Driving Stick-Shift

     I am learning to drive standard. I was thrust into this responsibility when my sister got herself a new, more suitable, and automatic car and gave me her old one. I started with just the knowledge of having to press the clutch while switching gears. As I started driving, I learned other lessons, on top of the typical driving lessons, along the way. As day after day found me stalling several times in one intersection after another, I found myself panicking (especially if there were cars behind me); patience is what I learned. When learning something that's full of multitasking, it is important to stay calm, know that it is something that requires effort, and have patience - you won't learn everything at once. After asking my sister how to keep from stalling, I am better, but it still needs practice. And when I stall, I find that there are many people that understand (still, if only everyone would: one car behind me in an intersection. no. parking lot! literally honked right after I had stalled it - it was almost simultaneous).
     One couple offered their help to me after I had stalled several times in succession at a gas station and had waved them on. Finding out that I was driving standard, they gave me a piece of advice, "Don't be embarrassed."
     Running the gauntlet on the streets of Fergus (stoplight, after stoplight, after stoplight), I stalled the car once at each intersection with a pick-up patiently following along behind me. On the two-lane highway going out of town, the pick-up pulled up beside me, and the young guy behind the wheel suggested that I "leave the clutch in, if that helps." I thanked him (which I hope he heard and realized how thankful I actually was for his thoughtfulness).
     I am thankful that there are people willing to help and make things easier, particularly when I feel so frazzled and frustrated.