Name a commonly held ability that you don't have

[MrScorpio]

I've never learned how to play either poker or chess

I'm amazed when I see people do either.

[muffin1]

1. I can't do either of those.

Can't dance for shit. And I just remembered while typing this that I can't wink. Wish I could wink!;)

[hunter]

2. I couldn't breastfeed my kids. I'm a guy.

When my kids were small there were a number of times I would have liked to have had that ability.

My wife could feed our kids almost instantly, just like that. When it was just me my kids always seemed to chose the most inconvenient time and place to get hungry, and they hated bottles anyways.

[Sweet Freedom]

3. I can't type

nor can I cross my eyes.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

4. I can't whistle... I mean it's ridiculous.

All I do is hiss like I snake.

[GoCubsGo]

21. Me, either.

I can make some pathetic noises that make me sound like a tea kettle, but that's about it.

[bigwillq]

49. Me neither

:(

Maybe that's the reason why I find whistling annoying! :P

[justabob]

63. I can't whistle .... and I can't roll my r's

Not being able to whistle is no big deal. Rolling r's though... would make what is left of my spanish much better. Oh well.

[DutchLiberal]

80. I thought I was the only one...

[Chan790]

127. Me either.

"Just put your lips together and blow.", my ass.

[blue neen]

5. I cannot throw a baseball.

It's ridiculous. I'm coordinated in every other way.

[MiddleFingerMom]

6. I can't pee while standing on my head.

.
I envy all those who can.
.
.
And before you suggest it, professional tutors have been unable to help.
.

[soleiri]

20. I can't stand on my head

But if I was able to stand on my head, I would probably pee my pants from all the excitement.

[MiddleFingerMom]

33. Then PLEASE don't do it while naked with others in the room.

.
:spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray:
.

[soleiri]

141. then what the fuck AM I suppose to do on a friday night?

:shrug:

[HopeHoops]

7. Enjoying sports programs

Sometimes I can almost enjoy it if the sound is off, but if the sound is on then the stupid fucking morons who babble the whole time eliminate any possibility of enjoyment.

[bookworm65t]

8. Can't shuffle a deck of cards

:shrug:

Can't do cartwheels either.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

118. Same here. nt

[OrwellwasRight]

9. Can only wink on my left side.

Can't whistle.

Can't touch my nose to my elbow -- oh wait, nobody can do that. Never mind.

[MrScorpio]

10. Are you right handed?

[OrwellwasRight]

12. Yes. Is that linked to left sided winking?

I can't think of anyone I know who can wink who can't do it on both sides. I've practiced periodically for years to no avail.

[MrScorpio]

13. I think so

Is it easier for you to do the Spock salute with your right hand or your left hand?

[OrwellwasRight]

15. I'd say right, but it is a judgment call.

It's pretty close.

[MrScorpio]

18. I'm right handed

But it's much easier for me to do it with my left hand

It's like a struggle with my right

[OrwellwasRight]

23. how about flipping a peace sign?

i can do it perfectly with my right hand, but it looks funny on my left because my middle finger leans forward a bit when I pull my ring finger down. I think there's too much skin in between because I have some webbed toes too, where they don't split apart till halfway up the toe!

[MrScorpio]

24. Nope, perfectly fine with both hands for me

It's weird that some of us have these odd limitations for no reason

[hunter]

95. Me too! My left hand does Spock fine.

My right, not so much. And supposedly I'm right handed, even though the handwriting output of either hand is chicken scratch.

[Mad_Dem_X]

75. Me, too - and I'm a leftie!

[fishwax]

96. I can only wink with my right

It's weird :shrug:

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

11. Can't seem to whistle

and I've been around awhile. Always sound like a rusty gate or worse.... :)

[RubyDuby in GA]

16. I can't whistle either. Or roll my R's.

[MrScorpio]

17. Oops

[Terra Alta]

14. riding a bike

I tried often when I was little, but just could never get the hang of it. It's been about 15 years since I've tried; perhaps I should try again.

