# Give me some mundane skills to learn **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 14, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569 "2008-09-14T16:39:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Influential\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Influential\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Influential_Panda)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/1 "2008-09-14T16:39:33Z")
Recently, I have learned how to snap, whistle, and ride my bike without holding onto the handlebars. My next goals are armpit farts and juggling. Give me some more stuff to occupy my time with. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/2 "2008-09-14T17:07:07Z")
Here, pull my finger. Learn to play your nose. Learn to hand jive. Do basic math with a calculator, nor with pencil and paper, and be accurate within 10 percent. Drink an entire eight-ounce glass of milk in the shortest amount of time without spilling and without having a while mustache. Walk on rice paper laid on soft carpet in your bare feet without tearing the rice paper. Catch a fly on the fly and release it alive unharmed. Perform a simple search for the answer you seek using a search engine so you don’t have to ask the same question in GQ and have other Dopers laugh at you. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/3 "2008-09-14T17:16:53Z")
> [@Influential\_Panda](#): > > Recently, I have learned how to snap, whistle, and ride my bike without holding onto the handlebars. My next goals are armpit farts and juggling. Give me some more stuff to occupy my time with. Forget armpit farts, they’re entirely impractical. Take one of your hands and place the ball of your pinky finger (palm side, this is the bottom of the knuckle at the root of your finger), and nestle it in the corner of your eye socket. Use the rest of the edge of your palm to form a seal against your nose, all the way down. NOW, Push all the air out of the pocket of air created by your hand and your eye socket, and flex/pump that air in and out, in and out… you got it… in and out. When you start to get the feel, you find the right maneuver and it starts making a lovely noise. Congratulations, you’re _eye-farting._ ---
**Author:** ![Mojo\_Pin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mojo\_Pin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo_Pin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/4 "2008-09-14T17:42:29Z")
Make a casual habit of estimating things (distance, time, time to finish task x, price, whatever) I do it alot even though I suck at it, and it’s a pretty useful mundane skill. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/5 "2008-09-14T17:47:11Z")
Do you know all of the two letter postal abbreviations for the states, including the ones that start with M? ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/6 "2008-09-14T19:15:46Z")
shooting ice from a straw hum incessantly imitate the noise of a train do hand shadows of various animals see shapes on the moon watch paint dry ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/7 "2008-09-14T19:25:24Z")
I never learned how to do a “bunny hop” until I reached my 40’s, and now I’ve got the hang of it, I’m thinking about “popping a wheelie”. Any helpful hints, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Influential\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Influential\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Influential_Panda)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/8 "2008-09-14T19:49:20Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > I never learned how to do a “bunny hop” until I reached my 40’s, and now I’ve got the hang of it, I’m thinking about “popping a wheelie”. Any helpful hints, anyone? Oh man, that’s good. [This website](http://www.ehow.com/how_14543_pop-wheelie.html) seems to offer good advice. Hand shadows seems like a good one to pick up, too. I’ve already mastered “pull my finger,” though. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/9 "2008-09-14T19:52:07Z")
Learn to ride a bicycle backwards. Start out on a grass field where if you crash, you won’t be hurt too terribly. Also, there are few obstacles to run into. You sit on the handlebars and start riding as normal, except pedaling backwards. The trick is to turn into the direction that you are falling. It’s absolutely counterintuitive, but so long as you don’t actually try to go in any particular direction, it is quite possible. Once you get the hang of it, you can actually steer sort of, although, I don’t see myself riding on any major thoroughfares. Actually. I’m the only person I know who can do it, but if you take the zen approach, it’s really quite possible. I’m sure most of my coordinated friends could figure it out if they felt there was any reason at all to learn how to do it. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/10 "2008-09-15T00:04:09Z")
I just learned to use chopsticks the other day so I have to recommend that as a mundane skill. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/11 "2008-09-15T00:23:52Z")
Learn to snap your fingers (both hands). Learn the [Vulcan Salute](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_salute_(Star_Trek)) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/12 "2008-09-15T01:06:58Z")
Learn to identify the common birds in your neighborhood. Bonus skill: learn to ID them only by their songs. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/13 "2008-09-15T05:39:20Z")
Oooh, how about being able to throw a piece of food in the air and catch it in your mouth? ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/14 "2008-09-15T05:48:59Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > I just learned to use chopsticks the other day so I have to recommend that as a mundane skill. Did you teach yourself or did someone show you? I’ve been wanting to learn. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/15 "2008-09-15T06:03:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by **Sleeps with Butterflies** > > Did you teach yourself or did someone show you? > > I’ve been wanting to learn. My boyfriend’s mom taught me when we went out to dinner on Friday night. It was actually really fun to be able to use chopsticks! Though they are not the most effective eating utensils they are a lot more fun than forks! ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/16 "2008-09-15T06:31:14Z")
> [@Influential\_Panda](#): > > […] how to snap, whistle […] One mundane skill that I’ve found to be incredibly useful is the loud whistle. Not the “Always Look on the Bright Side Of Life” whistle. No. The “get someone’s attention from 500 yards away” whistle, or the “hail a cab in the rain” whistle, or the “make lots of noise during the visiting team’s 3rd down in Arrowhead Stadium” whistle. When I was about 12 years old, I just decided I wanted to learn how to do it. I sat there on the couch in my parents’ living room for probably two hours experimenting with blowing with two fingers in my mouth.\* Finally—after several times coming close to passing out from hyperventilating—I managed to get some sound. I worked on that, and within a couple of weeks, I could do it. It’s a skill that I’ve been glad to have many many times. \*The jokes write themselves, no? ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/17 "2008-09-15T07:08:52Z")
If you have long enough hair, learn how to French braid it. Learn how to make gravy from meat drippings. Totally practice using chopsticks. They are way more useful than forks, especially when trying to turn over that cube of meat in the frying pan that keeps landing raw side up. ---
**Author:** ![Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/13edae/32.png) [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interconnected_Series_of_Tubes)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/18 "2008-09-15T19:01:42Z")
Learn to bunny hop… …in **Half-Life**. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/19 "2008-09-15T19:10:51Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Learn to snap your fingers (both hands). > > Learn the [Vulcan Salute](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_salute_(Star_Trek)) Not just the Vulcan salute, but take it further and learn to separate your fingers in any combination. Definitely learn to pat your head with one hand and rub your belly in a circle with the other. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569/20 "2008-09-15T19:18:14Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > Learn to ride a bicycle backwards. Start out on a grass field where if you crash, you won’t be hurt too terribly. Also, there are few obstacles to run into. You sit on the handlebars and start riding as normal, except pedaling backwards. The trick is to turn into the direction that you are falling. It’s absolutely counterintuitive, but so long as you don’t actually try to go in any particular direction, it is quite possible. Once you get the hang of it, you can actually steer sort of, although, I don’t see myself riding on any major thoroughfares. Actually. I’m the only person I know who can do it, but if you take the zen approach, it’s really quite possible. I’m sure most of my coordinated friends could figure it out if they felt there was any reason at all to learn how to do it. I learned to do this as a kid and would ride to the park and back like this (about a half mile). Now I’m 38 and showed off this skill to the kids in the neighborhood. They all wanted to learn so I showed them how and now 3-4 of them ride down the street like this. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-some-mundane-skills-to-learn/463569.md?page=2)