"As they passed the rows of houses they saw through the open doors that men were sweeping and dusting and washing dishes, while the women sat around in groups, gossiping and laughing.
"What has happened?" the Scarecrow asked a sad-looking man with a bushy beard, who wore an apron and was wheeling a baby-carriage along the sidewalk.
"Why, we've had a revolution, your Majesty -- as you ought to know very well," replied the man; "and since you went away the women have been running things to suit themselves. I'm glad you have decided to come back and restore order, for doing housework and minding the children is wearing out the strength of every man in the Emerald City."
"Hm!" said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully. "If it is such hard work as you say, how did the women manage it so easily?"
"I really do not know," replied the man, with a deep sigh. "Perhaps the women are made of cast-iron.""
- L. Frank Baum, "The Land of Oz"
Sunday, May 24, 2009
My wife and I are now the proud owners of two mini-vans. (OK, go back and strike the word "proud.") We traded in my Mazda 626, and bought a second minivan.
OK, now to my point. The Mazda I traded in... was a standard transmission. Yep. You read that right. A stick shift. Every primary car I've ever driven was a stick shift. I learned to drive on a stick shift. I freaked out in driver's ed when I put the car in "drive" and it started moving on it's own because I had never driven an automatic before.(My left foot kept kicking the floor looking for a clutch.)
Anyway, when I traded in this car last week, the salesman told me that 99% of all cars made now are automatics. Whoa. That means I would have a hard time getting a standard if I tried. Nobody drives standard anymore.
It made me kind of sad. Nostalgic maybe. I was thinking, "Wow. I am now the possessor of a dying skill." My kids won't be able to learn standard because there won't be any. I was thinking how sad that was, but hey maybe it's OK, because they'll never need it.
I prefer driving standard. I prefer doing something as a part of driving. I prefer feeling like I'm driving. I like the power and control of deciding when to shift, and how many RPM's I want. I like riding the clutch. I like coasting in, with the clutch pushed in. I like the challenge of having to start going from a stop when I'm on an incline without rolling into the car behind me. I like the fact that I CAN!!!! (And I'm quite good at it by the way.)
And now, it's a skill not valued anymore. So I began to wonder. Maybe this was what it was like when drivers didn't have to get out and crank the handle on the front of model T's anymore. Maybe this is what it was like when women stopped having to teach their daughters how to wash laundry in the tub. Did those people mourn too? Did those people think that society was going to pot because their kids didn't need to learn or even care to learn the skills they had to have to survive?
Is it such a loss when technology changes? I mean, that's just progress right? So maybe I should just get over the fact that I will never drive a standard again, and that with few rare exceptions, no one will.
OK, maybe automatics aren't as fuel efficient as standards. And they break down more than standards, but aren't I forgetting the main thing? Progress! Technology! Ease of use. Driving an automatic is easy.
Maybe I'm just mad that I had to work so hard to learn how to drive. (It is hard learning to get going without stalling.) And now, no one else has to. Maybe I feel like if I had to do it, everybody should. But that's not fair, is it? That's like saying that just because I had to learn to type on an actual manual typewriter that everybody should. Or that just because my grandfather had to build houses without power tools that everybody should.
I guess we should just put standard transmissions in the scrap heap with manual typewriters, human-powered lawnmowers and rotary dial telephones.
What other "skills" are dying out? Tell me under comments.
Still makes me sad though. Farewell, standard transmission. We had some good times together. You will be missed.
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Comments on "Farewell To The Standard":
2. Bird
- 05/24/2009 4:21 pm CDT
You can always find a used standard if you want one bad enough. I just sold a standard '94 Escort, and I drove a standard '84 Mazda truck back in 2000.
Don't fret, Shrode, just look on Craig's List for used cars. :-)
3. Roy
- 05/24/2009 4:57 pm CDT
1. licking stamps
2. using card catalogues at the library
2b. Reader's Guide to Periodicals
3. use of Omni when flying (soon, anyway)
4. typoing at computer terminals (still haven't figured out why this has not already disappeared)
5. hard wired telephones
6. encyclopedia sets
ps: are automatics really more fuel efficient? Trade offs (off the top of my head): auto trany might have more gears available, making for better acceleration via doing better job of keeping engine in efficient RPM range; manual must have less energy loss at trany. Guess I'll go Google the answer.
