Driving With The Cows

I had my first ever stick-shift driving lesson. For those that don’t know, 95% of cars in Europe are stick shift. Why is this? I have heard 2 reasons: You use about 10% less gas with a stick shift (and gas is about $8.00/gallon) . The other reason is that automatic cars offend the delicate male ego, Manly Men only drive stick shifts. Since many families only have 1 car, then manly man factor wins out. Take your pick of your favorite reason.

Well, anyway, I digress…back to my own driving experience. Since our American car had not come in yet through customs, Rob and I rented a stick shift car. We decided to use the opportunity to do a driving lesson.

Rob found a quiet country road, where no one else was likely to be, surrounded on both sides by pasture land and cows. When we got there, the cows were placidly grazing all over the field (keep this in mind for later in the story)….

Now, for those who have never tried driving a stick shift…it is unlike any automatic driving experience. You have to co-ordinate your left foot clutch, right foot brake/gas, and shifting from neutral into gear. If you don’t get it right, your car becomes a bucking bronco until you shift it back to neutral….or it just stalls. Well, I had a lot of stalling, and not a lot of moving, especially in the start. We covered only a small amount of road, with a large amount of noise and effort.

After about 10 minutes of driving, I looked over the formerly placidly grazing cows. They were now all lined up along the side of the road gazing eagerly at me. Now, I know I am an interesting person, but I have never had a bovine audience before, let alone one so enthralled. Was it my great skill at driving they lined up to admire? No, in the end, Rob and I figured that they were all lined up at the rail where the local farmer comes to feed them. Usually only a farmer interested in these cows would stop his car directly in front of them, so they equate car noise and car stopping as food. Well, cruel hearted person that I am, I did not stop and feed them . In fact, I tortured them with another 15 minutes of driving lessons by the pasture until I learned to drive away. By the end, if a cow ever gave an evil glare, it was these cows.

And thus is the tale of my first stick shift driving lesson.