I have my license, but I have never "enjoyed" driving, I see it as a means to an end, and the more automated the process, the better. While staying with my dad for the summer, I don't drive because I don't have a car here in Arizona. He takes me basically anywhere I need to go, and I supplement it with rides from others. But since my dad is leaving tomorrow for 10 days, I needed to have a way to get around. So I guilted him into letting me use his car while he's gone, which no one besides him has ever driven. The issue isn't just that it's his precious little BMW, which was the main reason he wanted me to stay away from the keys, but because it's a standard, which I've never driven. So I've had to spend the past week learning it, which culminated in me driving it here (Tucson) from Phoenix, where he's flying out of.
So, the question I have for the car people here after this experience is: Why on Earth would anyone choose a standard? I know, I've heard the standard reasons; better gas mileage, more control, etc. But after this experience, I've decided that before I ever even consider a standard it would have to get twice as much gas mileage and cost at least $5,000 less. I know those aren't realistic, but I see nothing short of that that could ever compel me to choose one of those god-awful cars. They're so much work, so much more thinking, and when I thought I couldn't hate them anymore, it didn't have cruise control! If I could find one, I'd get a car that drove itself. The point of a car, to me, is to get you where you're going, the less I have to contribute to that, the better. The whole mindset behind buying one of these cars is beyond me, I just don't get it.