[MiddleFingerMom]

19. Despite what they say, I've forgotten how to have sex.

.
I end up confusing it with riding a bicycle.
.
.
.
.
I fall off and hurt myself a lot.
.

[ddeclue]

139. Ba Da Bing! Seriously folks.. I'll be hear all week.. please be sure and tip your waitress!

:rofl:

[Brickbat]

22. I'm almost 40, and I've never learned how to swim.

I can dog-paddle around, and save myself if I fell in the deep end of a pool, but I cannot do sustained lap-style swimming. Sustained, nothing -- I probably would have trouble swimming the short way across a pool.

[Skittles]

45. Brickbat, take ye some lessons at the YMCA

everyone should have the ability to swim at least a short distance......unless you have a great fear of the water (this too can be overcome) you should have no problems with a few lessons!

[Brickbat]

54. It's silly, I know.

I'm not afraid of the water, and we spend a lot of time on the water canoeing. I think it would be great exercise. We live an hour away from the closest Y (I live in a rural area), and they don't have adult programs at our high school, but I should make it a priority.

[Skittles]

86. I've made anyone I was ever friends with who didn't know how to swim learn how

it's one of those things where, ya just never know

[krispos42]

98. I bet the lessons were short, swift, and to the point...

:scared:

[Skittles]

100. I swim across lakes

I kick ass in a swiming pool :D

[krispos42]

110. Literally and figuratively!

:rofl:

[rrneck]

124. My brother taught me how to swim...

as soon as I cut my way out of that bag it was easy.

Sorry, I can't resist a straight line...

[Heidi]

25. Ability to make friends relative to concern about popularity.

I just don't have it, and I just don't care. If you're my friend, or if I'm yours, we've chosen one another out of genuine kinship, not out of need. :)

[InternalDialogue]

143. That's a tendency that's very appealing, Heidi.

I know the basis of the thread was sort of feeling like you've got a shortcoming, but you're well aware that your approach toward friends is a huge asset.

[1gobluedem]

26. I never learned to drive a stick shift

Don't know poker or chess either and can't shuffle cards. Also, can't light cardboard matches, they scare me silly.

[Heidi]

29. My dad wouldn't help me get my license until I could:

1. Demonstrate ability to drive a standard with stick. "Every man in this country and most people in the whole world know how to do this. Do you want to spend your life explaining why you can't do something most people in the world do with no problem?"

2. Demonstrate ability to change oil and a flat. "Why should you depend on a guy or pay a professional to do what you can do yourself?" He was right.

3. Fend for myself in an emergency (like running out of gas.) "It's nice if someone helps you out, but nobody owes you that. There's a only handful of mean and violent people in the world, but you can't expect someone passing you on the interstate to know you're not one of them."

4. Navigate by map and landmark. "Pay attention!"

It was HARSH, but these standards have served me well driving on many countries.

[Iggo]

27. Can't drive a stick. (n/t)

[MrScorpio]

30. I'm right there with you

As long as they keep making automatics, I'll keep driving them

[Roon]

60. My step-mother can't drive a stick

my father had sticks his whole life, but when he got his new mustang a couple of years ago, he got an automatic. Just in case.......

[azmouse]

28. I have no musical ability.

I thought I'd like to play the harmonica. I can't do even that!

[Kali]

31. me too

my ONLY musical ability is as a fan

[MrScorpio]

32. My only musical ability is that i can mix radio shows

I can't sing or play a musical instrument at all

[graywarrior]

34. I can't walk and chew gum at the same time

[rrneck]

125. Simple. Put the gum on your feet. nt

[graywarrior]

126. I either step in gum or dog shit

[rrneck]

128. Dont put dog shit in your mouth.

It tastes terrible. Don't ask how I know.

(Wasn't this a Cheech and Chong bit?...)

[graywarrior]

134. !

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[dixiegrrrrl]

35. Can't play the piano...or any other instrument.

Sometimes wish I could "speak music".

Also I cannot draw even a straight line, much less anything else intelligibly.
Both my kids when young were very good artistic types.

Cannot do the Spock finger, cannot roll my R's.

