Thrasymachus,
I have to respectfully disagree with you regarding friction shifting. I love friction shifting, or more correctly, I love my Shimano Fingertip friction shifters. But then again, I also prefer a standard transmission over an automatic. My bike came with indexed shifting. If memory serves, it was the second thing I changed on my bike, right after the knobby tires.
I had a friend that rode a Murray in the late '70's until the right dropout decided to part company with the rest of the frame one day. Of course, it could have been a one in a million kind of thing, but since then I have considered bikes with similar construction rather warily.
It doesn't really matter what you ride as long as you are happy.