Americans / Canadians: Manual Transmissions and You

[esswun]

I'm pretty into cars. I understand all the reasons to have a manual; my car is often in a gear I don't want when I'm trying to do certain things. Unfortunately my experience is limited to moving a couple of box trucks around a parking lot a few times, 20 years ago. My parents had mostly manual cars growing up but they wouldn't teach me to drive them when I was learning. Therefore I don't know how but would like to be able to. A lot of people will give me crap since I'm into cars but can't drive one; it's one of my biggest secrets. My wife could care less about cars but can drive one so this is frustrating, I really don't want/can't just buy one to learn on. /sigh