Coffee Stained Stories

Starbucks Coffee Company – West 10th Ave | May 25, 2019

If I could go back in time and talk to my teenage self, there’s a couple pieces of advice I would give her. They’re not so much the shoot for the moon, land among the stars, type. I’m sure there were other people telling me that back then. Rather, it’ll be more like don’t wait a whole decade before you learn to drive.

Wow, rude of you to assume that I did wait a whole decade before learning to drive. Well, you are absolutely correct. I am both proud and embarrassed to share that I’ve been working on my driving skills lately, after all these years.

This coffee chat features Keyvan Keshavarzi, a delightfully chatty and incredibly patient man who has been driving around Vancouver with brand-new drivers of this city for the past 18 years.

One of his current students? That would be me.

My lessons are usually early in the morning before the work day starts for me, and Keyvan would often grab a cup of Starbucks on his way to pick me up. Truly, there is nothing like the smell of coffee as you slide into the driver’s seat. Seeing that my eyes sparkle at the smell of coffee, Keyvan started grabbing me a cup of Starbucks as well (thank you!). We both think it makes me a better driver. I know it makes me a better human.

But this time, we actually drove to a Starbucks and sat down for a little chat.

Keyvan the family man

Spend half an hour with Keyvan, and you’ll soon notice he is very much a family man. Driving around Vancouver with him, I’ve learned what types of cars his wife likes to drive, what his son was like as a kid, and what his nieces and nephews are up to nowadays. I feel like I know the whole family.

And today, Keyvan will proudly tell you that his 24-year-old son is his business partner, managing key aspects of Atlas Driving School, which Keyvan started in 2002. “Working with my son, I’m enjoying it,” says Keyvan. “My son is close by me, and I know his schedule. I see him almost every day. Plus, every one or two hours we talk, because we’re business partners!”

Vancouver: This looks like my home

Keyvan is originally from Iran. It was 1996 when he and his wife moved to Canada with their then-baby son. “At first, I came to Canada in 1993 by myself. I went to Montreal first. It was very cold, and I didn’t like it. It was hard for me in the winter to go outside and work. I went back home to Iran.”

Around the same time, Keyvan’s brother moved to Vancouver. “In the summertime I visited my brother in Vancouver. I loved it. And I made a decision to bring my family here. Nice weather, and so beautiful. I really loved it.” His love for this city never went away. “Oh yes, I still get the same feeling. This looks like my home. And I get to drive around the city all the time. That’s why I’m here!”

I didn’t speak English at all

“When new immigrants come to Canada, it’s not easy. Especially for me, I didn’t speak English at all. It was very, very, hard for me to support my family. At the time, rent was cheaper in Vancouver, but it wasn’t cheap for me.” Keyvan chuckles. “I delivered pizza. It was my first job here. I made $2 for each delivery. And then, you had to pay insurance, gas, taxes. Lucky I wasn’t paying much in taxes. I wasn’t earning a lot and I had a family.”

Keyvan was 30 when he moved to Canada. “Before moving here, I had worked with my dad. We sold fabric. At the same time, I worked as a cook at a hotel.” So when Keyvan applied to come to Canada, he had intended to work as a chef. “That’s why I was working at a pizza joint!” We both laugh. I counter: “But you didn’t make pizza, you delivered them!” “I know… but that’s because my language wasn’t good at the time,” says Keyvan.

“That time, my wife went to school and my son was in daycare. For the first 6 months, daycare cost almost $800, because he was under 2. Afterwards it was $600. Rent was $650. I was working seven days a week. I got a very old car for delivery.” Providing for his young family in a new country meant that Keyvan didn’t have time to take English classes himself.

But slowly, he picked up the language while driving around the city. “People would say, I’m broke, and I asked my boss what broke meant. He said that it means you don’t have any money. I thought it meant breaking something!”

You need to listen to your wife

As his English improved, he started looking for a new job. “I got my Class 1 license, and I pretty much found myself a job as a pickup truck driver. But my wife didn’t like the idea. It’s a lot of driving. You’d drive all the way down to California, come back, and in two days you’re back on the road. At the time, my son was very young, and she didn’t like [me to be away all the time]. So I decided to be a taxi driver. But my wife didn’t like that idea, either. She said nighttime driving is dangerous, and so on.”

“You need to listen to your wife. She gives me very good advice. She basically changed my career.” Keyvan realized that he would make a good driving instructor, and his wife agreed. He enrolled in an instructor training course, got certified, and started his driving school.

“Building a business is slow. In the first year, I wasn’t making enough money. So I still had to deliver pizza to support my family. And then, the next year, it got better and better.”

I love teaching people

“I love being an instructor. It is a good job for me because, first of all, I love teaching people. And my time is in my control, because I am my own boss. I work seven days a week, but I get to decide my own schedule.

And I like that we are outside. Not in front of the computer all the time. It would be hard for me to stay in one place. Some people work in the office all day and they don’t see the sun, ever. Especially in the winter! But I’m outside and the scenery changes. I can tell my students to drive anywhere I want!”

Keyvan also says that he was able to make lots of friends through his job. “I know lots of plumbers, lots of doctors in this city. I spend maximum 1.5 hours with each student per day, so I never get tired of them! Lots of different conversations, this is what I really like.”

My hometown is called Rasht

The fact that Keyvan loves the city of Vancouver so much doesn’t make him miss his hometown in Iran any less.

“My hometown is called Rasht. It’s in the northern part of Iran, close by the Caspian Sea. The city looks like Vancouver. Lots of rain, lots of forests there. It’s beautiful.” It’s impossible to miss the youthful beam on his face as he describes his hometown.

“I love everything there. Right now, I honestly just miss my family. My mom and my dad, they are very old. I try to visit them every two years.” Keyvan looks forward to his next visit to Iran in February next year. 

Salam

Keyvan speaks his mother tongue Persian when he is with his family. I think it’s a beautiful language, and I ask him to teach me something to say in Persian. “You could say hi, which would be salam.” I would so love to visit Iran one day. “When you go to Iran, you will see that people are very friendly. As a tourist, they will respect you, and as a guest at their place they will share their food. Young people who speak a little bit of English will want to speak to you. You will feel welcome there. So many people visit from Italy, or Germany, and they don’t come just once. They come two, three, four times. Because they love it.”

“Of course, wherever you go, there are dangerous areas. But I believe it’s a relatively safe place. As long as you are a tourist and don’t look like a spy, you will be safe.”

Attn: Fellow Vancouverites

As we take our last coffee sips, I ask Keyvan if there’s anything he would like to tell his fellow Vancouverites, having been a driving instructor in this city for nearly two decades now.  

“I would like to suggest, to people over 60 years old, to refresh their driving skills again. They’ve been driving a long time and have their own systems and old habits. But there are new rules and regulations. If you wait until you’re 75 or 80, it’s harder to learn the new rules and correct old habits then. If you don’t pass your road test, you may lose your license forever. I believe it’s a good idea to do a refresher when you’re in your sixties.

Nobody recommends this to them. If I tell people this, they will think I’m trying to make money, but I really believe refresher lessons would be valuable. For people to stay safe on the road and keep their independence by driving as long as they can.”

Thanks Keyvan for the lovely coffee chat! If anyone’s looking to take driving lessons, y’all know who I would recommend. In the meantime, my road test is coming up so… keep your fingers crossed for me, will you?

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Keyvan Keshavarzi | Atlas Driving School