[Shell Beau]

36. Whistle. Couldn't do it to save my life.

[LeftyMom]

37. I can't see the images in stereograms.

[MrScorpio]

38. I can't either

I don't think that they're there

[LeftyMom]

39. I'm secretly convinced people just pretend there's a picture to fuck with me.

A friend of mine used to have one of those posters, and no amount of staring at it and crossing and uncrossing my eyes produced any damned space shuttle.

[JonLP24]

112. I saw something once for a split second

Then it was gone. I never could figure out what I did to see the image but I haven't looked at one in years. But yeah I have the same issue.

[asdjrocky]

41. I can't do that either and it drives me nuts.

I'm like that guy in Mall Rats.

[Iggo]

73. Me neither!

They're like, "Look, it's The Last Supper, right there, plain as day!"

And I'm like, "No. Stop lying."

[Rhiannon12866]

40. I cannot roll my tongue.

When I took biology in high school, we had to see which members of our families had this ability and which did not. My mother and my brother could do it, but when I asked my father, he showed me that he couldn't, same as me. But many years later, he showed me that he really could. He'd just pretended that he couldn't, so I didn't feel bad, but I felt worse that he'd fooled me for all of those years. :P :-(

[Amarise]

42. I cannot roll my tongue either,

and I cannot snap my fingers or wink my eyes.

[Amarise]

43. I forgot

I can't whistle either. I wonder what causes my lack of ability in these not very important areas?

[Rhiannon12866]

46. Thank you! I feel less alone...

And welcome to DU! I'm particularly glad to have you with us, LOL! Maybe you're my long-lost sister... ;) :hi:

BTW, I'm not much good at snapping my fingers, either, and I can't blow bubbles with bubble gum. Maybe the bubble gum thing relates to my tongue... :-(

[Amarise]

47. Blowing bubbles, I cannot.

I guess we must be related!

[Rhiannon12866]

51. Can you whistle? Can't do that, either...

And I've always wanted to be able to. :-(

If you can't, we could be twins... :D

[Amarise]

53. I can't whistle either.

I don't feel I lack anything by not having these abilities, however.

[Rhiannon12866]

55. Ah, ha! Guess we have to be related, somehow...

All I have is one FReeper brother.... x(

And after admitting to all of these things, I'm beginning to feel pretty useless. :-(

[Amarise]

57. "And after admitting to all of these things, I'm beginning to feel pretty useless."

Don't feel useless, because those abilities are all quite useless unless you're a gym teacher or Nazi commandant.

[Skittles]

44. I've never used a dishwasher

no INDEED!

[DainBramaged]

48. Gigantic penis

:evilgrin:

[Xipe Totec]

81. That takes practice

it's all in the wrist.

[GreenPartyVoter]

50. I can't drive.

[Roon]

70. My grandmother went her whole life without driving

she lived in brooklyn when she was a kid, and when she married my Grandfather, he did all the driving.

[GreenPartyVoter]

101. I lIve in the boonies. No busses or cabs here, so it makes it a bit harder. :^(

[Chan790]

130. Me either.

I have spacial cognition issues that make backing up in a straight line impossible unless I'm facing forward looking out the windshield. Try explaining that one on a driving test. I can parallel park too...but only looking straight ahead or with my eyes closed. I have to pretend to use my mirrors on the test too...the only one I need is the rear-view ever. I'm more dangerous trying to use them than ignoring them entirely.

Mind you, I have perfect recall-and-simulation and can tell you while driving exactly where every car, truck, pedestrian, traffic cone, manhole cover, sewer grate, etc. is around me and relative to the car. I don't actually need to to look over my shoulder or in the side mirror...I can even negotiate in a car blindfolded a cone-course that I have walked once. (Every time I say this...I get someone who says "but...but...but" or "that's impossible" or wants to play the scenario game: "What if a car accelerates into your blind spot?" or "How do you know some kid isn't going to dart out behind you while backing up?"(I actually will know it's there in both cases. Don't ask how...if you don't, I can't explain it.))

