Stick This
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 9:40AM 
What the hell is the point of a stick shift? Seriously. I don't just eat for nourishment -- I enjoy a good meal, but I DO just drive because no one has invented a usable teleportation pod yet. So, why the hell do I wanna work any more than I have to at driving?
I've driven stick (not well) at various points in my life and I've just never embraced the idea. I've heard the, "It puts you more in touch with the road," crap before. We have automatic transmissions now, let's (expletive removed by Brenna) use them. Having to concentrate on shifting should not part of driving, it's a distraction. Steering? Yes. Braking? Of course. Shifting? No.
We're not allowed to talk on our cell phones or read while we're driving, and we shouldn't be expected to shift either. When we leased the car with a manual transmission I thought, "Well, most cars in Europe aren't automatic." Now I think, "Well most people in Europe are WRONG!" It's like preferring a sundial to a watch, 8-track to CD or worse, PC to MAC. I suppose if you've only ever known waking up in the middle of the night and going to an outhouse to pee, you might not miss indoor plumbing, but let me tell you, I miss my automatic transmission.
Bob Redpath | 6 Comments | Email Article | Stumble, Digg, etc. | in humor | tagged Stick shift, automatic transmission, manual transmission
Reader Comments (6)
Amen Bob!
Get in touch with the road?
Buy a car like Fred Flintstone, or my sons Magoo mobile, where you put you feet down in order to stop the thing!
Manual transmission?
Never understood the idea.
Why live like animals!
Okay, maybe I got carried away...
OK, I LOVE manual transmissions. YOu can really FEEL the road with an automatic transmission. Only really talented, smart people can drive them, that is why they are all over Europe! ha! And also on that steep hill in Tennessee where my dear Dad bravely taught me to drive one. He put me on a hill much like that one you were trying to navigate and made me sit there and burn rubber until I could drive that car up the hills of SF!
Manual transmissions are good because:
They use less gas
They keep you awake
I like them! Of course, you would too if you could drive them!!!!!! ha ha ha
The moral of the story? Don't go anywhere without ME and you'll never have to worry! :-)
Now, Bob, don't hold back. Tell us what you REALLY are feeling! (You poor thing! )
I got my driver's license on a maual pick-up truck at the ripe young age of 32 (so you CAN teach the old dog new tricks it appears) and the following week I put in 265 miles driving Los Angeles (West Hollywood to the fashion district - back and forth and back...). So it follows the stick is not a stranger to me, but, like the dishwasher and the remote car lock/alarm, I wouldn't have children without my automatic shift. Can you imagine mediating WWIII in the back seat between the kids and, "Oh, wait, hold that thought. I have to shift!" I mean, really!
I know you can't use the phone or read (or watch Fox TV in your visor, shave, eat breakfast or apply mascara) in your standard transmission vehicle, but you didn't decide to travel Europe in order to have your life remain the same, now, did you?
Bob,
Agreed.............manuals are fine for flat surfaces, but try navagating a steep hill while trying to drink a cup of coffee. NaDa.
Oh, no way does one give up on the coffee.........get another car!
I really had no problem with my stick shift cars.......I would pass them on to Cynthia and she would wreck them........good way to get a new car.
June
JUST A LITTLE TESTY BOBITTO
Well, I bet you wish you had my 1969 Volkswagen camper though, dontcha? Huh? Huh? Stick shift and all, it's perfect. I will not use a cell phone but I will continue to wear tie-dye and eat granola while I drive it