For various reasons, a girl I love dearly is very anxious about her driving test.
(Please pray? Thank you.)
She’s a natural at it, and ordinarily she’s a fantastic test-taker, but she is so darn nervous about this particular ordeal that she’d almost rather never drive (despite living in the sprawl, where not being able to drive makes it virtually impossible to function) than go do the thing, even though there is no penalty or added cost if she needs to take the test multiple times.
So. She developed a reward system for herself for these scenarios: If she perseveres in taking the test as many times as necessary, she wins a modestly-priced Lego set. Classic technique for overcoming these kinds of mental hurdles.
We went to Walmart and surveyed the options. She likes to make model race cars, so she quickly narrowed it down to the McLaren or the Koenigsegg. From there it was difficult to decide. Interesting features on both.
Ultimately she went with the McLaren because it came with a female mini-fig.
And pretty much, that’s what it’s like being a girl who doesn’t fit stereotype. You’re so friggin’ grateful to have it acknowledged that maybe girls like driving fast too, at least some of them, and you just don’t even expect to see yourself represented, and frankly if you bring this up with most guys they’ll be like, “Yeah, girls don’t really like race cars, that’s just the company being politically correct.”
Or maybe, even though there do exist general tendencies in the interests and aptitudes of males and females, it turns out those superficial traits aren’t what makes you a man or a woman.
Image of the girl’s self-chosen prize courtesy of WalMart.com. Product at Lego here. Reminder if you’re looking for Lent stuff, check the Substack. It’s free, btw. No paywall.
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