I’ve always driven a manual transmission car. In my house, an automatic just wasn’t an option. My parents have always driven manuals, and when I turned 15 and was ready to learn how to drive, that was what was available to me.
My very first driving experience was in my neighbor’s 1989 Nissan Pathfinder. It was honestly pretty awkward. He had lived next door to me for the better part of my life, but we didn’t talk. He was four years older than me and at that time the age difference seemed expansive. I saw him around because he was better friends with my dad.
My dad likes to throw me into awkward situations. I had been bugging him about teaching me how to drive, and this was the solution he came up with. He told me my neighbor would be teaching me how to drive and that was that.
So we went out one extremely hot afternoon. It was really uncomfortable. I stalled many, many times. The Pathfinder was old and hard to drive, the gears were finicky, the clutch was stiff. There was minimal talking involved, you know, because we weren’t friends. So the pressure was on. We went back to our houses after about an hour. I said thanks, and we went our separate ways.
He never gave me another lesson, and I never asked. We continued our separate existences after that.
In the end it was my mom who taught me how to drive in the big parking lot at our local marina. If you had to learn how to drive in a manual car, you know how much more difficult this makes it.
Obviously, ever since then I’ve been a professional. I’ve driven many different cars and am always excited to see what the clutch and the stick feel like. Oddly enough, I’ve always known more girls who’ve driven stick. Not necessarily by choice, but it makes them better humans and I think they realize it.
I had the pleasure a couple weekends ago of teaching my guy friend how to drive stick. This is the third guy friend I’ve taught. My dad has always told me I am incredibly impatient and a bad teacher, so in the best interest of my clutch and my gearbox, I tried to channel an inner peace.
I think it worked out in my favor because he got it right the first time. He did stall the car eventually, but he didn’t on the first try. I have to say I was incredibly impressed. I give credit where credit is due, which means I also have to give credit to my car, Tom. As a 2011 Altima Coupe, I think he is relatively easy to drive. He is no 1989 Pathfinder. Even my best friend’s Mini Cooper has a stiffer clutch. Tom shifts into gear like jelly.
Nevertheless, my friend got it on the first try. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to have the need for speed. He drives an Infiniti G37 Coupe himself, and has Wrangler dreams, so I was hoping to convert him over to the manual transmission club. When we finished our lesson he really baited me by saying, “I understand why you drive so aggressively now. Driving stick really makes you want to go fast.” I asked him if his next car would be a stick then, and he still said no.
This is disappointing to me because the last guy friend I taught converted. We don’t talk much anymore, but he told me recently that he has proudly mastered driving stick in his friend’s car. Whether it’s a Land Cruiser, Jeep or GT-R he ends up with next, I know it’ll be a stick. That makes me pretty happy.
I have a kind of melodramatic, worst-case scenario for if you don’t know how to drive stick. Suppose you are being chased down by a bloodthirsty murderer and the only unlocked car you find is a manual. What are you going to do? Well if you know how to drive stick, you will drive off to safety and away from your attacker.
Not only could driving stick save your life in a rare scenario, but it’s also really fun and gives you more control over your car. I know not everyone has the opportunity to drive stick or learn, but if the opportunity presents itself, I highly recommend it. I’m sorry I can’t teach each of you personally.
Erika Canfijn is a UF public relations senior. Her column appears on Thursdays.
[A version of this story ran on page 7 on 7/2/15]
