My dad made me and my brothers learn in a stick. The final test to see if we are ready was he would put a cup of coffee on the dashboard and we would have to drive him around without spilling it.

My dad taught me before i was even 16...My preference has been stick shift almost always-feel like i have more control that way...lol, maybe i really am a control freak!
Btw-why do men act surprised when they find out a female can drive a MT?
Story: back in HS i gave a hella ride to my then BF in his 68 Camaro w/ speed shifter-dumped clutch-wide tires smokin'-wow-still makes me smile-wonder if he remembers that?

:icon18: My father would hold his coffee drink and make clear that we wouldn't like him so much if we spilled coffee on him. He was/is a pretty intimidating and bad a$$ guy.

Now thats a first car!

A buddy lent me his car in HS to learn with, i had a spare he didn't, he got a new car every couple months anyway, after that is was a couple years before i bought my first new stick car.