# Magic powers you apparently have **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 15, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990 "2021-02-15T21:57:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/21 "2021-02-16T16:59:31Z")
Not something I have myself, but my younger daughter seems to have the completely useless superpower of Causing Cars to Make Funny Noises. She’ll be driving her car and complain to us that it sounds weird (and sometimes her friends hear it as well). But as soon as I get into the car, it stops happening…? ---
**Author:** ![blabbermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/22 "2021-02-16T17:29:59Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > I have this power too! I always feel sorry for the people who get in line behind me. I don’t have that worry, because as soon as I get in line everyone else immediately loses interest in that line. It’s uncanny. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/23 "2021-02-16T18:35:05Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > That’s me with computers. I’ve been working as an IT guy most of my professional life, and it very often happened that I only had to come close to the desk of the colleague who had called for help, and the issue went away. In one of my companies, I had the reputation of a kind of computer wizard. Same here, just my mere presence makes the computer start behaving. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/24 "2021-02-16T20:47:23Z")
My husband and I are crappy neighbor magnets. In both our last neighborhood and in this one, soon after we moved in to our shared-wall homes, the crummiest noisiest neighbors in the whole neighborhood moved in to the next unit. In the last place, right after we decided to move away, the crap neighbors moved out and some wonderful quiet courteous neighbors moved in. We got to enjoy them for about three months. In this place, the existing shared-wall neighbor was pleasant, quiet and civilized. Then after about six months, she moved out, and our current meth-head neighbors moved in. It’s a magic power! ---
**Author:** ![blabbermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/25 "2021-02-16T21:16:43Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > My husband and I are crappy neighbor magnets. Oh how awful. That’s a terrible magic power; if only you could direct it outwardly to attract the bad neighbors to each other. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/26 "2021-02-16T22:56:27Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I can turn traffic lghts green at will. Or more like at anti-will. I have the more mundane and probably more common ability to turn lights red, but apparently this superpower is limited to times when I’m in a hurry. The lucky cars two car lengths in front of me can set record times to speedy arrivals. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/27 "2021-02-16T23:03:42Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > I have this power too! I always feel sorry for the people who get in line behind me. Sometimes I will just pre-emptively apologize to anyone in line behind me. They are puzzled at first, but then when our line does not move, I will give them a knowing nod, and they understand. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/28 "2021-02-16T23:33:03Z")
I have the power to make objects vanish into another dimension. Specifically, pills. If I drop a pill on the floor, it instantly disappears without a trace. If this doesn’t prove the multiverse theory, I don’t know what would. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/29 "2021-02-16T23:38:15Z")
I am a memoranda magnet at work. When a memo needs to be written, normally, it’s something I have to do. And I am the magic ‘brick wall’ when it comes to workflows. Others get their 20+ page technical reports routinely processed, approved, and published. Mine takes six months for a two-pager. On the upside, I can do 10 pullups without breaking a sweat now, and I’m 44. Tripler I’d be unstoppable if it weren’t for physics and law enforcement. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/30 "2021-02-16T23:43:48Z")
I can make either the telephone or the doorbell ring – occasionally both – simply by going to the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/31 "2021-02-16T23:44:35Z")
I can attract chores. All I have to do is sit in my lounge chair and open a beer. Someone will be along within minutes to point out something that needs fixed. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/32 "2021-02-16T23:55:55Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > My husband is what is known on TV Tropes as a [Walking Techfix](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WalkingTechfix). I used to be the opposite, just learned it is called a [Walking Techbane](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WalkingTechbane), and just by looking, no hands! But my faculties have mightily decayed of late, thank Godott! I am going to pieces. > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > OTOH, when I was at college, one of our profs told us students a little secret about a colleague: he was known for crashing every computer he happened to simply walk by. That was me! Really, no hands! I am starting to miss this power. Imagine today, with ubiquitous chips, what I could do. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/33 "2021-02-16T23:56:15Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > I have the power to make objects vanish into another dimension. > > Specifically, pills. If I drop a pill on the floor, it instantly disappears without a trace. If this doesn’t prove the multiverse theory, I don’t know what would. I have the same problem with socks in my washing machine. With my left over single socks you could dress the feet of the whole third world. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/34 "2021-02-16T23:58:18Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I have the same problem with socks in my washing machine. Ah, but that is not your power, it’s your washing machine’s! Bosch or Miele? I (and my wife) believe it is standard equipment. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/35 "2021-02-16T23:59:34Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Ah, but that is not your power, it’s your washing machine’s! Bosch or Miele? I (and my wife) believe it is standard equipment. Bauknecht. Shouldn’t it be my servant though? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![blabbermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/36 "2021-02-16T23:59:34Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > I can make either the telephone or the doorbell ring – occasionally both – simply by going to the bathroom. Whenever I’m expecting a call, I have the annoying choice between bringing my cell phone into the bathroom and staring at it like an idiot, or leaving it on my bed and listening to it ring from my seat on the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/37 "2021-02-17T00:02:27Z")
Yes, it shouldn’t. 😆 ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/38 "2021-02-17T01:21:20Z")
> [@superwombat](#): > > At work, sitting at my desk, the phone won’t ring for hours. If I get up, there’s a dead man’s switch under my seat that then trips, and the phone rings. I have the opposite switch. When I am at home, the minute I sit down, it becomes immediately apparent to others, even if they are not in the same room. They simply know that I need to do something RIGHT NOW. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/39 "2021-02-17T04:01:43Z")
I can sometimes make the water turn on in the sinks in public bathrooms by moving my hands under the faucet! Sometimes, that is. I seem to be very bad at this magic power. Mostly I stand there feeling like a very bad wizard, who can never get the hand gestures right for the Wash Hands spell. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990/40 "2021-02-17T04:06:57Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Sometimes, that is. I seem to be very bad at this magic power. Mostly I stand there feeling like a very bad wizard, who can never get the hand gestures right for the Wash Hands spell. Here’s the secret: you have to do a little dance. Or make a dramatic gesture. Then it always works. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-powers-you-apparently-have/932990.md?page=3)