New Car

Luke and Ariel have been saving their money for years and together decided to buy a car, and save their mother from spending her entire life driving children hither, thither, and yon. They got a very cool silver 4 door Chevy Cobalt. There’s only one small problem. The car is a standard transmission, and Luke and Ariel drive an automatic. Luke has had occasional opportunities to try a standard, but he’s not “fluent” in standard.

So Saturday evening, I took them and their new car to a parking lot close to the house. I told them to put seatbelts on and take turns trying to go from stop to first. Then stop, then first. Etc., etc. You can imagine what took place. Lurch, lurch, jerk, pop, and squeal. I got lots of practice saying, “Ease off of the clutch.” Jerk. “No, you popped the clutch. Restart the engine, and try again.” Or “Yes, that revving is the engine, let off the clutch.” Lurch. “No, you popped the clutch again.” Some neighbors decided to watch for a while. And later, a man at one of the local businesses decided to come have his break and watch Luke and Ariel “learn.” Let’s just say we left lots of new tire tread all over the parking lot. (And it wasn’t just Ariel who left rubber on the parking lot.)

I’ve promised them that it won’t take long before they are proficient (although with finals coming up, it will take longer than normal). But in the meantime, I’m considering selling tickets to the show.