Well, I finally passed my driving test yesterday after 7 attempts! I should be over the moon. However, the examiner, who I'd never had before, was highly critical and was very much insinuating that I didn't belong on the road but that he had to pass me as I didn't commit any majors. He gave me 10 minors, which is much more than previous tests, which had between 4-8 minors.
Anyway, he was relentless. He said he knew I'd taken a number of tests and that people shouldn't do tests unless they are capable of passing. I explained I suffered with nerves during tests and definitely drove better when not but he just kept saying he didn't buy that, and angrily repeating 'if you can't do it, you can't do it'. I asked him what I had done that he thought was bad and he gave two examples of me going into the right lane off an island when he told me I'd have to turn left saying 'how much info does one person need' and that I'd stayed in 3rd while doing 50-60 on a highway. Not great, I know but he made no allowances for nerves. To top it off, as he handed me the form to sign, he very coldly said, 'go on then, sign your life away'.
The whole experience, but especially this last comment, really got to me. I have 2 young children and I thought of them when he said that. And it just fed into insecurities I already had about taking so many tries. I have recently felt positive and confident about driving but although I've passed feel like I've taken a backwards step. My partner, who drives for a living, disagrees and thinks he formed a negative opinion based on my number of tests.
Anybody else had a similarly horrific experience?