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Topic #143
What’s the most useless thing you know how to do?
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To be honest. I don’t do anything that is useless. At least, not in my own mind. There is simply no room in my schedule to mess around. It’s been like that for a long time. So, whatever I do, I do it to make the most of the little time I have.
What I did come up with to answer this question, was something that I know how to do that is becoming an obsolete skill. I know how to drive manual transmission. Soon, having this skill will date me. Most of the cars being driven on the road today are automatics. Even larger vehicles have become automatic. The engineering has created superior efficiency in these transmissions, so it doesn’t make sense to produce manual any longer. At one time, gas consumption was better on a manual.
I learned to drive manual (called standard in my parents’ household) as a teen. My latest vehicle was special ordered so that I could continue to enjoy driving manual. For some reason, I take pride in this skill, but it really doesn’t serve much of a purpose any longer. I can drive just about anything, because I do know how to drive a manual,
but with the advances in technology, it’s no longer necessary. The likelihood of encountering manual transmissions when renting, or using someone else’s vehicle in an emergency, are next to none.
Still, I’m glad my parents took the time to teach me to drive a car with manual transmission. My current 6-speed makes me very happy. It’s genius in the snow (although, traction control has evolved and the fact that I don’t drive like a maniac is probably of greater worth).
The downside, being stuck in traffic and having to balance the clutch/break/gas scenario for extended periods of time (sometimes an hour).
Let’s hop on over and see what useless skills the other authors have…
we have a manual Jeep (much, much better in snow than an all-wheel-drive automatic) and if you go overseas, at least outside of Europe, it is impossible to find automatics, so it isn’t a completely useless skill yet. Our daughter is quite the adventuress and she has been very pleased that her mean parents made her learn to drive stick because it has opened up roads to her that most American tourists have to reply on guides for.
I don’t think that is true anymore, about outside of the US and Europe. And both transmissions are used off-road. Manual doesn’t exceed automatic anymore. For me, like most enthusiasts, it’s the involvement with the process, and the majority of people don’t care anymore. https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/best-cars-blog/2016/09/why-are-manual-transmissions-disappearing