Touching video shows a deputy sheriff teaching a stalled teen how to drive a stick shift
“I asked her if I could help assist her. So I kinda went through the steps of helping her out.”
Deputy Kendrae Traylor helps a stalled motorist.
Just like rotary phones, shopping malls and popcorn you heat on the stove, stick shifts (or manual transmissions as the pros call ’em) may soon be a thing of the past. A report in The Atlantic shows that in the year 2000, manual transmissions accounted for 15% of the new and used cars sold by Carmax.
In 2020, that figure dropped to just 2.4%.
The sad thing is that countless people will never experience the pleasure of driving a manual transmission. There’s something to be said about the feeling of actually driving and controlling a vehicle with a stick shift. It's a sensation you can’t get behind the wheel of an automatic.
Manual cars are also cheaper, less likely to be stolen and have lower maintenance costs.
Given the manual transmission’s decline in popularity, seeing a teen learning how to drive one warms the heart. That may be why Cleveland County Deputy Kendrae Traylor of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, went out of his way to help a stalled teen learn how to drive her manual transmission.
Traylor and his partner, Ryan Graham, came across the stalled car in the middle of the road recently and pulled up to investigate.
"We came across a stranded vehicle, wondered what was going on with it. Made contact with this young female, brand new driver of a standard, didn't know what she was doing,” Traylor said in a post shared by Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office. “I asked her if I could help assist her. So I kinda went through the steps of helping her out.”
Traylor helped the girl pull the car into an empty parking lot where he taught her how to drive her stick shift with confidence.
“Once we were in an empty parking lot, I helped her step-by-step understand how to drive a manual transmission,” he continued.
"You want me to talk you through it? I can do that," Traylor can be heard saying in his partner's bodycam. The footage was later shared by the Sheriff’s Department where Traylor got a lot of love for being such a wonderful public servant.
\u201cDeputy Kendrae Traylor with the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office helped a new driver learn how to drive a stick shift after finding her stalled in the middle of the road.\n\nhttps://t.co/poj4EX83Zh\u201d— KOKH FOX 25 (@KOKH FOX 25) 1663844401
"I love it. He was so patient and now she will be," Jennifer Rachel Trum commented on a TikTok post of the footage. "I know Kendrae through some friends, he’s such an amazing guy and an outstanding Deputy," brianramos0315 added.
"She will never forget your calm and caring lesson! Thank you for protecting and serving!" Stephanie Anne Morros said.
This story was especially touching for me because when I was 18 years old, I got my first car, a 1989 Toyota Tercel that had a manual transmission. My dad gave me an hour-long lesson on how to drive the car and then told me to take it home, alone. It was normally a 20-minute drive, but it took me more than an hour because I kept stalling in the middle of traffic.
The drive home was one of the scariest experiences of my life. I couldn’t get the car going at a traffic light and all the cars behind me were beeping as the light switched from green back to red.
I would have loved to have been helped by a kind deputy like Traylor during my fateful first trip alone in a manual transmission. Good news is, I made it home alive and I love driving a manual transmission so much that my next three cars were all sticks.
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids…
Imagine having to go so badly but being out of euros. 
Anything hobbit-esque can't be wrong. 
But what if you need pain meds AND mascara?!
Imagine how this would affect childcare.
Honestly…where's the lie?
A brown buddha statue sits near a green mountain. Photo by 
Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
Ladybug unexpectedly found during colonoscopyPhoto credit: 
Close-up of bottom of ladybug found in colonPhoto credit: 
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."