In praise of the stick shift

 

I got my driver's license when I was 22, which is a story for another day. My mother taught me to drive in a red, Volkswagen Rabbit -- a stick shift, which I then purchased so I could drive to and from my first actual full-time job at the Lewis & Clark College Law Library.

This summer, I have a teenage driver-in-training who is adamantly opposed to learning to drive a stick shift. She would rather drive the aging family minivan than my newish Mazda 3 with a sporty spoiler on the back. And she has no trouble saying that if she had to drive someone to the hospital in a car with a stick, she guesses they would just have to die.

Fewer than ten percent of the cars sold in America have a manual transmission. Recently CNN posed this question in an article: "Is learning how to drive stick in America still essential?" Their conclusion was no.

While this all saves me the worry of a wrecked car, I find that I actually care a lot about whether she learns.  But am I just being a stubborn "you need to do it because I did it" kind of mom, or is it something else?

Since a good survey can get to the bottom of almost anything, I asked a few friends to tell me why they prefer a stick shift. Outside of the person who said "just because," the two main themes that came out were "fun" and "control." There was a tad bit of "I don't want to feel middle-aged." And it was abundantly clear that those who participated thought driving a stick shift was clearly the better choice.

And thus, the survey cleared it up.  We love our stick shift cars because we like to drive. And when you like something, you want to feel it and be more a part of it. For me, it's pure freedom to drive down a curvy country road on a crisp fall day with the windows down and some great music playing on the stereo. To fully experience that joy, demands the ability to shift the gears of your car yourself.

At least I understand now, regarding Emily, that it's really about wanting her to embrace the opportunity to have a thrill. And I hate to see her close the door on it before she has a chance to test it out. Maybe one day, someone who is not her mother will convince her to give it a try.

**And now, I'm off to vacation.  To swim in the ocean and drive an automatic rental car.  Any writing that gets done will be by old fashioned pen and paper. Back later in August.