My first truck was a three on the tree. I'm 26. 10 years ago I drove it to the tire shop and the guy about 20 years older than me gets in to pull it in the bay.
He stares confoundedly at the dash like a waterhead at a Rubix Cube, gets out, and asks me "Is this the shifter? Where's drive?"
Me, teenage gearhead, staring the nigh 40-year-old decline of masculinity in its goateed face. I left happy about for new tires, but sad for my country.
A column shift is simpler than a floor shift to me. I could roll a cigarette and eat a meatball sub in traffic behind a 3-speed. You can shift 2nd-3rd with your steering hand barely moving it from the wheel.
Yep, eating an Arby's while driving a 71' Bronco with a three on the tree is no challenge.