What isn’t earned isn’t valued

I’ve spent the last week in Arizona. When I was packing I almost forgot to bring along my Arizona driver’s license, which was unceremoniously cast to the bottom of a drawer. I can’t help but feel something like disgust when looking at it. I got the thing when I was 16 by driving a few blocks and parallel parking between cones three times wider than any spot I’ve seen in Amsterdam. I don’t feel that way when I look at my Dutch license. It was hard to get. I now know driving theory inside and out, which also makes driving in America frustrating. I took lessons. I passed a genuinely tough exam. I’m proud to have it. Dutch drivers aren’t perfect, of course, but driving feels like a real skill that is honed and valued in Europe. You’re expected to drive a certain way that requires a fair amount of thought and consideration. You need to be able to park in some really tight spots and deal with tricky situations. None of that is true about driving in Arizona, or I suppose the US in general.…