Fellow Americans who can drive stick, what do you think of those who can’t?

47 comments

1. [deleted]

2. Nobody can drive a stick, sticks don’t have wheels and are just pieces of wood.

3. I don’t.

   I drive my car, they drive theirs. What is there to think about?

4. I don’t believe I’ve ever had any thoughts on people who can’t drive stick. It’s not a particularly necessary skill these days.

5. I don’t care, the only think I think about is how the pool of potential thrives is significantly smaller for my particular vehicle.

6. I don’t care.

7. Unless prompted, I don’t think of it at all. When prompted, I think “I guess they never had reason to learn how to drive stick”.

8. I can drive stick and automatic. I stick(heh) with an automatic – currently have a Mazda6. They make the life easier, and they *are* an improvement over stick.

   Yeah, I get it, enthusiasts want to drive stick. That’s fine. I personally don’t, nor do I care about who does or does not want to. It’s their choice.

   Anyone who gets elitist about this kinda stuff has a few problems.

9. I dont think about it. Most people view cars as purely utility machines. Automatic makes sense for that view.

10. I think it’d be fun to teach them. I also think I’m screwed if I become incapacitated and they have to drive. If they are a valet or a mechanic I think they’re in the wrong job.

11. Indifferent. I can drive stick, but it’s pretty much obsolete in my life.

12. I can, but I don’t care or even think a out people that cannot. It’s not a relevant part of driving anymore.

    It’s like someone with a car being concerned that people cannot ride horses anymore.

13. I do not think about them at all. The less we judge, the more we love.

14. Completely reasonable, it’s a niche skill that isn’t necessary to learn for your average driver.

15. Fellow Americans who can drive a horse and buggy, what do you think of those who can’t?

    I can drive a manual transmission car, but it’s a really unnecessary skill these days. I don’t know why anyone would learn unless they’re a driving enthusiast. Most of us just want to get places and almost all the cars in the US market are automatic.

16. Not something I think about. Most don’t and that’s ok, that doesn’t make them inferior than me.

17. If they’ve never had the opportunity to learn, or not have a reason to learn, it really isn’t an issue. It is unlikely that the average person would be in a situation that requires it.

    Something like 95% of cars in the US are automatic, and 99% of new cars are automatic. There really isn’t a reason to learn unless you plan on buying and driving a manual car.

    I learned a few decades ago when manual transmission cars were more common. Even then I only learned because the family car was manual. I’ve only needed that knowledge on two occasions since then. Once to drive a drunk friend’s car home for them, and another to move another friend’s car that was parked illegally. Both were bare bones manual transmission Ford Mustangs.

18. I only learned to drive manual because my dad said it could come in handy if I had to drive in Europe. I can’t even remember the last time I saw a manual car in the US so I honestly don’t think anything of people who cant drive a manual. And jokes on my dad as last time I went to Europe I rented an automatic car.

19. They’re all inferior to me.

20. [deleted]

21. I honestly think you are weak and frilly.

22. Nothing, who cares. Manuals are so rare anymore people don’t even have the chance to learn.

23. All my vehicles are manual, I like analog machines. If that’s not your thing and you rather drive your boring little car to your boring little job that’s your business. I don’t think much about you at all.

24. I don’t need to lord the superiority of my manual Nissan Cube over everyone. I know their loins are quivering with envy.

25. Inferior. And also they can’t steal my car, losers

26. I don’t care. Everyone’s different. Automatics are pretty good these days.

27. The only thought I’ve ever had is, “I guess I’ll drive your dad’s truck to get the lumber…” or whatever needs driven. If they can’t drive manual and I can, I often get asked to drive, usually their dad’s truck. I don’t know why, but it’s always their dad, and usually a truck.

    I did have to drive a friend’s dad’s manual Saab in England once, though. That was an entirely different experience.

28. I blame the parents honestly. Super sad they’ll never know the struggle of having to steer, shift, talk on the phone, and eat all at the same time. 😔

29. I don’t

30. I really don’t think about it unprompted. Some can and some can’t, no big deal. I do think that if people are given the opportunity to learn they should.

