most cars "now-a-days" are equipped with automatic transmissions
That statement alone probably accounts for people's lack of "stick familiarity".
You're right browniehound, manual transmissions are fairly rare. It's considered both bone stock in a cheap car, and a performance option in sportscars. I had a '02 TransAm WS6 with an auto... the manual transmission was another grand or so and I was already WAY over what my wife wanted me to spend on a car. I didn't think I'd mind that much, but after that no more. Can't stand auto... not even in package cars.
vashon76, don't worry about it. You'll learn it fast, and some people even end up preferring it. My wife never drove a manual transmission until she was in her late 20's. Wasn't long after that we bought her a Miata and she started driving SCCA racing (I didn't care much for it... the miata or the scca).
Go into it with a sense of anticipation. If you stress too much over this it will make it much worse when you first try. It's no biggie, relax. Stalling it a bunch of time is normal... excessive clutch feathering is normal in the beginning too. Don't worry about burning it out; that's why God created mechanics.