Not always Shifting from First to Neutral - paddle shifter or what??

[ARNIE R]

Specifically, down-shifting from first to neutral.

During my last two rides, I stopped for gas and put my foot on the brake, set the parking brake, then attempted to downshift from first to neutral before shutting off the engine.

Wouldn't do it - stayed in first. Tried about 4-5 more times without success, so I shut the engine down and gassed up. Started up after that and went on my my way. All other gearshifts were normal, including a few more pit stops where it did shift into neutral normally.

Happened a second time later during the ride once more. I could shift from 1st directly into reverse, then directly to neutral when this event happened. Then, subsequent stops behaved normally.

Today, the same thing happened. I made certain that I was pulling back on the shifting paddle firmly and correctly. I tried about 5-6 clicks in rapid succession and it finally went into neutral.

Experimented a few more times during traffic stops and found the condition to be very sporadic - behaved properly more often than not.

Oil and filters were changed about 1K ago and the oil level is normal. Gear shifting linkage is tight.

Wondering if the paddle switch is going bad (no other shifting issues, tho) or something else is going on. Tranny is the SE5.