You guys just haven't done it, in traffic, everyday, long enough to get sick of it. A good buddy at work commutes into Toronto from Barrie. 3 years ago when we met he was driving a stick, I said he was crazy and he said all those same things (it's become second nature, it's fun, blah, blah). When he replaced his car he bought another stick....we had the same conversation again. Fast forward another 2 years (and another 100,000kms); he's absolutely dying to get out of his stick an into an auto.
Another example; my dad. He drove nothing but british sports cars for the better part of his working career. Commuted into the city everyday with them, year round. When I was a kid a remember him showing me the leather sole of one of his dress shoes; there was a hole right through it in the exact shape of a Triumph Spitfire clutch pedal. Shortly after that he bought an automatic DD.
As a driving experience; stick wins hands down, but for a daily grind commuter car, I'd never do it.
