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EDITOR'S NOTE: Doug Smith is retiring June 5. This is the 14th in a series of his most requested columns. This encore column first ran in the Observer on Tuesday, February 11, 1992. How closely have you looked into the mirror?
You're accustomed to seeing me write about business in this space. Today, I've got something else on my mind.
You know how we all experience passages in life, those turning points: the first dance, the first date, high school graduation, marriage, the first child, etc.
Usually, we're prepared, and we move on to the next big event. But I'm rattled. I let one sneak up on me.
It seemed routine enough: the driver's license renewal exam.
The line outside the Midtown Square express office is about 30 deep when I arrive Monday at 9:50 a.m. The doors open at 10 a.m. People inch forward to take their eye tests.
I use the waiting time to cram, memorizing the 54 traffic signs on each side of a 7-inch by 3-inch cheat sheet.
My palms start to sweat. I couldn't find my old N.C. driver's manual at home during the weekend. This is my first chance to prepare. Forty minutes later I'm at the front of the line.
"Next," shouts one of the two examiners.
I step up to the counter, sign my renewal form and put my forehead against the examination machine.
"Read the second line," says the examiner, a young, dark-haired woman. No sweat, I get all the letters right.
"OK, look at the road signs and tell me what they mean," says the examiner.
Easy. Perfect score again.
Now comes the kicker.
The examiner is checking off the little blocks on my license form.
"Height?" Five-seven.
"Eyes?" Blue.
"Hair?" Br . . . well, it used to be brown.
"Hair?" she repeats.
I'm still trying to describe the color when she fills the blank for me:
"Gray," she says. For the first time in 32 years of driving, my hair is no longer brown. The little block under hair color on my license says "GRY."
Too late for Grecian Formula, too late for Clairol. My whitish-brownish hair is officially declared gray.
Now it's part of my permanent record. It's printed on my driver's license.
I'm gray.
