What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If a rule, behavior, or treatment is acceptable or beneficial for one person, it should be equally acceptable, fair or available to another person. It emphasizes equality, reciprocity, and the same behavior or opportunity for everyone. When it comes to driving, felt safety is an issue that everyone must experience for themselves. Timing is everything. Several days ago, I mentioned some of the built in safety features on that were foreign to my 14-year-old driving experience. I also asserted that 14 years old is too young to be driving. I’m sticking to my guns on that one. A friend and colleague mentioned that both she and her son were “late bloomers” regarding driving. “For my son, now age 29, he saw the car as a ‘lethal weapon’ and didn’t have confidence in himself to drive without killing someone! So, throughout high school, college and grad school he rode his bike or walked to his job, school, etc. Grad school was in Colorado…not the best place to ride a bike in the winter, so then he had to deal with city buses. But when he finished grad school, he said he was finally ready. He got his own car and took off from there (but wanted a small car because that felt easier to manage!)” We know two sisters. One is in her second year of college. The younger is in her senior year of high school. The younger sister has her driver’s license and now occasionally drives her older sister to school. The older sister is now motivated to get her driver’s license because it feels awkward catching a ride with her younger sister. Though I never had a car in high school, I only had to walk three blocks to school. For my son and daughter, it would have been a sixteen-mile hike. Our neighborhood was the first stop on the bus route, and our kids had to figuratively be on the curb at 6:00 a.m. When Craig started driving, his ability to do so was a huge relief for both he and his 9 ½ year old younger sister. They no longer had to ride the school bus. Craig gladly didn’t mind having his sister as a passenger. There were a couple of other guys Craig’s age that he often had in his car. My daughter recently mentioned one of the Craig’s friends didn’t like her riding with Craig. More than once, he told Craig that he should have the freedom to go without his sister. Those memories have been on her horizon for nearly four decades. Earlier this week, when I was going through a box in our attic that had been unopened for five years, I discovered a story Andrea wrote for her high school English class in Midland. The article tugged at my heartstrings. She entitled the paper, “The Drive.” She recalled the joy of my allowing her to drive on the Creek Road in Henly. She provided a good description of the country back-road with twists and turns, one lane bridges, and tree covered terrain. In the second paragraph she wrote: “I was finally getting to drive! My dad had promised he would take me driving in the country one day, and that day had finally arrived. As I climbed onto the cushioned seat and placed my hands on the steering wheel, I knew that I was in for a real treat.” She added: “I felt like I was going ninety-miles an hour, but in actuality I was only driving twenty miles an hour. Suddenly, I sped up and tragedy stuck. I had almost run our car off the road and into the creek. My heart pounded and I was afraid my dad would say that I wasn’t ready for all this driving business, but he didn’t. He simply said, ‘Maybe you should keep your speed down.’” She concluded he paper: “Driving was quite an experience. I loved it and through the years my dad has taken me driving several times. Fortunately, I have improved, and it all started the first time my dad let me behind the wheel.” Her English assignment was written on November 28, 1995. She received a 95 on the paper. I kept the paper in part because she recognized that with me, promises made were promises kept and that she could rely on me for second chances.