I really wish they'd let me test on my Vespa for a motorcycle license without having a DL...I'd rock that shit.

[sarge43]

52. Can't dance. I've tried.

But I either tramp all over partner's feet or I'm a half beat off from the music. I'm not clumsy, but moving to music, something goes wrong in transmission between brain, legs and feet.

[BarbaRosa]

56. Snappy comebacks

they usually happen much later.

[quakerboy]

58. knowing right and left

It just dont work for me. Everyone says "well, which hand do your write with?". That just gets me more confused and causes trouble writing

[Roon]

61. I couldn't tell my left and right hand until I was in third grade

my teacher humilated me in front of the whole class by writing "right" and "left" on my hands. I finally learned when I got the idea that the hand i "write" with is my right hand. Of course the other hand is left.

[quakerboy]

66. They tried that on me. That and the times tables.

I just learned to write with my other hand. and I learned how to do multiplication the long way much faster.

[Roon]

69. Sweet!

[quakerboy]

71. Makes for major annoyance when getting driving directions

I have to have my wife translate R/L into hand motions for "this way" and "that way"

Overall it has very little effect on my life. And I still instinctively use my right hand to write. In later years, as I have taken more to computers, my left handwriting has suffered some. Should probably practice more.

[Roon]

72. I write so little that I have almost forgotten how

It takes me a minute and a half to write my rent check every month, that's the only writing I do anymore.

[quakerboy]

78. bill pay does that automatically

I havn't hand written a check in several years.

[Roon]

82. Yeah, my Grandparents don't bank online

So I just write them a check every month. All my other bills I pay online.

[quakerboy]

84. my bank will send out a hard check

no additional cost. landlord gets it in the mail every month. It eliminates the occasional forgetting to drop it in the outgoing mail. Probably not as big an issue with your grandparents if the check is delivered a day late every 6 months or so.

[Roon]

85. WOW!!

I am not sure if my bank does that or not. My Grandparents live right downstairs so it's nothing to deliver it to them.

[quakerboy]

89. I guess technically its a credit union

Our problem was that every once and a while we would forget to write or send the check out on time, and have to run across town to hand deliver it quickly. After the it came up a couple times, I decided to figure out the whole bill pay thing so that it could just be auto scheduled to go out on a set date. Even though our landlord loves us, I hate to push on those sorts of things. 2 years later, I was recently told that we are the only ones who ever turn rent in early a few days, and the only ones who are not often late. And our landlord really loves us, and has not raised the rent on us, even though everyone else has gotten 2 or 3 increases in the time we've been here.

[Roon]

119. I have been paying rent for 25 years

besides my grandparents, I have found that if you pay the rent on time and consistently, landlords tend to leave you alone. If you are late all the time, expect to see your landlord often. I can't stand landlords ('cept for my grandparents) and always paid my rent on time

[LostInAnomie]

123. I have to think about it a lot of times.

I mostly blame it on the fact that I'm left handed, so I had to reverse almost everything I did in grade school. Now, whenever evryone says something is on the right, I have to think about what right really is.

[stuntcat]

129. I have a problem with it too

Maybe the age to really get good at that was 4. And maybe at 4 I didn't care, or pay enough attention :shrug: Anyway my sense of right/left is broken, I have to pause every time and think about it.

[Brother Buzz]

59. Play a video game

All I was ever able to do was repeatedly march a Mario Brother up to a cliff and jump in - GAME OVER.

Now, park this Luddite in front of a pinball machine and I'm good to go.

[Roon]

62. I love pinball machines

I haven't played one in years. My grandparents' bar used to have one and I would bus tables to earn quarters to play it.

I really like old pinball machines,if I had the means I would collect them. My favorte pinball machines from the 80's was high speed and carnival. I would do anything to play those two again.

[Brother Buzz]

64. One thin dime

or three plays for a quarter, that's what it cost back in my halcyon days. I mastered one machine that I could play for hours on just one dime. I would walk away with, say, twenty games still on the machine, sated. Once you learned just how much you could lean and push on it without tilting, and keep the ball up high as much as possible, it became fun. I miss them too.