4. Bob Sacamento
- 05/24/2009 6:10 pm CDT
Maybe I'm just mad that I had to work so hard to learn how to drive. (It is hard learning to get going without stalling.) And now, no one else has to. Maybe I feel like if I had to do it, everybody should.
No. I'm with you. Driving standard is great. More control. More fun. And here's why everyone should learn standard: The cars cost much less to buy, fuel, and maintain. I had no idea that we were down to 1% of the market. I'm sad too.
As to your question at the end, I had one and only one skill in which I stood head and shoulders above anyone I have ever met: I could get ketchup flowing out of any bottle in three seconds flat, no matter how thick it was. And then they started making those confounded plastic squeeze bottles. So now my one and only area of excellence is irrelevant.
5. Evan
- 05/24/2009 7:51 pm CDT
I have bought standard transmission cars all my life. My current is a 2000 Honda Accord that I bought new. The dealer didn't have the standard on the lot, but it was easy to find one to be brought in.
I think if you buy European or Japanese model cars, standard transmission is still relatively easy to find. Outside the US, standard transmission is still the large majority of vehicles on the road, while automatics are rare.
I like standard for the same reasons others mentioned, but especially for the braking. I hate breaking without a clutch. Brakes on automatics are so sensitive, it always feels to me like you are about to be thrown out the windshield.
I do have to say that if I lived in an major urban area with a lot of slow crawl traffic, I might switch. That's one area where the standard transmission is not fun.
6. Wickle
- 05/24/2009 10:10 pm CDT
I much prefer the standard transmission. I like the feel, the control, and everything else about it.
I, too, have had to give it up as I had to ditch the old Corolla for a Lumina minivan. Sigh ...
8. salguod
- 05/25/2009 10:10 am CDT
You hit on two of my automotive passions - the minivan and the stick shift. I'll leave the mini-van for another day. :-D
I have only owned 5 cars and 4 of them were sticks. My current 2005 Mazda3 is a stick. Yes, the stick is a minority in the US (I think Evan is right, it's more popular elsewhere), but I doubt it's only 1% as your salesman claimed.
The stick shift will still be available for some time in cheap cars and in sporty cars. Enthusiasts love them and automatics are still more expensive to make.
However, they aren't necessarily less fuel efficient. That was true for a long time, but isn't necessarily any more. Take a look at the new Civic, 1 MPG less city but 2 MPG more highway. The Honda Fit is actually better all around with the automatic.
Conventional automatics (almost all of them) have what's called a torque converter between the engine and transmission. It's essentially a disc filled with transmission oil. Inside the disk are two 'fans', one connected to the engine and one to the transmission with their blades very close together. When the engine fan spins it pushes the oil and the oil pushes the other fan, turning the transmission gears. When you stop, the torque converter allows the engine to turn without the transmission turning.
In a stick, the clutch is in the same place as the torque converter. But, it's either connected or not. If you stop with the clutch engaged, the engine dies because it's mechanically connected all the way to the wheels. If the wheels stop, the engine has to stop.
Because the torque converter isn't a mechanical connection, there is some loss. One turn of the engine doesn't quite make one turn of the transmission. In modern cars, there's a way to mechanically 'lock' the torque converter after you get moving, eliminating that loss.
That's your mechanics lesson for the day. :-D
Lastly, I don't think that automatics are less reliable than standards. My Honda Odyssey's automatic hasn't been, but over the years I've put in 4 clutches in the various standards I've owned, and the '93 Escort I had needed another when I traded it. A clutch is not cheap and at some point it is going to fail. Like brake pads, they wear out. A well designed automatic needs no regular maintenance aside from fluid changes.
BTW - Mazda makes the ultimate combo - a minivan with a stick shift, the Mazda5.
