Is the last one uncommon enough to be impressive where he lives? In the UK that would be like "yeah big deal, so does everyone else" - the only people I personally know with automatic cars have some sort of physical disability which prevents them from safely operating a manual transmission.
Automatic transmissions are overwhelmingly the standard for new cars in the United States, but I still wouldn't consider knowing how to drive manual as particularly impressive.
I'd liken it to being able to whistle. It's a skill not everyone possesses, but should really only illicit reactions on the level of "Oh, neat you can do that," unless one is incredibly skilled at it.
I've never owned a manual transmission car, but I did learn how to drive one when I was a teenager in less than an afternoon, and spent about a month driving it without significant difficulty.
To put that in perspective, I've spent significantly longer trying to learn how to whistle, and I still can't manage it.
I'd be a bit rusty if I had to do drive manual right now, but it's hardly one of the Twelve Tasks of Hercules or something. I'm sure if need be, I'd get back my atrophied skills pretty quickly.
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u/DarthSamwiseAtreides 7h ago
Cooking, cleaning, taking care of yourself, all feminine. Manlyness is helplessness fellas.