Driver's Ed

Boy, 8, drives teacher's car home

An eight-year-old boy stole his teacher's car and drove a mile home.

Akos Szabo from the western Hungarian village of Koeszeg broke into the car, adjusted the mirrors and drove home to his shocked parents who were not aware the boy could drive.

Szabo said he had taken the car because he did not feel like walking home.

He has not been charged for the theft but has been expelled from school.

My take:

1) Either a) The 8-year old knows how to hotwire a car or b) he swiped her car keys. (note: the story doesn’t specify if the teacher was male or female, but obviously…)

2) We’ve recently heard the latest “National Crisis (which is, of course, the school’s fault)” is childhood obesity. He went through all this trouble to not walk a mile! A MILE! Why, in my day, it was a 10 mile walk, in the snow, uphill – both ways… (sorry, somehow I started channeling old-man Bloede’s thoughts...scary place to be.)

3) I do give him credit for adjusting the mirrors. Perhaps I can take Uland’s driver’s-ed course, and he’ll teach me what those shiny things are for.

4) As the parents, exactly what would you do when you look out and see your precious, bundle of joy has just pulled up in a stolen car? (You know the dad, on some level, had to be very proud! Angry, sure, but your boy driving at 8?! Very proud)

5) I’d love to know what model of car he stole. When I see “western Hungarian village”, images of BMW’s or Lexuses (Lexi?) don’t pop into my head. Yugos do. And seriously, he could’ve pushed the Yugo home faster than getting that piece of [insert appropriate modifier here] to start would have taken.

6) I’m not sure I could walk into my principal’s office and tell him a kid just stole my car. (Ok, I’m a bad example. While I’m not the Boy Who Cries Wolf, I am the one who usually convinces the boy it’s a good idea.) And then, would you want to be the principal who has to call the cops and tell them a student just boosted a car? We still haven’t solved the fire extinguisher mystery. What’s the chance of finding a car?