I probably own my last manual car, a Scion XA. When I was a teenager, driving stick was fun. It conferred a feeling of skill and exclusiveness, and also a way to drive like a teenager despite an underpowered engine on my way to my cello lesson.

Today, I've paid my dues. I've pushed the lever back and forth, and stepped on the pedal, probably millions of times. It makes me feel like I'm in one of those psychology experiments, where they see how many times a rat will push a button in order to earn a pellet of food.

But also, driving has stopped being fun, due to congestion. Today it's just a chore.

Of course it's a matter of personal preference, I get that. Today, I like everything automatic. Get in, step on the pedal, go. Step on the other pedal, stop. Even better than automatic tranny, is adaptive cruise control. That's like night and day when on the highway.