s exam, I was tested on my ability behind the wheel. One item I was tested on was my skill at making rapid stops. The instructor suddenly interjected in the middle of a driving maneuver, “stop here”. After I had almost passed a street he said, “make a left turn now”. I became an expert at stopping quickly. I don’t want to brag but I excelled at it.
The following puzzles me: I don’t understand the connection between the driving school and all the children on my block. Ah, yes! Now I remember that Josh Oliver (my next door neighbor) is an instructor at the school. Josh is a very friendly guy, and a great neighbor. Without any extra cost to those taking the course, he rigged up a system to help non-licensed people learn how to brake well before they go in to take the road test.
He formed a club on our block with his two children as the first members. They are good friends with the other kids, so in no time at all, all the kids on the block became members. They wanted to have a name for their club that was distinct, different...you might say exclusive. Being himself a religious man, he sat down with the kids to mull over the options available. He remembered a button he used to wear on his chest when he was in Sunday School that said: “Going to meet my Maker”. The words had a certain ring to them. They inspired him when he was young, and he thought they would inspire his own children as well as the other kids on the block. After proposing that to the kids they all agreed. That was the name they wanted to use.
Josh began teaching the kids the important qualities they would need to achieve their club name’s goal. First, they had to be fearless. Each club member memorized one of two scriptures: Proverbs 3:25…”Be not afraid of sudden fear”, or Psalms 56:4…”In God I have put my trust. I will not fear what flesh can do.”
Once they mastered the scripture, they were taught #2: The order and capacity of angels. All angels were faster than the speed of light, and they were invisible. To help the children grasp both concepts, he had them practice being ‘angels’ on our street. They had to remember they were faster than the speed of light, that they were invisible, and that they had to be fearless. At first he had them practice their cherubic skills when the traffic on our street was at ebb. This so the children wouldn’t bother or disturb drivers as they passed by. As the little angels gained experience and confidence in their ability as swift, surreptitious seraphs, he began sending them out to practice their skills when there was more traffic.
One week after Joshua formed his club, my little sister, Savannah, turned 16. She was so excited about finally getting her driver’s license. She prepared herself well for the written exam, but hadn’t had any on-road experience. Josh told me to have her come over to our neighborhood. He confidently assured me that if she simply drove all the way down our street once and then came back without any accident to the vehicle or a pedestrian or… (the word silently slipped out of his mouth) angel… that she was ready to take and pass her road test.
My sis went over that day and made her two passes. The next day when we saw each other I asked her about her driving experience. She told me that when she went down the street the first time, she saw all of these young children playing on the sidewalk on both sides of the street. On the way back she said every one of the kids made a pass at her car wanting (she thought) her to give them a ride to the store down at the end. She was in a hurry to get home and couldn’t pick them up, so just swerved from side to side, once in a while tapping on her brakes, and managed to avoid them all. When she came to the end of the street Josh was there waiting for her. My sister had never met Josh, so when he strutted over to her window, she locked her door and revved up the engine to make a quick exit. Josh motioned for her to stop and informed her that he was my next door neighbor. That calmed her down, and she took her foot off the accelerator. Now that she was more composed, Josh decided to hand her the paper.
“Savannah” he said, “you have just mastered your pre-road exam and here is your certificate.” With a dumbfounded look on her face, my sister opened up her clenched fist and took hold of it. It read, “Driver’s license pre-road test”. In the bottom right hand corner along with Josh’s signature it was stamped ‘passed with honors’.
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