Done: Learn to drive a standard shift car

Ugh, this one was a hard one. I live in Montreal so I don't have to use a Car. I sincerly dislike driving.

I enjoy the sense of "freedom", aka "roadtrips" but aside from that, I think people everywhere drive like idiots, including me.

I don't know people clumsier than I and there are things you are not supposed to do when you are clumsy. Like drive, work in IT, scuba dive, basically lots of fun stuff with the potential to kill people, machines and/or yourself.


I know I need to know how to drive in case of an emergency. If someone I know is sick I want to be able to drive them to the clinic, for example. Its just that I find cars terribly dangerous, yeah, I'm that paranoid.

I basically got my driver's license almost against my will, the boyfriend basically got tired of his designated driver status and my family was waving the "independent woman" argument, so there, I got it, and I was off the hook for a while.

Ha, last laugh was on them, specially because thanks to a traumatizing driving class years ago, I decided I would never touch a manual transmission car again, yet the boyfriend refuses, by principle, to buy an automatic car. I guess its his mechanic pride.

While in Australia, we had to drive Long distances, doing 8 hours of driving was not uncommon and because I don't drive manual and our van was a huge monster on the road, all the driving was basicaly done by him. Sweet status quo!

Basically one day I felt bad for the poor fella, and I asked him to teach me how to drive our monster truck. We were on a gravel road towards a national park, so I was sure I wasn't going to hit another car or something, so we started the lesson.

It all went relatively well, even driving on the other side wasn't as bad, I had already done it on a manual car I had borrowed in Oz, but I still hadn't understood the concept of breaking in a manual transmission car. So when we got to a funny curve I was unable to decide whether I should just break or release the clutch and break, or release the clutch alone or anything, basically my brain turned off. All I remember was us sitting in the car after my dangerous maneuver, shaking. I had been able to turn the wheel like Lewis Hamilton, but after that, I refused to re-start the car.

So why do I say I learned how to drive a manual transmission car? well, I said I was doing pretty well and after that shock there is no way I'll ever forget that when you want to break, JUST EFFING BREAK, and everything will be alright.

P.S I haven't driven back in Montreal and to be honest, I don't intend to.