NOVICE: A person new at, or inexperienced in a field or situation.
BEGINNER: A person just starting to learn a skill or take part in an activity.
LEARNER: A person learning a subject or skill.
ROOKIE: A new recruit, especially in the army or police.
Have you ever seen those “Novice Driver” stickers/magnets on someone’s car? Oh, wait you must have. They are everywhere. The sticker can be purchased on Amazon (not even going to ask how much it cost), or it can be obtained from a State’s DMV. Probably because someone in the State Department of Transportation said, “Let’s give people who are beginner drivers this sticker/magnet so other people driving will treat them with respect or be careful around them. We need to help protect people because they can’t protect themselves.” Please! Really?
Is the novice driver sticker to notify me that a driver isn’t really prepared to drive on the roads, but we gave them a license anyway? Isn’t that what a leaner’s permit is for. Oh, wait you don’t display that in your window. Or is it to warn me that they may do something incompetent like drive slow in the left lane for long periods of time? People who have been driving for years do that all the time. Maybe the sticker is there for my benefit. Then I can drive aggressively around them and show them that no matter what sticker you have on your car there are assholes on the road.
What if baseball (Tony’s dad’s favorite game) wanted to improve the game even more, and started using a rookie patch on the front of baseball uniforms. The sticker would warn pitchers that the person batting was new to major league baseball and you should not throw the ball that hard. Maybe give them a chance to hit it. Then when they steal from first to second, we can try to throw them out, but they wouldn’t need to slide and bruise their hip. I know what I’m going to try next Tuesday when I play hockey (at the age of 59), I’m going to sew a novice patch on my front of my jersey so the guys I play against won’t shoot the puck at 70 mph at me.
And who determines when you are no longer a novice driver? Is that up to the driver themselves or maybe the parent. Does the sticker/magnet fall off automatically when you pass that threshold? Believe me there are some people who have been driving for years, who should keep the sticker on forever. I’ve seen young drivers’ w/ adults who have it. I’ve seen parents’ w/ kids in the backseat who have it, and I’ve seen older adults (my age or more) who have it. I think people put the sticker/magnet on their car because they think it will really change how others drive. Me, I completely ignore the sticker. I think the person with the sticker on their car, was given a drivers license to drive the car. They need to be confident in driving the car when they put their hands on the wheel. Instead of the novice sticker/magnet, new drivers should be given a sheet of paper that simply states;
“You have a license to drive a car. Be polite, be courteous, remember what side of the road to drive on, remember what specific signs mean, don’t drink and drive, don’t speed around tight corners because you think you are good at driving, don’t text while driving, and yes there are assholes on the road that ignore everything you were just taught. Let them go on their merry way, and please be safe.”
I just don’t get the sticker!