Do you Like Ringo?
- jiggerton
- Mar 16, 2007
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 11, 2024
How ‘bout these ringo?

Last Friday I made my first and last attempt at taking the driver’s test in Japan. I passed! Of all the people who have had to take the test, I’ve only met one other person who has passed on the first attempt, so I was feeling pretty proud. No more biking and walking to school in the frosty morning. No waiting another two weeks to have to take the test again! Yayayayay!
Now I had a tough decision ahead. How should I tell Ting-Ting, who is on her 4th attempt and has been unable to drive for a month? After every attempt she sent me a text message saying how sad she was about failing the test.
If I didn’t say anything, it would be rude because she knew I was taking the test today and would want to know how it went, but telling her I passed would probably make her sad because she studied hard and paid to practice driving on the course while I did nothing but walk around on the course for about 20 min before my test.
After debating the pros and cons of each choice for a good 30 minutes, I decided the most considerate thing to do was to just sent her the picture of my license and a text that read “Haha. What time should I pick you up on Monday?”
A few minutes after I sent the message, I got a phone call. It was Ting-Ting of course. She said, in her always calm voice, “I’m going to burn down your apartment. I’m going to explode your car. I hate you.”
I guess I made the wrong choice.