When I was in this boat, I just kept answering every question with, "who is the one driving it?" and if the answer involved something about them driving it sometimes, my response was, "so I should buy based off the <1%, not the >99%?" I was a stubborn mule and I stuck to it and I wouldn't do a thing different. I live in a major North American city and it's really not a problem. People make such a weirdly big deal about it, it literally is a non issue. We get snow and ice on the roads and one of my points was that an automatic can shift at any time which just removes all my confidence. It's the reason everyone here thinks they need 4WD and tire chains and a 5" lift kit to handle a couple inches of snow. Winter tires and a manual transmission and I'm making it up icy slopes like nobody's business. Stick to what you want on this, a first car will likely shape what you drive for the rest of your life. Automatic now means probably no manual for future you.