31. It depends on their character/personality.

32. I don’t really care beyond making sure they never drive my cars. I had a neighbor who asked my wife if he could move my street-parked car to make room for a moving truck (after claiming he could drive stick). I was at the office so found out about this when I got home. After spending twenty minutes trying to force it into reverse (and not lifting the collar for the reverse lock-out) he then proceeded to push it in neutral two spots forward, grinding the really nice set of one-off aftermarket wheels that I had designed (I’m a professional wheel designer) against the curb. So when I got home, I was greeted to my 1/500 limited production BRZ tS that I had babied since new with curbed wheels and a transmission that no longer shifted into first gear. The guy had moved out and left no information. I was able to fix the transmission by replacing the entire shifter, but now I don’t let anyone drive my cars unless I’ve known them for years.

    On the flip side, as someone who prefers manuals but isn’t die-hard manual, there’s so many cool used enthusiast cars that have a huge discount if they’re automatic instead of manual. I saved around $25k on my Porsche 911 (997) turbo because it was tiptronic instead of a six speed, and it’s still an awesome car.

33. I never give a thought to it.

    I used to have a 1964 Dodge Polara. I thought it was pretty funny watching the guy doing vehicle inspections try to figure out how to put it in gear. It was a push button automatic on the dash. He starts it up then starts looking for a column shifter, then a floor shifter, looks all around for something to make it go. Had to show him how it works.

34. It delights me to know how many people can’t, because it makes my car less off a theft target.

35. I’ll take petty things I tend not to think, nor care about for $500 Alex.

    This is is a hang up that I thought was uniquely European right up until this post.

36. I think it’s super weird how a small number of people have strong opinions about what it means that people can’t drive stick. My brother in Christ, you can’t knit but I don’t act like it’s a character flaw that you never learned, why should either of us care if someone else can’t drive a manual transmission?

37. They probably haven’t had a reason to learn. Sticks are not common enough that it’s a necessary skill. I was glad that I had the opportunity to learn and drive a stick for about a year in high school. My wife drove one all through college and would like us to teach our kids in one. I think that it’s a useful skill to have, especially if you plan to travel internationally, but I think it’s usefulness is going to dwindle once electric vehicles become the standard and gas vehicles become a niche option. So hopefully, in ~20 years.

38. I don’t care. The only reason I can drive a stick is out of necessity.

39. Who cares?
    I can drive a stick and it used to be the only cars I could afford in the 1980s.

    I can also write cursive, navigate without GPS, phreak a pay phone, and navigate with a paper map.

    Nobody cares. It really is mostly a useless skill.

    There’s new tech and out of all the stuff I can do, driving a stick seems least valuable. And it’s fine if you live somewhere like Kansas or Florida, but slightly annoying to drive a stick in really hilly places.

    I’m happy to have an extra hand to wave thanks to people that let me by or have my water in my hand.

40. They must be younger than me, and I grew up in different times. Must be nice to not have to learn that skill unless you want to.

41. I was taught but never needed to, husband drives stick, but as far as we’re concerned, it’s a non-issue. To me, it would be looking down on someone who can’t sew or play the piano.

42. I don’t think it matters. The majority of cars here are now automatic unless you special order them or are buying a high performance car. I only learned to drive stick as a teen because those used cars were cheaper.

43. I don’t care if other people can drive stick or not. I only learned how to because the super cheap car my dad got me when I was 17 was stick and it was my ticket to freedom.

44. I don’t care.

45. We secretly gather once a month and talk about how dumb they are.

46. Why does “people being able to drive stick or not” keep coming up? I can drive one. My son can’t. But I’m in my 50s, he’s in his 20s. All the cars in my household when i was learning to drive were manuals – on the floor, on the tree, whatever. It’s like asking what you think about people who don’t know how to use a rotary phone or rabbit ears antennas, or to push the comparison even further – drive a horse and carriage. If you didn’t grow up with it, if it wasn’t ever around, you very likely don’t know how to use it but could learn if you ever needed to.

47. Plebian scrubs with no class whatsoever.

    Or, y’know, just kinda wonder why they wouldn’t want a neat skill. I have a couple buddies that refuse to learn. Okay; offers standing open if you change your mind.

    In case of emergency they almost always have their rigs available anyway so that kinda thing won’t be an issue- 98% of the time anyway.