My friend with an auto trans Z28 always makes fun of manual trans cars. He says "if you want to go fast you would get an automatic". Or if say "so and so has a 6-speed" he says "oh so he likes to go slow".
Sorry to hear. I have both an auto and a manual SC, and I prefer the auto, to the 5-speed, but it is fun to shift your own gears now and then.