I was cleaning up the breakroom after dinner one night when Dad came in and told me to hurry. Â “If you get that done soon enough, we’ll go out in the field and you can practice driving stick shift.” We’d brought the old truck up to Scottsburg months ago for that, but the field had been too wet every time we checked. “It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so this might be the last time the field is dry enough for a while.”
Jade and Indigo still had dishes to do, but I was done with everything I needed to do. I ran to find Dad and told him “I’m done!”
We went out to the truck and he got in the drivers side. “I’ll drive it out there and you can watch me.” We drove around the front of the building and then went to the higher ground behind it.
“The ground’s not too bad here – if we stay in this high spot, we should be fine. Here’s how this works.”
He explained how to drive with the clutch, and then we switched spots. “Um, tell me how to do this again?” He told me again and I tried to push the clutch all the way down. My foot couldn’t reach that far. I sighed and started feeling around for the lever that moves the seat forward. Dad showed me where it was, and we spent a couple of minutes trying to adjust it properly.
After I’d been driving around for a couple of minutes, stopping and starting (and only stalling twice!), Dad said “Okay, let’s try to go in reverse.”
Now, the truck is very old. It’s older than I am. And the only reason we still have it is so the kids can learn to drive stick shift in our field. So we haven’t taken care of a couple of things – the passenger side mirror is completely gone, and the driver’s side mirror is cracked. Which isn’t a problem when you’re just driving around in a field.
But remember how we needed to stay on the high ground? Right behind me was a slope, leading down to some of the lowest ground in the field. So I was looking all around, trying to see where the slope was. I eventually gave up and decided that I was just going to go for it. It took me a couple of times – I kept stalling because I didn’t want to give it so much gas that we sped right into the low ground.
When I finally got it right, the car wouldn’t move. It wouldn’t move and it wouldn’t move. “Try rocking the car.” Dad showed me how to rock the car and when that didn’t work, we hopped out to see what was wrong.
The tires were sunk three inches deep in mud.
My brothers cam out from the barn and started laughing. “Look – Brett got the truck stuck!”
“It wasn’t my fault – Dad said so. Right, Dad?”
“It wasn’t Brett’s fault. Can you go get me boards?”
The boys dropped off the boards and ran, hoping that Dad wouldn’t send them for more. Thankfully, they’d brought enough for the tire. We jacked it up and put boards under it. But then the other back tire had sunk too much. So Dad called them back and made them get more boards.
Once we had boards under both of them, we tried to move the truck. But the front tires had been standing there for too long – they were sunk in about two inches. The back of the truck moved slightly, but just enough to slide sideways off of the boards.
So I went to get boards for the front of the truck, groaning as I picked them up.
As I walked through the pasture I realized that I’d chosen the path that went right through the freshest straw from the barn. That was great – not only was I having to carry these dirty boards, I was having to walk through a lot of goat poop too!
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Thankfully, the boys were done with their jobs and had come back, so they got to carry the rest of the boards. Dad put them under the front tires and told the boys to get in the back of the truck to weigh it down. I hopped into the passenger seat and prayed.
After a couple of agonizing seconds, the truck started moving. Dad gunned it and we went barreling across the field, heading for the fire department. Their parking lot wasn’t far from where we’d been stuck. I let out a cheer when the tires hit pavement – I was so glad it was over! I wanted to go home, and everyone was waiting on us.
So – that is the story of how I managed to get stuck on my first time driving a stick shift.
Category: For Fun
JulieYouJest says:
The first time I drove a stick shift was on a first date with a guy in an Alfa Romeo convertible. I told him I drove stick shifts “all the time”. That was a lie. I drove it into some shrubs. No real damage and no second date. Thanks for sharing this story! That sounds like a much better, albeit messier, way to learn! Sorry about the goat poop.
Brett Jonas says:
Wow – you should blog that story! 😀 That’s really funny. And yeah, my way was probably better. 😀
Talitha Lepp says:
my mom took me to a big empty parking lot to learn stick…and it’s what i’ve driven ever since:). (my parents’ car is a five-speed) it’s actually lots of fun…most of the time:)
Brett Jonas says:
I haven’t driven it since! It’s been raining for so long. 😀
Talitha Lepp says:
ya should drive it more…it’s a great skill to have! 🙂
Brett Jonas says:
I will once the field dries out. 😀 I don’t want to get stuck again!!