How to not let a shop damage your clutch

I've got to take the car in for an alignment and was wondering how to go about making sure that the idiots at the shop don't smoke my clutch.

Now I may sound a little paranoid but I've been at those places and hear how they treat cars. On one sad occasion after I had tires put on my 5 speed ranger, I noticed that my clutch "felt" different..like a little soft (not as grabby as a 4 month old clutch should be). Finally got to the point where it was REALLY bugging me and when I pulled the inspection plug, it looked like it had been nuclear hot (blueish metal with burnt smell). Never did go after them as it was months later but I did learn a valuable lesson that day.

I can't just walk in there and say, " I want you to do an alignment but you aren't driving my car" can I??

Sad state of affairs but I don't trust a whole lot of people with my car ESPECIALLY pimple faced morons that have never driven a stick and think they can learn at my expense :angry7: