Yesterday I was speaking to a mother of a 20 year old man, she was telling me he had finished collage and had been trying to get a job. As the unemployment figures rise I knew this would be a difficult task, yet she shocked me when she said he was joining the army, not for the career, for the opportunity of getting a driving licence. His mother went on to explain that all the jobs he applied for needed a driving licence, they could not afford a car of their own and certainly could not afford the £20 per hour for driving lessons let alone the fee for the test.

I felt humbled, I take for granted the fact that I can drive, without my licence I could not do my job, I felt so sad for her that she may well have to see her son go somewhere such as Afghanistan or the like, not for the glory of his country, but for the ability to have a driving licence. This woman then also commented that the divide between those that have a comfortable standard of living and those who do not was growing, I thought about this and I believe she could be correct, if our lower income families have no way of helping their children gain things such as driving licences then they are restricted to certain types of work, fine if you live in a large city but you only need look at the jobs in the Journal to know that in this area most jobs do require a licence. Maybe we should do as some American states do and that is to include driving lessons as part of the college education, I know this then sets off the debate of too much pollution, but I feel that should be the challenge of the car industry which I believe they are making headway on, I am still left with a lot to think about.