Today at RDP, we are asked to share a story,
poem, photo, painting, essay, etc., focusing
on the word ‘clutch’. Here’s my take.
Denise feels like kicking herself for not paying attention the day her father explained how to use the clutch in their car.
NAR©2025
This is “Pay Attention” by Pomplamoose
All text and graphics are copyright for Nancy Richy and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.
The Elephant's Trunk 
nice
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Dylan
LikeLike
I miss driving with a standard transmission! It was more fun!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those were the simpler days, for sure!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s been “decades” since I had a car with a ‘Clutch’, Nancy …
LikeLiked by 1 person
Same here, dear Ivor! 🚗
LikeLiked by 1 person
😍😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Simple but effective words that gave me a wry smile Nancy 😏
LikeLiked by 1 person
So pleased to know you enjoyed my very little story, Brian. Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That made me laugh – I remember when I was 17 and got my provisional licence so excited as my dad had promised to teach me. My first lesson- how the engine works!! I was well miffed my second, we had literally gone 3 yards down our lane and he shouted “I’ll have no clutch left!” So I got out slamming the door got back in the house and said to my mum “ I’m not getting in the car with him again!”…and I didn’t 😆
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my! I’m a firm believer in driving school. I took my son out driving once and it was like having a death wish! Never again!
LikeLiked by 1 person
😆
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t drive Nancy, but I do know about the clutch, …and ouch!! So painful for the pocket!💙
LikeLiked by 1 person
You can’t or you don’t? I have lots of friends who live in Manhattan; they know how to drive but don’t have a car because it’s almost impossible finding a place to park. I love to drive and do all the driving when Bill and I go out. 🚗
LikeLike
I never learned to drive Nancy, …something I do regret, …happy driving my friend, …💙
LikeLiked by 1 person
I cannot believe no one learns how to drive a manual anymore. I love it- I only don’t have one now because- well Alaska- and that means I already have enough to look out for! heheheh
LikeLiked by 1 person
They’re becoming more rare as time goes by. I haven’t driven one in years but probably still could. I use both feet when I drive anyway! 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh lord, it happens.. Yikes.. I remember.. 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know exactly what you mean, Cindy! Now our granddaughter is learning how to drive and all those memories are flashing before our eyes!
LikeLike
I learned to drive a 1940 Ford sedan with a clutch and a stick shift. My grandfather’s eyesight was bad, and Granny wouldn’t let him drive to the domino parlor, so he taught his 10-year-old grandson to drive while he shifted the gears. It was like Robert Mitchum in Thunder Alley running moonshine. I worked the brake, clutch and gas pedal, and was quite good after a few runs. My mother threw a world-class fit when she found out. All my teenage muscle cars had clutches and stick shifts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Now that’s what I call quality time with Gramps. Calm yourself, Mama!
LikeLiked by 1 person
He also taught me to drive his John Deere tractor, and I got the hang of it pretty quick after driving through a few hundred yards of cattle fencing. He also taught me to chaw Tabacco, which I never told my mama about.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like the kind of grandpa every boy wants!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, grandpa was a fairly religious man, at times, but his two sons, my mischievous uncles, who were adulsts at that time, are the ones that almost ruined my childhood, telling me about monsters in the mountains that steal children, tall tales, and that Howdy Doody was not a real boy, things like that. I also inherited their knack for story telling and tall Texas tales. I was blessed for having street rat crazy family members.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Woah woah woah! Back up there, cowboy. What’s this nonsense about Howdy Doody not being a real boy? You can’t be going around telling tales like that, you hear?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I was traumatized by a puppet. My uncles were kind of mean to us little ones.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love using the clutch. In fact one of my foot is permanently on the clutch.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is fun driving!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it was when my knees and shoulders were in good shape
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, something I can relate to!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yup! Over use plus inherited conditions from my mom’s family
LikeLiked by 1 person
Accidents can happen when you don’t pay attention.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep! And even when you do. There are a lot of crazy drivers on the road.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Three pedals and only two feet; it can be a bit confusing choosing which ones to press when as a learner!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You got that right …. says the woman (me) who drives with both feet!
LikeLike
Oops. Have to confess I’d rather drive a manual than automatic though, so clutch use is familiar.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Clutch can really be fun. I learned on clutch but since then all my cars have been automatic.
LikeLike
Hubby had an automatic and I nearly crashed it. He didn’t like it much either so we changed it as soon as we could.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s all a matter of what we get used to.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Over here, if you pass your driving test in an automatic, that’s all you can drive unless you sit another test. If you pass in a manual drive as I did, you can drive both.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Makes sense to me!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ouch !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dad’s thinking “there go the insurance rates!”
LikeLike
Up! Up ! Up!
LikeLiked by 1 person
😂
LikeLike