The Last of a Dying Breed: The Manual Transmission
When you wake up for the day, and you're on the way out the door, you get in you car, start it up, put it in drive and go. For most people this is nothing out of the ordinary, its just another day in the life of the average human being. The problem with this is that it means driving isn't an exciting thing anymore.
Remember when you were 16 and got your license and couldn't wait to drive anywhere and everywhere you could? What happened to that excitement? Driving shouldn't be something that becomes muscle memory. Every time you turn that key, it should bring a smile to your face, make you feel excited and happy, and most of all, it should be an experience.
The biggest reason this excitement we once had is lost, is because driving is too easy to do with your brain on auto pilot. You barely have to think at all anymore when operating a motor vehicle. This is where the manual transmission comes in to play. When you drive a car with a stick, it becomes an experience, something enjoyable, something to remember. You cant just "set it and forget it" in a stick shift car. Yes, shifting can become muscle memory, but you actually experience driving in its greatest form. Releasing that clutch, and shifting every gear. You are in control, rather than the car. Secondly, it keeps you from getting so easily distracted. Its much more difficult to read a text on your phone when you have to have your hands available for shifting. Its because of this exact reason that stick shifts generally make for better drivers than those who learn in an automatic. Stick shifts force you to be a part of driving.
Learning to drive a manual transmission equipped car might be a pain at first, but once you get it down, you'll never want to even think about driving an automatic. You become a part of the car, controlling its every move. Climb in a stick shift car, and hit a curvy road and you'll truly experience driving in all its glory. As you rip through gears, down shifting and pressing the throttle, hooking ever last curve and turn, you'll notice there's a big smile on your face. Its because you feel like a race car driver. There's just something about dumping the clutch and going that stirs the butterflies. Its truly the greatest feeling you can have on the open road.
You watch things on TV, such as The Fast and the Furious franchise movies, and you'll notice yourself wishing you could have that much fun driving. The truth of the matter is, you can, and you don't need a fancy car with a lot of horsepower to have that fun either! Hop in the car, turn on your favorite tunes, crank the volume, roll down your window and go. This sounds like something you'd see in a movie when a group of kids or a family is going on a road trip. Most people see that and think, "I never have that much fun behind the wheel". Well the truth of the matter is, you can, all by getting a vehicle with that third pedal. It connects you with the car, with the road. It turns a mundane daily activity into something exciting that you'll be anxiously waiting to do all day long!
Sadly however, this experience is being taken away from us left and right. With technology advancing every single day, most people are losing sight of the enjoyment they once got from "the simple life". Every one is always in a hurry, and have lost sight of how the simplest things can bring you the most enjoyment. Too many people are wrapped up in there social media and cell phones, that they miss everything in the world that's happening around them. Stick shift vehicle can break this cycle, at least while cruising the open road. If you find a vehicle that comes with a stick shift, i urge you to purchase it. Unless you live in the big city where you cant go 2 blocks without sitting in bumper to bumper traffic, you wont regret the purchase. Help save this dying breed by purchasing a vehicle with a manual transmission, and lets bring back something that so easily brings a truck load of joy along with it.
