I’m always aware of north-south-east-west. So “go east for three blocks, then south one block, and it’s on the southwest corner,” no problem. It’s as if I keep an aerial map in my head at all times. Even inside the house.
But I can’t tell right from left without thinking hard about it…and even then, I’m often wrong. If I’m driving, don’t say “turn right.” Just point.
I can fold a fitted sheet, so now my wife makes me fold all the sheets. The secret is to ignore the edges and fold the portion above the corners. Here’s the technique.
As for hot drinks, I like my coffee/tea really, really hot - and it’s still not hot enough to satisfy my family. I probably start drinking it within a couple of minutes, but they drink it immediately, and then ask me. “Is it ok? is it not good? Should I make some more?” I HAVEN’T HAD ANY YET. Sheesh.
Very cute video–informative, too. Is that you? I liked the music and sound effects.
Wish there weren’t so many references to right and left… 
Helpful video. My exwife taught me that technique.
I’m another one who can whistle normally, I can whistle a tune, but I’ve always wanted to whistle with my fingers. Always thoughht that would be a helpful signal whistle. Even in high school a good friend tried to teach me how, we must’ve been at it for 15 minutes, and it never worked for me. Got a fair amount of drool on my hand and shirt though.
I can’t make a three on my hand in the standard American method. My ligaments are too tight. OK, I can get the pinky down, but it’s painful and I can only hold it for a few seconds while my ring finger is still bent halfway down the whole time. It looks stupid. You would think this means that I would have started holding up three in a different pattern by now, but no. I still try it first and then remember I can’t do it right.
Why am I trying to hold up three fingers regularly? I have children and I only count to three as a warning.
So, your fingers cause a little pain for that, and you are giving your kids a warning at the same time? Them kids had better hop to it, if they know what’s good for 'em!
Nava, I can’t conceive of any way to make un-handed scissors. The ones you linked to are right-handed.
trapezoidal jellyfish, the reason your rice is always either underdone or mushy is that properly-done rice is supposed to be mushy. If it isn’t mushy, then it is by definition underdone.
I didn’t learn how to snap my fingers or whistle until I was in sixth grade.
I haven’t learned how to drive, yet.
I cannot fold a fitted sheet. I’ve watched the youtube videos and had people show me how. Still no go. I’ve resigned myself to this ineptitude (and wrinkly bottom sheets).
I had poor balance due to inner-ear problems as a child so didn’t learn to ride a bike until I was an adult. To this day I have trouble going up hills. I know in theory about the need to change gears, but I never developed the knack for shifting to just the right gear at just the right time. That guy you see pushing his bike up the hill? That’s me.
When someone says “turn right” I sometimes mentally imagine lifting up my right hand, and then I turn that direction. I don’t have any trouble remembering which hand is left and which is right, so I always have a way of figuring out left or right. But it’s often a meaningless word until I work out which is which.
I can’t, for the life of me, understand or get the hang of playing Hearts, Spades, or Pinochile. The games have tried to be taught to me many times, but I still don’t get how to play.
I have trouble with swipe cards. Especially at parking gates. I was recently stuck at one in a parking deck for five minutes trying to get that paper ticket to swipe correctly. The worst thing is theres cars behind me and a gate in front. No where to go until I make it work.
In a buffet line, the silverware and napkins are usually the first things you encounter. For some recondite reason, I nearly always fail to grab them. After I sit down with my plate of food I notice, and have to go back.
I have terrible luck at self-checkouts. I’ve always got an item that won’t scan, or scans for the wrong price, or the terminal I’m using hangs up (typically nagging me to put the last scanned item in the bag - where it already is), or it won’t take my dollar bills, or the paper jams in the receipt printer, etc.
From the “I now know that lots of people have this problem but for awhile I thought it was just me” file: inserting a USB-A connector takes at least 3 tries. The first try is “always” correct, but for some reason it’s off-kilter and you assume it’s wrong. The second is clearly wrong, so you decide that maybe it was the first one after all.
I know the concept of swimming and have had many swimming lessons, but I can’t pretend that I’m a particularly strong swimmer. Every summer my skill would return to the basics just because the thought of going through lessons and starting again caused anxiety and became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I lost my ability to throw Frisbees and darts non-wobbly. I know the cause of the latter: the cats thought it was the most interesting thing in the world, and jumped in front, ruining my confidence (metal darts, not electronic).
Often people who are very smart in some area have some gaps. I know of a popular, smart professor who supposedly can’t handle putting up a Powerpoint so he has TAs do it. He’s been teaching the same class format for years.
Also, while I can whistle okay with just my lips, I too cannot whistle with my fingers stuck in my mouth. But I’ve always wondered why anyone would even want to do this. After all, I know where my fingers have been.
I have this problem too.
I can’t seem to make myself care if my fitted sheets are folded correctly :), I just sort of wad them up.
I have a hard time wrapping my brain around the concepts of time zones, and daylight savings time. I have to picture the globe in my head and watch the sun rising in the east and moving west.
I can’t fold sheets, cook (except for a scant few recipes which I can do to perfection), whistle, sing, or light the pilot light on my furnace. I suspect I can remedy the last one by asking the plumbing/heating guy to show me how it’s done.