Anyone else out there know how to drive a manual/straight drive/stick shift? While I was growing up in high school and college, I learned that this is a lost art among most young people today.
For those of you that know my parents, you know exactly how they operate. They are pretty good with technology, but before we can work with and use that technology...we have got to know the "old fashioned way".
Just look at them...aren't they are the coolest:)
There are a lot of things that I am proud to know how to do as a young woman. I can change a tire, check my oil, count back change (without the computer or a calculator), put water in a radiator, jump a battery, change break pads, drive a manual, and even change the cords on an ancient clothes dryer. Still to this day, our feed store has the old credit card reader that we can use if the power goes out. My parents taught me how to survive without technology before I could ever use it.
Now back to the real story and what this post is all about. My parents would not let us get our drivers licenses until we proficiently knew how to drive a manual. I thought it was the silliest thing growing up, but I wanted my driver's license, so you do what you got to do sometimes. While we were in our learner's permit days, a couple times a week we would head down the old roads and start practicing. My poor father has had a close encounter with more windshields than most people have ever had. As a joke one day...he got in the passenger seat with a bike helmet on and in a serious tone said "Let's do this!" Guess I wasn't the Jeff Gordon I actually thought I was...
It's been a while since we had a manual vehicle...at least until my dad found the gem in the picture at the top of this page. A 1998 Toyota Tacoma!
While talking, our employee Genia mentioned she didn't know how to drive a manual. So, during store hours my parents let me go across the street to an old road and teach her this wonderful skill.
Guess what?
I was impressed. There wasn't any "grind until you find", we stalled only 2 or 3 times, I didn't eat the windshield, and now she is on her way to becoming another proud member of the manual driving family. Do you know how to drive a manual?