Grinding Along

Learning how to drive a stick shift is a useful skill, and a powerful metaphor

In 1986, at age 21, I bought my first new car — a manual transmission Hyundai compact. My teenage years had been spent in my parents’ cars, followed by a 1972 Ford mini-cargo ship and a 1978 Chevy Blazer that drove like a champ but had more rust than chrome.

The primary reason for buying the Hyundai was its affordability, especially if you bought a manual transmission. At the time, the South Korean automaker was brand new to the U.S. and trying to establish a foothold in a crowded marketplace, so I could get a car with a warranty and manage to afford it on a journalist’s pittance of a salary.

One problem: I didn’t know how to drive a stick shift.

My dad loved all types of cars — especially old Cadillacs — but I didn’t have the same affinity for them. Lack of mechanical aptitude, summers spent in hot Texas junkyards looking for parts for said Cadillacs, and being prone to driver error had something to do with it.

A car was a means to get from place to place, a fact of life when you live in a state where public transportation was (and remains) nonexistent. The cars, as evidenced by my (lack of) care for them on the inside and outside, were worthy of attention only when absolutely necessary. (That explains why the mini-cargo ship’s engine burned out, but that’s a different story.)

My mom and one of her friends — my former English teacher, Bettye Petersen — came with me to the Hyundai dealership to pick up the car and give me some pointers. Fortunately, Bettye was much more successful at teaching me how to drive a stick shift than she was at instructing me in penmanship. (At one point in her sixth-grade class, she told me to drop cursive altogether and go back to printing because my handwriting was so bad.)

With her help and practice, I managed to learn how to operate the clutch and the gears without too many issues. Before long, I found that I truly enjoyed driving a stick, largely because it forced me to stay focused. Over the next 15 years, in fact, I owned two more cars with manual transmissions.

Cars remain a means to an end. I love that we now live in a town where walking takes priority over driving. When we moved to Alexandria, Jill and I gave our second car to Kate (whose early driving record unfortunately mirrors her dad’s) and plan to keep our 2015 CR-V several more years.

I’ve thought a lot about that Hyundai, and learning how to drive a stick shift, as post-pandemic life has ramped up in recent weeks.

In March 2020, my business went from fifth to first without hitting the clutch, and it was all I could do not to hit my head on the windshield. Now, as we return to some variant of normal and my business (thankfully) returns in force, I’m feel like I’m having to learn how to drive a stick all over again, grinding the gears along the way.

Do you feel that way, too?

A Few Things You May Have Missed From This Week…

• Stage 1: This is the first of two essays this weekend. Tomorrow’s is the fourth installment of “Stage Dad,” featuring a look at the guardians who work with children backstage during rehearsals and performances. I was fortunate to interview one of the best — Vanessa Brown, a veteran of more than 20 Broadway shows — for Sunday’s essay.

You now can find all the Stage Dad essays in a separate tab on my Substack page. I hope you’ll continue to read, comment, and share them as well.

• Stage 2: On Tuesday, I had my first opportunity to shoot a show professionally at the Kennedy Center; I hope it’s not my last. Amos Lee performed in concert with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. Lee’s management shared the photos on his social media and asked for a set to promote his work, always a plus.

Amos Lee at The Kennedy Center

• Stage 3: On Thursday, I shot the dress rehearsal for “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” the first production of the newly formed Metropolitan Musical Theatre Company. The company, run by Metropolitan School of the Arts, features a number of talented teenagers, many of whom attend the Academy at MSA.

“Spelling Bee” is being performed this weekend at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Kensington, Md. It’s a lot of fun, and you can see my photos by going to my Facebook album here or to MSA’s SmugMug page here. (MSA’s SmugMug website features photos I’ve shot for the organization since 2013.)

• The Final(ist) Act: “Anything is Possible,” a magazine feature I wrote on a performing arts program in Aldine, Texas, is a finalist for a national award. The story, which appeared in the October 2021 issue of American School Board Journal, is one of three feature finalists in the “Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives” category for the Software and Information Industry Association’s EXCEL Awards. Winners will be announced in late June.

Thanks, as always, for reading. See you again tomorrow.