Stick or Automatic?
A few things to consider:
Do you want to drive the car, or do you want the car to drive you? (I.e. that feeling of being on a constant gear and not floating by virtue of a fluid regulated torque converter).
Being held on a gear is safer, especially on grades. Driving a manual is funner, more engaging, as you are "part" of the driving experience. Harder to text or eat or roll a joint when you have to shift gears.For the young/inexperienced driver this is good, as it keeps your attention on driving.
Do you like to share, or have the car mostly to yourself? If you are the only person in household that can drive a stick-shift (or you are really the only one in house that likes it (vs an auto)..the car is yours, and nobody is going to drive it. In an emergency situation, this could be bad (This is why all good parents (GOOD parents), teach their kids or have a friend or other family member teach them. ) It's good to know if you are in a situation that requires you to drive a manual. If you are a parent and have a kid close/at driving age and haven't done that yet, please do.
Manual cars used to get better fuel economy than automatics. And while that tide is shifting, I still think a Manual will/can get your better fuel economy than a more modern automatic--but that IS changing. I still think driving discipline (i.e. how you drive) plays a significant factor in that.
Manual transmissions USED to be cheaper to replace since there were more of them vs autos back in the day. Autos are way more complicated, more things that can break. On a manual, it's usually just the clutch (pilot bearings, etc etc) that requires "wear and tear" replacement depending on driving discipline.A clutch can last 10k miles, or 300K+ miles depending on how you drive. However, because there are less and less manuals on the road now (and people that can drive them, sadly), from a supply/demand standpoint, a replacement transmission may cost more than a replacement automatic. Now, the chances of you requiring a replacement manual is very very slim vs an automatic because manuals because of their simplicity, should last a lot longer than automatics. Generally, the clutch and it's related components (pilot bearing, etc), will be the only thing that ever needs to be replaced on a manual.
You can push start a manual if you have a dead battery or bad starter. Can't do that in an automatic.
A manual transmission car CAN thwart auto theft.. (Lots of funny youtube videos on this).
As others pointed out, an injury can hamper/make it impossible to drive a stick.
Some people don't like driving a stick in heavy/traffic jam traffic. I actually LOVE IT. If you give the car in front of you a little room, you can clutch out, NO GAS, and be in 1st gear just CRAWLING at the super slow pace, and the sorry SOB behind u will have to ride his brakes because his car will IDLE faster than yours. If done right, you won't have to hardly ever hit your brakes since you/car/transmission is regulating your crawling speed so much more precisely and evenly.
Towing with a manual the driver has more control especially on grades.
LONG LIVE THE MANUALS!
SAVE THE MANUALS!