Andrea Taylor shuddered as she reminisced about those god-awful days before her visual impairment. Driving her mom to volunteer at the food bank, being the designated driver for her drunk pals, taking turns driving on long road trips. Life was insufferable then. Taylor was glad she had moved past that nightmare period of her life.
“I wanted to fit in with my friends and hang out with them instead of driving Mom. I wanted to drink and pass out like normal people do at parties but noooooo, it was my brother’s car so I was always the DD,” said Taylor, who’s saving up for a self-driving car. “Sure, being blind now and not being able to see like before sucks, but I always hated driving. I can’t think of anything worse!”
As she says this, a post pops up in her Facebook Legally Blind Support Group feed: “Does anyone else miss driving?” In a matter of minutes, hundreds of likes appear with not just the one tear crying emoji, but also with the loudly crying face emoji streaming with heavy tears.
Taylor shakes her head, struggling to understand why people equate being unable to drive with a loss of independence. Why are they lamenting?!
“Who wants to drive when you can be driven around? Rich people are chauffeured all the time. NOT driving is a privilege!” said Taylor, whose favorite movies are “Driving Miss Daisy” and “Green Book.” “There’s more to life than driving, like napping, eating with both hands or Instagramming nonstop while in the passenger seat.”
Scrolling through those Facebook comments, she noted that no one else seemed to echo her sentiments. Fearing ostracization, Taylor clicked a broken heart emoji, and typed, “I REALLY MISS driving. I miss helping out my mom and friends …”
She took a sip of her sixth cocktail and thought, “NOT!” before getting back to partying with her friends and Martha, her DD.
I miss driving!! Being told I couldn’t drive was heartbreaking! I can’t share in the pleasure of not driving