The Moth This Should Be A Movie: The Moth Podcast
Mar 13, 2026
Nick Vega, Seattle-based writer and storyteller who turned a bar-story hustle into a fake ID caper. Jitesh Jaggi, Chicago-based immigrant writer and educator who reveals why he struggled to learn to drive. They share cinematic, personal tales: a chalk-and-hairspray hustle gone wrong, and a long road to a driving test that becomes about family and agency.
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Learning To Drive Uncovers Family Expectations
- Jitesh Jaggi learned to drive as an adult after failing multiple DMV tests and confronting long-held family dynamics.
- His father, a taxi driver and mechanic, refused to teach him to avoid passing on a multigenerational fate of manual labor, which Jitesh eventually understood and forgave.
Protection Can Look Like Withholding Opportunity
- A parent's refusal to teach a practical skill can stem from a desire to protect a child from repeating a family's limited economic path.
- Jitesh's father, a taxi driver/mechanic, withheld driving lessons to push him toward office jobs rather than manual labor.
Passing The Test With Unexpected Support
- After understanding his father's motive, Jitesh returned to the DMV and passed with a kind examiner named Fred who celebrated small future conveniences.
- He later secured office jobs but still embraced the value of manual labor in his family lineage.