Thursday, July 2, 2009

Learning the Dreaded Clutch

Pop. The car lurched again. Then engine turned off. My grandpa furiously got out of the passenger seat and motioned for me to do the same in the drivers seat. I reluctantly put on the emergency brake, unbuckle my belt and open the door to this 2000 Passat, a beautiful car.
"You're letting the clutch out too fast" My grandpa remarks
"Ok, lets just go home" I reply letting a hint of sadness enter my voice
"Forrest, I want you to try this one more time, I think you almost got it last time"
"Alright, this is the last time, and then I am done"
I get back in the car, slowly put my foot on the clutch, and test the gas, just to make sure it is working. I let the emergency brake off, hit the gas a little, and then let go of the clutch, ever so slowly.
I closed my eyes, (which is probably not the smartest idea due to the fact that I was driving) waiting for the trademark lurch that I had become famous for, but it didn't come. I finally had made a smooth start up.
After realizing what I had done to make this work, I wanted to try again. I break, putting the clutch down first of course, and then repeat the process. Same result. It was amazing, synonymous to childbirth, one of the greatest miracles of all time. I started learning the clutch.
Now of course there is all the other things that you need to learn, upshifting, downshifting, how to start on a hill etc. but that was all I was going to do today, a beautiful victory.
Forrest: 1, Clutch: 0

1 comment:

  1. Just wait until Kenny, the clutch taskmaster, gets ahold of you...

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