I guess this is an OK emergency skill, it should take about 8 or 10 hours to get it down and a couple months of driving before you are totally comfortiable. Those of us who learned to drive on stick shift in the old days, you know we couldn’t wait to get an automatic! I have never regretted not having a stick. I was reminded about this recently because my son bought an expensive 5speed stick shift car and decided he didnt like it so I traded him for my cheaper car. Bad idea. It is a real nuisance driving around in East Coast city traffic. Maybe if I lived in Kentucky or Utah and had some deserted spaces to scoot around this would be more fun, but in the city it stinks. And forget about answering your cell when you are driving a stick unless you court death.