This thread got me thinking... I remember the very first time I ever drove stick, and it was a mild adventure.
I was probably 11 or 12, visiting my grandpa's farm, helping my uncle with the haying. He needed to move both the bailer and an extra wagon to a different field, so asked me if I wanted to pull the wagon behind the big Massey Ferguson tractor by myself while he pulled the bailer with the other tractor.
My experience to that point: I was OK with steering and using the hand throttle, but had
zero experience with the stick or 3 pedals (clutch and 2 brakes - one per rear wheel... which I learned later).
I said ... SURE!!!
He put it in the appropriate gear and explained how to ease up the clutch to get going (without actually explaining the concept of "clutch" to me). He may have even got the thing going and then jumped out of the cab - I don't remember.
But I do remember him saying, "
just push that pedal back down to stop. Then shut off the engine."
Except the field we were going to wasn't entirely level.
Eventually I got it stopped, but the instant I pushed that clutch the blood drained from my face and I knew he hadn't told me the whole story!