Listen to them…they might actually know something
Anytime you share information with someone and they benefit from it, it seems to make it worthwhile. For all of the years I’ve volunteered coaching sports or working with Scouts Canada, it all seems worthwhile. Well, I can honestly say that with all my years as a driving instructor with Young Drivers of Canada, I know I’ve made a difference.
Recently, one of my students that I’m teaching in class came to me with a story of how my training saved him and his fiancé. He was a passenger and, with the techniques I had showed he and his classmates, he was able to predict the future actions of the driver ahead of him in the lane to his left.
They had space beside them on the right, as was taught in class, and as they continued another driver came up on their right and quickly passed them and swerved into their lane just ahead of them. At the same time as that driver did their actions, the other driver to their left decided to switch lanes and come into that same lane. My student’s fiancé quickly moved into the right lane to avoid them both. She took his advice and when all of this was happening, she took action. Impressive, right?
Knowing that we can make a difference in someone’s life is important to many of us. I was thrilled that he has taken driving seriously and I was also thrilled that his fiancé was open-minded enough to follow the advice of a novice driver. Well done to both.
I remember when I first became a driving instructor with Young Drivers of Canada. I was 24 years old and had been driving for just over 7 years. After a couple of years of teaching I began retraining licensed drivers. It was a little intimidating to explain driving techniques that were different to someone that had been driving longer than I was alive. I just remembered that I knew information that they did not and it was my job to share it with them, regardless of much driving experience I had and they had. I just knew things they didn’t.
So, the next time someone with less experience gives you some advice, listen to them. They may actually know more about that particular subject than you.