How did you get out of Vim before you knew its hotkeys and commands?

I guess just because how the question was laid out, I'm disqualified as I was taught how to use it the first time I used it. :P

with my first linux -system, I had an experienced friend to hold my hand while installing, configuring and usage - including vim. So, the first thing he taught me was how to exit it. This was sometime in ... 2003-ish?