I got a Honda Civic del Sol when I was around, I dunno, 18 or so that had a manual, then when I traded that in I got a Toyota 4 x 4 pickup that had one too (my gf at the time loved trucks and hated little cars, thus the trade-in), and I had no idea until some years later just how much difference there can be in ease of use with manuals. The del Sol, in particular, was super easy to drive, smooth shifting, easy clutch, just really user-friendly. The Toyota, for a truck, was easy too.
So here I thought ay, I can drive a manual, it's easy, and I go to try to drive a friend's late '80s Ford Bronco. I grinded that clutch so bad on the first two gear shifts that I noped the hell out and didn't touch it again.
I had a '97 Camaro Z28 for a little while that was unfortunately an automatic. It was still powerful enough to slide it around and do other dumb shit, but I know (and knew) that a manual would have been more fun.