Learning experience

Learning to Drive a Stick Shift

My mom knew that to be a complete driver my sisters and I needed to know how to drive any vehicle, including those with a manual transmission. Of course I was ready and willing to learn how to do this. I started my training at the tender age of 12. I know this was way too young to drive, but we had the time and the place. It all started in our church parking lot one Sunday after church. My mother has kept the nursery at our church for many years, and everyone was gone and the parking lot was empty. Lucky for me our church parking lot has a slight slope to it, so my learning curve was shortened a bit. I’d let the car start rolling down the hill then slowly let the clutch out. This was a great way for me to get a feel for the clutch and know when it would engage. After many slow rolling starts it was time to find a flat spot and try going from a stand still. This is where the excitement starts. It was like a scene from a movie. The car, a Toyota Celica ST, was bouncing and jerking all over the place. Of course I also stalled it out many times. After much practice and quite a few Sunday afternoons I was able to operate a stick shift like a NASCAR driver, well might not that good, but better than any of my other under aged friends. Since I learned so young and have driven my share of manual transmissions I am also quite capable of teaching others. I have taught a few people including a couple of girlfriends, believe me no easy task. I am certainly glad that my mother had the patience to teach me and allow me to practice all those Sundays because now I never have to worry about if I can or can’t drive vehicles with manual transmissions.