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08/26/2003 Archived Entry: "Learning How To Drive, by Suzanne Vega"

STEVE'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET: I have a confession to make. I've always had a bit of a crush on singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega. I know, I know, what's a rock 'n roll conservative doing liking a lefty folk singer like Vega, especially after my semi-famous rant back in February blasting folk music. The heart wants what it wants.

At any rate, Vega has a cute piece in yesterday's New York Times about getting her driver's licence at the age of 43. Interesting fact: Over half of New Yorkers don't have a driver's licence because it's easier to go without a car in the Big Apple...or so I've been told.

Everybody says: "Don't learn to drive in the city. It's crazy." But as the song says, if you can make it here, and so forth.

And I really wanted a driver's license. I was 43, had my learner's permit and had failed the test once already - but that was in Riverhead, on Long Island. I'm an urban girl. This time, I would learn how to drive in the city. My city.

But my quest, like driving in New York (and like life), was full of stops and starts, unexpected dead ends and mysterious spirals (like the streets of Greenwich Village). In the end, my pursuit of the elusive New York State driver's license became about much more than a divorced woman's learning to drive for the first time.

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