I’m 38, and I have never driven a car with a manual transmission.
I can’t snap my fingers.
Sacrilege. Some traditions you just don’t mess with. What’s next? Making chocolate chip cookies from one of those pre-made packages where you just break off the dough? Sheesh. 
Make one loop instead of two.
Take the string that isn’t looped and wrap it once around the loop.
As you get back to the starting point of the loop, push the string through the wrap and pull out. Don’t pull it out all the way though. Just pull it enough so you have another loop. Then pull both loops to tighten.
I don’t think it’s quicker to do it this way but I do find that the knot stay better without having to double knot it.
It took me a long time to learn to tie my shoes but it wasn’t my fault – really. My Mum would demonstrate the technique and I would faithfully follow what she did, but as soon as I made the first loop she would tell me I was doing it wrong. Rinse and repeat, with much frustration, tears and wearing of shoes with buckles. Finally my Nana decided to teach me and was successful first time. What had been happening was that my right handed Mum tied shoelaces left handed and had never noticed, so when I copied her actions precisely she percieved me as using the “wrong” hand 
.
Hmmm…looks like we have a contest here. I’ll generously volunteer to be the judge in this matter. DeadlyAccurate and congodwarf? If you’ll each just send a batch of treats my way (hmm…better make it two batches…ya know, just in case something bad happens to one of them), and I’ll declare one of them Best Coastal Rice Krispie Treats.
If any mid-America residents want in, feel free to send yours in as well. Maybe we can get a BRKT in America contest going.
Oh, what the hell…International Dopers welcome as well. World’s BRKT!
Note: This is not a thinly disguised way of trying to mooch treats from Dopers. Nope, not at all…
Okay, never mind. That’s the way I’ve been doing it all my life.
Except for me. Perfect directions, by the way, except for the miniature marshmallows. BLECH!! regular-sized, jet-puffed marshmallows only need apply. 
Hey, those are pretty good.
So wait a second then: what is this other (presumably inferior) method that people use to tie their shoes?
I’m 45, and I don’t know how to drive. I used to live in a place where the public transit was so good that it was unnecessary to drive anywhere. I also could never have afforded to buy a car or the insurance or gas or pay for repairs. (A friend of mine bought an old beater and got his license. One day the car was towed away for a parking violation. He never saw it again.)
My wife, on the other hand, has been driving since she was a teenager, because the public transit was so poor that it wasn’t worth trying to use it. She still has never been on a bus by herself, and had never been in a taxi until she knew me.
To be totally honest, it was probably about three and a half minutes … and neither of them were aware that New Jersey is a no-self-service state. They didn’t realize that I was waiting for something until I said “Where the hell is the guy?” I had been scrounging through my purse for my wallet, and they seemed to think that I would get out and pump the gas in my own good time. Once they realized that I didn’t have a clue, we commenced with the Life Lesson.
Although, I still hold a minor grudge against the boyfriend for not doing it right from the get-go. Isn’t that what men are for?
Mister V, Make two loops right from the start. Cross them over each other and then push one between the cross. Those are bunny ears.
Hal, I’d be glad to make you some treats. How exactly do you ship food without it going stale?
I also make some very good (and very large) whoopie pies. I make the traditional chocolate and the far superior pumpkin.
This is really quite amazing. I can help you. I’ve taught people how to tie their shoes.
– Robert Heinlein
I tie my shoes the bunny ear way. I’m usually pretty good with that sort of thing, as I’ve always been proficient with origami and doing string tricks - but I’ve just never mastered the ‘other’ way.
I am also kind of lacking in the car department. I got my licence a little before shoving off to University, and what with now not having a car and all, I haven’t driven one in ages. 
There is nothing wrong with that. Would you care to join the two-loops-and-proud club? Population… ummm… us.
Upon a second look, the club has grown. I was under the impression both ways of tying shoes were equally valid anyway.
::Tries to tie shoes the one-loop way::
::Many times::
They damn well better be equally valid… Because I can only do two-loop. 
I watched an Amish family trying to cross the street without pressing the light button (the one you use to change the lights for you to cross). I was waiting for a bus and watched for over 15 minutes (at first, I didn’t know they were trying to cross). I gave in and hit the button on my side (if you don’t hit the button the intersection only allows cars to make turns, it doesn’t activate the “white stick figure” sign to allow pedistrians to cross).
Also at the same (and one intersection over) people trying to cross without hitting the button. The button has a nice sign on it, including an arrow, stating exactly what it does and what you need to do. It’s rather pathetic.
For myself, I couldn’t tie my shoes until I was 14.
On a related note… I was just out of college and at a job interview. The interviewer was waiting for another manager to arrive before starting. He decides to kill time by going off on a personal tangent about his wife. They just moved to Indiana from New Jersey. His wife refused to learn to pump gas for herself. She would drive until she ran out of gas and then call him to pick her up.
I was sitting there thinking, what kind of person is this to act so childish as to refuse to learn something that is essential to the majority of drivers? How can this guy put up with this? If it was my wife I’d make sure she learned or take away the keys. Why is he telling me about this anyway?
Now that I’m married, I’m much more sympathetic to his plight