[amyrose2712]

65. Cut in a straigt line. I have REALLY messed up my SO hairline in the back.

[tigereye]

67. cannot draw well at all

[JackDragna]

68. Empathy.

I find it hard to identify with the feelings of other people. :)

[Courtesy Flush]

109. I couldn't when I was young. Now my heart breaks for people. n/t

[Mad_Dem_X]

74. I can't whistle, or blow a bubble with bubble gum.

[skygazer]

76. Swimming

:blush:

[murielm99]

104. Me either.

My mother would not allow it. She said we would all get polio. Funny thing...we were all vaccinated.

[HipChick]

77. give birth..

just never had an interest..

[stuntcat]

131. :)

:headbang:

[DutchLiberal]

79. Sports. Any.

[OhioChick]

83. Can't blow bubbles with gum...

Still want to learn how, though. :)

[SPKrazy]

87. poker

dominoes

both

[CharmCity]

88. Can't hold my liquor.

[Zavulon]

90. Can't dance a step.

Fortunately, I've never had the interest in / need to learn.

[Orrex]

91. I can't trill my R's. (Apostrophe rules be damned!)

I took Spanish for years in high school and college, and I could never get anywhere near the mellifluous rolling R-sound that seemed so effortless for everyone else.


Thanks for bringing up an ugly, painful memory, you bastard!

[nuxvomica]

114. Can you gargle? It's the same thing.

[Orrex]

121. Well, that would be inconvenient

I can't exactly pause in the middle of a word to take a swig of gargle-water, now can I?

[Odin2005]

116. I used to not be able to, but with practice I can now do them very easily.

I can maintain a trill for as long as 6 seconds. I've recently mastered ejective consonants.

[tabbycat31]

92. parallel parking

and any driving tasks that involve some sort of sense of space. I have zero sense of space when I'm driving and can't tell if a car is 2 inches or 2 feet ahead of me. Needless to say I'm very paranoid about people tailgating me.

[PassingFair]

93. I have no sense of DIRECTION.

When I call for help when I'm driving, someone will
invariably say something USELESS like "head EAST".

WTF? Do I need to stop the car and see
WHICH SIDE OF THE TREE THE MOSS IS GROWING ON????

I am utterly lost in time and space.

[Libertas1776]

94. I can't do that loud whistle thing

you do with your thumb and forefinger. Ugh, it pisses me off when others do it :)

[Neoma]

97. Watching TV.

[krispos42]

99. The Vulcan salute

Can't do it. And I'm a retired trekkie and current sci-fi reader, dammit! Not only have I seen every episode of ST:TNG, I can usually tell which episode it is while passing through the show as I channel surf. I.e., I know the episode before the next channel comes up!



And I can't do the damn Vulcan salute.


Fuck. :-(



And that "piercing two-fingered whistle" thing. Nope.

I can also apparantly can't clap my hands in time with the music. I always seem to be off by half a beat. I played trumpet in band, too!

[vixengrl]

102. Can't serve a volleyball. Just can't. Worst part of gym class--

which was horrible for me anyway, since I developed early, and just....kept....developing. Running--looked funny. Jumping jacks, awkward. I wasn't completely unathletic, I just had a massive mind/body disconnect. I couldn't "see" myself doing physical things. But my volleyball serve defied physics. I could launch the ball for miles--just not in any premeditated direction. I had gym teachers stand behind me, try to position my shoulders, try to figure out why the ball wouldn't go where I wanted it to--it wasn't any use. I nearly had to be turned backwards to get it across the net without hooking wildly to the left. Or thwacking the ceiling of the indoor court.

I also have no real ability to drive a golf ball. I find it hard to dive underwater, too. But I float like an Ivory soap.

(Actually, I have a yard long, single-spaced, 10-pt type list of stuff I don't really do well, from working combination locks to matching names of casual acquaintances with faces. But my failures with sports always got to me. It always looks like great fun when other people do sports, and I sort of want to have fun, but in reality I'm just awkward and suck. I'm doomed to just being good at drinking games and trivia whiz.)

