u/Dumi2e

for context, ive had my license for just over a month as of today. in victoria we have plates u have to put up to indicate you are a probationary driver. so i can imagine everyone was rolling their eyes at seeing me bungle my drive in my mums beat up car with a green p plate on it. also, by the time im leaving the first grocery store, it is dark.

anyway, i started by going to a grocery that was way out of the way of my usual cus i wanted some extra time out the house, and i wanted to see if some of the items i usually get were cheaper there. my first mistake was leaving my house during peak hour, to a shop that is far smaller and further away than my usual. i get to this first shop fine. turns out they didnt have everything i needed, whatever, ill go to the other store down the road (also not my usual). i manage to get in and park fine.

as im leaving is where i get in trouble. im a little annoyed what couldve been a fifteen minute errand is now past thirty minutes. and i make the genius move of unknowingly going the wrong way in a one way car park.

for clarification, i saw an exit sign on my way in, and it was a shorter distance from my spot if i was to go the wrong way, instead what i was meant to do was go through a little one way circuit to get back to the exit.

still, how i didnt connect the dots when there was clearly no room for two cars to go opposite directions, not to mention all the confused/angry faces, is concerning. the spot i had to squeeze myself in to let someone go by was comical, and i still didnt realise.

eventually a very nice guy rolls his window down and is and tells me its one way, he will stop for me to get into a nearby spot, and go the right way this time leaving. thank god. im of course mortified at this point.

however, as im leaving the carpark, the turn to get onto the main roads to get home is looking super backed up. but, in my infinite wisdom, just wanting to leave this damned carpark, i forget about that original exit i saw. so this turn that was super backed up, is not even at the exit i shouldve been using. if i hadve gone the right way, i wouldve had a fucking red light to rely on to get out!

still, im committed now, so i go left instead (australian). i end up taking inconvenient back roads to get back onto the main road. im not a very spatially aware person despite growing up in this area and walking/being a passenger on all these roads before. as a result, i end up on residential roads super packed with parked cars, and yet again make a fool of myself by misjudging the distance between myself and an oncoming car, and i have to squeeze to the side in a very awkward way to the point where i had to reverse to let this guy go. then, as im trying to get myself out of this stupid spot, another guy comes by, so i have to reverse AGAIN to get out of his way.

by the by, at no point in this trip was i in danger of hitting anyone, or damaging anyones car. i am just incredibly stupid, and inconvenienced a bunch of people. including myself.

to this end, did i mention i had another stop to go to? cus guess what, second store didnt have the mixed nuts my family called and said they wanted. i cant even eat nuts, but i still go out my way to find a store with the ones they like. they didnt specify brand but i was pretty sure they wanted the ones from the local independent grocery store.

so, i eventually make my way there, thankfully without issue. 45 minute total trip. fml. typing this im also worried i didnt give way properly at the light where i did a u turn (which was signed as explicitly permitted dw im not that insane), but i think thats just the anxiety talking. i gave way to everyone i could see, and nobody got hit. so i think im okay. i hope so. fuck.

sorry to anyone who saw me on the road today. you didnt deserve that.