This is true. My parents didn't teach me to drive either. My girlfriend's mom felt sorry for me and spend a lot of time teaching me. Then, after driving for a year, a good buddy of mine taught me to drive stick shift.
A long-ago girlfriend taught me how to drive a stick when I bought a second vehicle that had one. I knew how to drive a stick and my parents had had manual shift cars that I had practiced on a bit but you really need to develop the right feel for the clutch and throttle.
I remember for about the first month making a real point of avoiding routes and times that would expose me to a lot of stop and go traffic, especially on inclines.
I can't imagine what initially learning to drive a stickshift somewhere like SF must have been like!
My friend taught me well. He took me to a cul-de-sac in our neighborhood that went up a steep hill, and I practiced "feathering" the clutch for 30 minutes. After that, the rest was easy.
I think a lot of it was psychological for me :-) I could do it but the idea of having to do it with a car's bumper 6 inches behind me made it more difficult.
