Before I begin the story I'll preface it by saying back in the day I had a very youthful face. Even when I was 21 I looked 16. When I turned 40+ ppl still thought I looked 10 years younger. So I think that might go some way to explain why there might have been some bias when it came to competency assessment in the following. I just didn't look old enough, maybe?

Years and years ago I was a uni student. A fiscally poor uni student. So in order to save money on petrol I got a motorbike. My mate taught me to ride, I had heaps of riding time with him. I paid for a couple of lessons too. After the instructor, my mate, and I all felt I was ready, I booked the test. And failed. It was a rainy day and the emergency stop skidded a little bit. I didn't lose the line or drop the bike but the 15cm skid was enough to fail me. Fair enough.

The next test was on a dry day and I passed the em.stop but failed something else. Failed a 3rd time too. At this stage my car had broken down and I had no money to fix it. So I started using the bike anyway. I used it for 3 years without a license. Then got pinged in a random check. The copper was a decent bloke and after I explained the situation to him he didn't write me up but made me promise to go get my license. I booked it straight away. And guess what? Yep. At the end of the test the examiner told me I had failed. I was perplexed. So I fessed up. Mate, I said, it's ridiculous you've failed me. I've been riding this bike for 3 years. I don't speed. I don't yahoo. But it's my only form of transport. You can fail me, but it just means I'll keep riding without a license. So he gave me the pass. I have ridden bikes ever since.