Cool Driver's Ed Story!

A Cool Driver's Ed Story

by Bill Knell

Here is a cool Driver's Ed story from Bogie. I was a Junior and 16. Our teacher was Walter Spangler, an older guy with an attitude. For some reason he really didn’t like me. I put up with his verbal abuse for weeks, then one day I just snapped. The teacher, some other students and me drove down to 34th Street South. One of the students was my friend Al. We worked together in the kitchen at Palms of Pasadena Hospital along with Bogie's Barbara Davis, Donna Cunningham and Tracey Armstrong. Tracey was my first date with a Senior, bless her heart.

We used one of the older Driver’s Ed cars. I was first up to drive. Whenever I was part of a group going out on the road, Wild Walt (my nickname for Spangler) always chose the worst cars they had. One was an old Renault with a European-style manual transmission that was better suited to hilly French highways or Germany’s Autobahn than to our roads and highways. The other was the one we used that day. The power steering barely worked and the occasional “squeaking” noise it made drove everyone crazy.

I'm sure you all know there were lots of stores and restaurants on 34th St So and people loved to drive fast on that road. On top of that, there were cars pulling out of parking lots without checking the traffic first. Between the power steering problems and Wild Walt’s incessant nagging, I became very upset and started making mistakes. I mean, the guy was yelling and complaining non-stop. At one point he slammed on the brakes using the dual control.

I have always tried to avoid conflicts, but Spangler's behavior was off the charts. As soon as we got going again, I pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant and told the teacher off for at least a minute (loudly). I did not use profanity and, in his case, Walt was such a flawed human being that all I needed to do was point out his stupifying manner and poor teaching skills to make my point. All he did was show films in class and yell in the car. That was my experience with him. Maybe yours was better.

I got out and started walking toward the restaurant door. Then I heard him say something very unkind about me to the others. He said it loudly enough so that I was sure to hear with his window open just a crack. I walked back to the passenger side of the junker and banged on his window. Al was laughing hysterically in the back seat. That’s what I liked about him.

Wild Walt wisely stayed in the car. Finally, I called him "crazy" and walked towards the restaurant. He opened the window and called out, “Come on Bill, get back in the car!” He said it several times. I turned and said, “I suggest you drive away while you still can.” And I wasn’t kidding. I was overheated, angry and aggregated to the max. Being from New York City I had a lot of patience. I was used to rude people, just not incredibly stupid ones.

There was a payphone by the restaurant door, so I called my sister Ingrid. She was my cousin until her parents died and my folks adopted her at 14. She was four years older. Then I sat down at a table by the window. The waitress came and I ordered an ice cold, extra large glass of Coke to start. She witnessed my display and asked, “Is that how you treat all your teachers?” I answered, “No, just idiots like that one.” My comment brought a round of subdued laughter. After a while I ordered lunch. They had Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches and Ingrid liked those as much as I did.

After she brought my lunch, the waitress asked me if I was going back to school? As if on cue, my cousin pulled up in her new Challenger. So I replied, “Let’s see. Do I want to go back to school for more verbal abuse, or hang with my hot sister the model and drive around in her Challenger?” Ingrid walked in the door looking perfect, as usual, and sat down next to me.

There was still a small lunch crowd in there. Two guys were sitting across from us. One said, “That’s an easy one. Your sister!” Everybody clapped. My mom was a nurse and my dad was working in an office. I didn't want to bother them with this silly nonsense. Anyway, Ingrid was 20.

After lunch we headed toward the school. I filled Ingrid in on everything and she got really upset. “He said WHAT to you?” We always had each other’s back. Being from the Bronx, she really had that New York Attitude. She just controlled it better than me. Well, not this time.

We went to the Main Office at Boca Ciega. Ingrid was deceptively polite. She asked that the Driver’s Ed Teacher and students that were in the car be “summoned to the office so that we can clear up this misunderstanding between Walter and my brother.” She refused to call him anything else. After a few minutes Principal Young joined us. Ingrid gave him the short version of what happened. I wisely kept quiet.

I went from being angry to biting on my tongue to keep from laughing. I mean everyone in the office dressed like it was the early 1960s except the student volunteers. And Principal Young? He was a good Administrator, but way past his expiration date. I could not begin to explain my situation with Spangler, even if I thought he would understand it. Then, there was my beautiful sister.

She was dressed to the nines. Ingrid was wearing one of her own designer outfits and four hundred dollar shoes. She finished off her look with the new, auto adjusting, Yves Saint Laurent designer sunglasses with inlaid gold in the frames. I will not tell you what those cost. She also wore the gold, heart-shaped locket on a gold chain that I gifted her on her birthday. She began modeling at 12. I sat back and waited for the fireworks. I didn’t have to wait long.

Walt arrived with Al and the other students. The Principal provided Spangler with a brief summary of what my cousin told him. The teacher claimed he hadn’t said anything upsetting to me. Al jumped in and verified my story. The others backed me up as well. Spangler said, “This is nonsense. That boy just doesn’t respect authority” and denied everything. He called it a “misunderstanding”.

The Principal called my dad, but when he heard Ingrid was there with me, he told the Principal to let her handle it unless he needed a parent present. Ingrid was twenty years old and it wasn’t really a big thing, so she was permitted to speak on my behalf. She listened to a couple of minutes of nonsense from the teacher, then blew up.

Walt made his first mistake by demanding that Ingrid call him Mr. Spangler out of respect. I could see the steam coming out of her ears. Then she let loose. To the best of my memory, it went like this...

“Respect? You little worm. Does it make you feel powerful to belittle my brother? Who do you think you are?” She got right in his face. “Why don’t you try that with me and see what happens? The last guy that disrespected me (a photographer) ended up with a broken jaw!” She then backed off, sat down and waited. The Principal made some “Let’s all calm down...”comments.

My cousin told the Principal that she wanted a written apology from the teacher and admission that he caused the problem in the first place. If any action was taken against me, one of her lawyers (she had two by then) would sue the teacher, the school, the city and the county. As soon as my sister took off her sunglasses the office staff recognized her from Pepsi TV Commercials that were running non-stop and Cover Girl 'Clean' Make Up print ads.

The Principal pulled Spangler in the office for a few minutes, then came out with a handwritten apology from him. He told us, “This will have to do.” My sis read it, then told them she would be watching for any more problems. She signed me out for the rest of the day and we left. Al told me later, “You’re crazy in a funny way. That was great!"