[csziggy]

103. I can't gargle - I just drown when I try

I'm also terrible at facial recognition out of context. Even people I know pretty good I can't recognize if I see them somewhere outside of our normal circles.

[nuxvomica]

115. Can you trill your R's? It's the same thing.

[Orrex]

137. Whoa. That reminds me of deja vu.

[csziggy]

142. Yes, I can trill Rs - at least I could forty years ago when I took Spanish

But never could gargle. Interesting, though - I wonder if I practiced my trills and then tried it with gargling it would work?

[capndanger]

105. Telekenesis

I just cant move stuff with my mind. hold on...... Nope still cant do it. :(

[Awsi Dooger]

106. I can't whistle or snap my fingers

I also have no ability to describe the taste of coffee, since I've never had a sip

[AllenVanAllen]

107. I can't whistle.

I used to before I lost my baby teeth.



"Xenu giveth and Xenu taketh away."

[Courtesy Flush]

108. LOL. I was playing chess on my iPod as I clicked your post

I've never been able to run, or do long division.

[grace0418]

111. I can't bowl. I mean, that standard approach that people do when they bowl. I'm a pretty

coordinated person but I just can't seem to get it. I have some kind of block. I end up having to walk up and throw it granny style.

[Odin2005]

113. Instinctively reading body language.

Seriously, it's like a foreign language to me! :crazy: Say what you mean and don't insinuate with subtle winks and eyebrow movements, dammit! :banghead:

[Tommy_Carcetti]

117. Riding a bike.

I grew up on a curvy two lane road without shoulders. Our house was near the top of a hill with a blind spot, where people would often zip by at 50 mph. Once a car even ended up in our front yard.

The bottom line was that my parents weren't about to trust me riding a bike up and down that road. And I don't think I ever blamed them.

I did try learning to ride a bike whenever we went over to my grandmother's house. She lived right across the street from a large city park in Baltimore. But because it was only a once a week venture, I never got passed the training wheel stage.

[MrScorpio]

135. I can do figure eights on a bike without hands

I'm sorry that you never learned

[madamesilverspurs]

120. Can't read music.

I can play it, but can't read a note. (And you should hear how splendidly I play the piano in my dreams!)

---

[rrneck]

122. Never learned my multiplication tables.

Never regretted it. (much)

[stuntcat]

132. can't write, like with a pen..

Well I can of course write words and make lists when I have to, but my handwriting is worse than chicken scratch. Sometimes it's cursive and sometimes not, sometimes tilting right but sometimes left, sometimes small writing and sometimes big. Far as a handwriting I don't really have one, everything looks like someone different wrote it. People who know me can tell my handwriting just because they've seen how bad it is. I do have a signature, at least that's kind of the same always.

[JNelson6563]

133. Can't cross my eyes.

Much less do this ===========> :crazy:

[Generic Brad]

136. Play video games

Apparently I have no eye/hand coordination or problem solving skills.

[ddeclue]

138. dance... I am a terrible dancer...

I am an excellent singer and a good musician though.

[Flying Dream Blues]

140. I can't whistle! Drives me nuts,

and I've had many try to teach me. Quite embarrassing. :)

[wickerwoman]

144. Put eye-drops in my own eyes.

I just can't hold the eye open knowing that I'm going to drop something on it. I would *never* be able to wear contacts but thankfully my vision isn't that bad.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

145. Can't wrap packages

I was so glad when gift bags came on the market, because the packages I wrap always look as if they've been tampered with by clumsy postal inspectors.

[KT2000]

146. Sports

I get hit by flying balls, run the bases backwards, my skiing "ability' pissed off the other skiers, had to be dragged one leg at a time into a boat while water skiing,
It is all just miserable.

[old mark]

147. I can't whistle, don't like cards, think chess and most board games are dull.

I can hit a baseball about a block and a half, but can't catch very well.

mark

[LostInAnomie]

148. Can't eat Fritos without getting sick.

[jobycom]

149. Sleeping at 4 in the morning. nt