# "I can't..(fill in the blank) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 16, 2021, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123 "2021-04-16T02:39:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/122 "2021-04-25T17:26:34Z")
It leaves a hole in the environment for another coyote to fill. You’ll just have a new one over and over and over and… ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/123 "2021-04-25T17:50:00Z")
I’m afraid that for people who like to kill animals, that’s a perk. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/124 "2021-04-26T00:12:18Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I can’t navigate. I am very good at reading maps and navigating when I have a map in front of me. I have exceptional powers of 3D visualization, so designing, building and fixing things are a snap. I even taught an engineering course involving complex 3D motions to hundreds of undergrads. So imagine my shock when I realized I have a very poor innate sense of direction. And even worse, I am completely unable to drive when I don’t know exactly where I am headed, and cannot for the life of me mentally connect-up the road I am on to my mental picture of where I will be arriving. The roads in between take me a VERY long time to figure out. So frequently I have to pause and think it through, do a “nav check” so to speak. A few years ago I learned to just mount a GPS to the inside of my windshield. A standalone GPS, not your phone that connects to the internet. With this permanent installation in my car, I can see what lies ahead without having to use processing power to interpret it or build the mental image. Reduces my stress level by 75%. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/125 "2021-04-26T00:21:17Z")
I agree that YouTube has a lot of unwatchable stuff. The best videos are, for me, where the editor just shows us what they’re doing, with minimal text flashed onscreen to explain in case it isn’t clear. When this is done well, it is great. Examples of videos of this type that I actually enjoy: restoring old furniture, or taking a car apart, repairing it, and putting it back together. What I can’t stand are the videos where the YouTuber just won’t shut up. I don’t subscribe to them. Or even worse, when they try so hard to get views they use click-baity titles and claim to have The Truth. I stay far away from that sensationalism. Occasionally, though, there are YouTubers who present their content as mini-lectures, with good graphics and examples of the topic at hand. Can’t avoid the voiceovers there, but at least they’re tasteful and worth listening to. Unlike unscripted yammering that I can’t stand. I mean…don’t they have the ability to edit their stuff? Don’t they feel it’s necessary?? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/126 "2021-04-26T00:21:33Z")
I am the absolute worst at filling in blanks. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/127 "2021-04-26T00:45:42Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Most smart phones have a voice to text feature I, apparently, can’t just speak a paragraph of coherent text–at least to a phone. I think I can write acceptably, and without too much revision. I can talk to people coherently, or so they tell me. But just speaking on some subject to a recording device without written prep? I’m completely useless. I go blank, spout a bunch of incomprehensible gibberish, or repeat myself over and over. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/128 "2021-04-26T02:15:33Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > You realize that killing coyotes doesn’t make coyotes go away? Can you even kill them? I have seen them get crushed by boulders, run over by trucks, fall off thousand-foot cliffs, get blown up by their own petards, and they just keep coming back. Well, that one does, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/129 "2021-04-26T03:16:25Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > And even worse, I am completely unable to drive when I don’t know exactly where I am headed, and cannot for the life of me mentally connect-up the road I am on to my mental picture of where I will be arriving. My Aunt is one of those people who always knows exactly where she is. She drives to a place once and she knows how to get there forever. I never will forget us driving together somewhere and she just started freaking out on me. Like genuine panic. I said, “What’s the matter?” “I don’t know where we are.” “Oh. That’s like… My perpetual state of being.” “_How can you stand it?!_” I dunno, like how can a fish stand water? I have no idea what I’m missing. I just sort of wander around and hope I get where I need to go. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/130 "2021-04-26T03:37:16Z")
I can’t play horseshoes. I mean, without causing injuries. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/131 "2021-04-26T06:15:18Z")
You have to remove them from the horse first. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/132 "2021-04-26T06:16:24Z")
Good one. 😆 ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/133 "2021-04-26T10:35:14Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I never will forget us driving together somewhere and she just started freaking out on me. Like genuine panic. > > I said, “What’s the matter?” > “I don’t know where we are.” > “Oh. That’s like… My perpetual state of being.” > “ _How can you stand it?!_ ” > > I dunno, like how can a fish stand water? I have no idea what I’m missing. I just sort of wander around and hope I get where I need to go. I drove from California to Wisconsin and back with someone like yourself, orientation-wise. Unfortunately, I am not like your aunt, I have to get pretty focused with mapping to stay oriented as I have a poor sense of direction. However, in my friend this faculty is entirely absent. She long ago gave up all her autonomy to the voice of her GPS (not always the sanest decision-maker in the box). Once she asked me why I was following our route on paper maps. I explained. She said in a voice of dawning comprehension, “Oh, you’re one of those people who likes to know where they are!” Like I’m a member of a strange minority. She never knows where she is, and knows no other reality. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/134 "2021-04-26T13:26:19Z")
Interestingly, my sense of direction and (partial) ability to navigate return when I don’t have roads to deal with. For instance, on the sea, or hiking, or driving way out in the wild. I can steer by the sun and/or compass. But drop me into a city, especially one whose major roads are not oriented NSEW, and I’m hopeless. (Like, downtown San Jose.) ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/135 "2021-04-26T13:28:02Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Once she asked me why I was following our route on paper maps. I explained. My answer is often “because I can,” although it is of course a useful skill! I’m teaching my son to do this, because he’s learning how to drive. Step 1: try to figure out where you are going first. THEN drive the car to get there. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/136 "2021-04-26T15:21:05Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > But drop me into a city, especially one whose major roads are not oriented NSEW, and I’m hopeless. (Like, downtown San Jose.) Don’t ask me about the time I lost my parked car in Greenwich Village. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/137 "2021-04-26T15:25:37Z")
Or that time I got lost in my closet. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/138 "2021-04-26T15:57:23Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > But drop me into a city, especially one whose major roads are not oriented NSEW, and I’m hopeless. (Like, downtown San Jose.) Pittsburgh for me. Not a straight road in sight. And often overcast. I’ve been in GIS for 30 years. I know maps, I know direction, but Pittsburgh remains a mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/139 "2021-04-26T15:58:42Z")
More seriously, I reflected that I can no longer read about climate change or in fact any human atrocity against the natural world, from animals dying from eating plastic garbage to the building of a new dam. I just cannot. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/140 "2021-04-26T16:01:11Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Pittsburgh for me. Not a straight road in sight. And often overcast. I’ve been in GIS for 30 years. I know maps, I know direction, but Pittsburgh remains a mystery. I was on one of those hippie cross-country buses once (I think it was called the Purple Dragon) which got stuck – quite literally, like the Ever Given – in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh keeps its secrets. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/141 "2021-04-26T17:00:08Z")
I can’t sprint. I can run for hours, but unless it’s a real slow-moving chase, if a murderer were after me with a knife, I’d have to just casually jog away, hoping he/she were really out of shape. I also can’t watch horror movies. I can smell the smells and feel the sensations on my skin while watching or listening. I used to force myself to watch horror movies in middle school to avoid getting mocked, but those sensations have gotten even worse and stronger as I’ve gotten older. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123.md?page=8)