9. bif
- 05/25/2009 10:48 am CDT
We currently have three cars only one is auto. We, as a family, have developed a strong distaste for the generic shape of all the new cars. Speaking for myself, Corvette and Porsche 911's are still great looking cars. Due to our distaste we have started to go vintage. We have a 1982 BMW 320i and a 1968 SAAB model 96. Both standard with the SAAB a column shift!
Another "talent" that has all but disappeared is taking photos with a camera that doesn't have a built in light meter! Most cameras now are auto exposure and auto focus.
12. damien
- 05/26/2009 7:01 am CDT
i have always loved being able to pop the clutch on a manual to start the car if the battery goes out on you. i also think it's easier to get a clutch car unstuck from the mud or snow. five of my six kids have their licenses, and all can drive a stick. the two that own cars have sticks: a honda accord and an old acura. learning to drive a clutch seems to have about a two week learning curve. if you have to learn, after about two weeks it's no big deal. but getting to "know" your car, shifting with perfect smoothness, using the gears to slow yourself down...there is a certain savor and joy here known only to those with a clutch. it's probably a bit safer too because needing both hands precludes talking on a cell phone in urban traffic.
14. Manders
- 05/26/2009 9:32 am CDT
I'm just old enough to remember how to use a card catalog--we learned how when I was in first grade. But it's been seventeen years since I've used one, or have had to use one, for that matter. I don't think this is a bad thing, necessarily. Still, we keep some around in my department for archival purposes (I'm a library science student).
15. Bob Sacamento
- 05/26/2009 11:31 am CDT
Another skill that has bitten the dust is that of darkroom technician. Developing film and processing prints.
I have a blog set up over at Bill's Bloo that I have yet to use. I was thinking that my first post might be on a few things I did to improve my photography. One of my tips was going to be to switch from film to digital.
I am so glad I didn't get around to making that post. I am so old. (BTW, though, if there are any film guys left out there, you are the true artists. My hat is off to you.)
As for other disappearing skills, some day soon, we won't have anyone left who can imitate Johnny Carson or Sean Connery.
17. Jeff the Baptist
- 05/26/2009 1:19 pm CDT
"In modern cars, there's a way to mechanically 'lock' the torque converter after you get moving, eliminating that loss. "
That isn't even touching on "automatic" transmissions like the DSG that don't have torque converters in the first place. They're essentially computer controlled standards that do the shifting for you.
Yes, automatics are king in the US. Don't worry, the opposite is still true abroad so you won't have trouble finding stick if you want one.
19. Bob Sacamento
- 05/26/2009 2:22 pm CDT
Is that your real name, Bob?
Arrgh! They know too much! I've been found out! I must step up the time table on my evil plan!
I don't like using my real name on the internet where I don't have to. I'm kind of paranoid about I.D. theft and cyber-stalking. Hope y'all don't mind.
Jared, I picked "Bob Sacamento" because, in part, it would be something only the cognoscenti would pick up on. But I'm surprised as to how few people actually do. Congratulations. You are in quite a select company.
20. Bob Sacamento
- 05/26/2009 2:26 pm CDT
Oh yeah, bif, I'm a big NCISer. (Which is kind of a problem, because it is on cable like all the time now.) DeNozo does a pretty passable Connery. I think it's just sad that we're maybe 10 years away from the time when the kiddoes won't even get it anymore. And so no one will do it. sigh.
22. jez
- 05/28/2009 7:23 am CDT
Is a card catalogue the same as a microfiche -- a microcard transparency that you read through a back-projector? I used them when I was a kid in the late 80s, it already seemed a pretty ancient idea back then, but it was great fun pretending to be a spy.
I think I have one somewhere, I remember liberating one from a dumpster a while ago -- they're cool machines with a nice big fresnel lens.
Leave a Comment:
According to Miss, the new "mini" looks kinda like an SUV from a certain angle. We have not yet figured out what angle that is... but I guess you could say you're the proud owner of a mini-van and and SUV-esqe mini-van.
:)
Dying skill??? Hmmm... letter writing. Not really a "skill"(or maybe it is...), but definitely dying out!