boom boom boom

I have decided to drive us to the movies. Most outings where I am behind the wheel have an inevitable episode where Fox feels the necessity to raise his voice in a moment of sheer terror but this has already occurred on this trip so I feel I am through the worst.
On arrival, I pull up to one of those ridiculous stay-in-your-car-while-the-machine-spits-a-ticket-at-you contraptions where you never quite judge the distance appropriately and end up dislocating your shoulder in an attempt to reach far enough. However, having survived that, it is the moments post-ticket retrieval that prove tricky. As the boom lifts I begin to stress because I am in neutral with the handbrake up and I’m aware that pulling off requires my full concentration. In my stress I manage to pull forward just enough so that I am directly underneath the boom…and stall. Yes, I have stalled in the perfect position for the boom to come down and crush our (but mostly Fox’s) car. Extreme panic now sets in and I glance over at Fox who very helpfully has his face in his hands and has shirked all responsibility as an instructor. I try to take a deep breathe and forget that any moment now our car will require serious repair work and attempt to restart the engine. Unfortunately, I have now put the car into third gear and forgotten about the handbrake. I stall. Again. The anxiety now begins to overwhelm me and I start to shake like a leaf and mistakenly glance in my rear-view mirror to catch a glimpse of an Indian family in the car behind me all gesturing wildly with arms everywhere. A faint mumble about first gear and handbrake ensues from Fox who has started to return from the dead.
What feels like two hours later and purely by miracle, after my fourth attempt, I manage to roll forward and the engine finally kicks in. Oh the relief, so pure that I can almost taste it.
Fox has now come out of his tortoiseshell and instructs me to pull into one of the ten disabled bays where he will take over. Very helpful at this stage, thank you.
In case anyone is wondering, the booms do, in fact, have sensors and will not come down on your car while you are still under them. And anyone who said that learning to drive is fun has clearly never stalled under one of them.