I'm thinking we'll have to agree to disagree.
As I said, I have mine set at spot focus. I also have the shutter AF disabled and use the AF on the back of the camera so it doesn't change when I snap the pic. So if I want to take a shot of one flower in a field I can do that. If I want the whole field I can do that too. And since I have the shutter AF off I can still adjust manually if I feel the need.
On the other hand, as we all know, some (even identical) lenses are better than others. I have some primes that are great. Others are horrendous. And that's certainly the same with AF lenses. But I find the AF (IF you can find a good one) lenses save those precious split seconds when you need to get that shot in focus quickly.
Of course... nothing is perfect for everything! Do I have some of those once in a lifetime shots I destroyed? Oh, ubetcha!