Re: Women driving standard transmissions

[BMcCrary27@aol.com]

After reading all the posts on preferred transmissions and whether women are 
capable of driving standard ones, I just had to recall my early experiences 
of driving. When I was a teen, driver training had not yet been introduced 
into high school curriculum. My brother (who, much later, became a driver 
training instructor in the high school where he taught math and electronics) 
tried to teach me on the family Ford, circa 1946 model, but he forgot to 
inform me that when you release the clutch, you simultaneously press on the 
accelerator. So, of course, I stalled the engine, and that was my one and 
only lesson from him. When I met Lud, he was the one who REALLY taught me to 
drive, and what a capable driver he is, especially in rough country and 
mountains.  So, when I went in for my first driver's exam to get a license, I 
drove a Dodge pickup with a standard transmission, a 4-speed I think, because 
5-speeds came along only later. The test went smoothly, and at the end, the 
examiner sat quietly for a few moments and said (drawing it out slowly for 
the best suspenseful effect), "Wellllll, I guess.......I'm going to have to 
give you a license."  You see, Lud had taught me, in the days before 
syncro-mesh transmissions, to back shift with a double clutch, and I believe 
that really impressed the driving examiner.  That was exactly 50 years ago.
For a while, we had a stock truck with a two-speed axle, and I could drive 
that all over the state, hauling a bull here or 4-H steers or cows there. 
Farm and ranch raised women are pretty capable, when it comes down to it.

Barbara