# Things you have a difficult time doing, that most other people don´t. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 8, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-a-difficult-time-doing-that-most-other-people-don-t/462628 "2008-09-08T16:12:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Kaschua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Kaschua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaschua)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-a-difficult-time-doing-that-most-other-people-don-t/462628/101 "2008-09-10T17:04:43Z")
Meh, I probably shouldn’t be mentioning this since I’m relatively new as a poster, but I have trouble integrating myself into new groups. I’m not shy, I’m just not particularly charming. I jokingly tell my husband I have anti-charisma. 😃 I also am inept at being cool. I’m klutzy, trip over spoken words, and my laugh is loud and obnoxious. This isn’t a problem at home, because my husband annoys people with his laughter too. I struggle with long good-byes. I am one of those people who, when I want to leave, I want to leave NOW. Probably ties into the former problems. _ahem_ I have trouble with dry wit too. I’m paranoid I’ll make a crack about something that’s completely serious, so I tend to question dry remarks. Ruins the joke and makes me look like a moron, of course. Ditto with the parallel parking. When I tested for my license, my attempt was so awful, the woman told me to skip that part, I’d probably never need to parallel park anyway. :o Also: I can’t wink consistently. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-a-difficult-time-doing-that-most-other-people-don-t/462628/102 "2008-09-11T01:27:22Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > No they don’t. They don’t hook on to anything, they just fall out of my Martian ears. They just don’t work at all for me. > > Joe They don’t stay for me, either, which is why I went with the ones that have the hook (the “training wheels”) to go over your ear. Even they still hurt a bit, so I’m looking at the narrow ones, not the ones that come with the iPod, but that have small silicone donuts that you insert into your ear. [thesemaybemorecomfortable](http://www.mobilewhack.com/images/Pioneer_1_jpg.jpeg) [hatethese](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/JTrain_07/Headphones/AppleEarbuds.jpg) [trainingwheels, sorta](http://the-gadgeteer.com//assets/alteclansing-uhs307-2.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-a-difficult-time-doing-that-most-other-people-don-t/462628/103 "2008-09-11T02:23:43Z")
Seconding the long goodbye - if you’re going - GO! I only buy white socks and I’ve maybe realised why. I’m shite with directions - but I can rewrite a map with a series of arrows and find the place. I don’t recognise people - sigh. Or names … I go - “oh, I’m being rude, please introduce yourselves” to people I’ve known for 20 years - I can almost feel their names flying away. I thought I had phone-phobia but actually it’s the numbers - my life changed when I got a cell phone and programmed everyone into it. I’m ace at parking though and I explained my conquering of left and right - at least on my own hands. Two labourers go for a job - the first one gets through with the interview and explains to his friend - it’s easy - he holds up a hand and asks you if it’s his left or right hand - simple! The second bloke goes into the interview, but comes out straight away since the interviewer is washing his hands at the sink in the office. What’s up says the friend? Did you pass? I can’t do it, says the friend - he’s shuffling them! ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-a-difficult-time-doing-that-most-other-people-don-t/462628/104 "2008-09-11T05:06:09Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > They don’t stay for me, either, which is why I went with the ones that have the hook (the “training wheels”) to go over your ear. Even they still hurt a bit, so I’m looking at the narrow ones, not the ones that come with the iPod, but that have small silicone donuts that you insert into your ear. > > [thesemaybemorecomfortable](http://www.mobilewhack.com/images/Pioneer_1_jpg.jpeg) > > [hatethese](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/JTrain_07/Headphones/AppleEarbuds.jpg) > [trainingwheels, sorta](http://the-gadgeteer.com//assets/alteclansing-uhs307-2.jpg) The first are awful - the specific ones that I hate. The second look interesting. The third I’ve tried, but just don’t stay on my ear. I’ll stick with walkman-style headphones, thanks… Joe ---
**Author:** ![tesseract](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-a-difficult-time-doing-that-most-other-people-don-t/462628/105 "2008-09-11T07:25:06Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Holy shit, I think that might be it! Of course, I might just be falling prey to internet self diagnosis here, but for years I’ve thought my “can’t remember people” thing went further than most people’s troubles in the area. But that stone analogy is perfect: three or four stones, and I was okay, but more than that and I felt the same panic I feel when there’s a group of people that I know I know, but I don’t know who anyone is. > > For example, do you think most people would be able to recognize a Doper they’ve (in the past year) sat next to and chatted with twice for dinner in a group, been to their house thrice, been on IM with about once a week for three months and then went to pick up on the train? Yeah, I couldn’t for the life of me have recognized **Blue\_Kangaroo** walking down the sidewalk. And not 'cause I don’t adore her - I do! And not 'cause we don’t have a connection - we do! But just because faces and the names that go with them don’t stick in my head. I was so relieved when she smiled and said hi and held her arms out for a hug, 'cause I would have let her walk right by me. > > I know for a fact that I’ve hurt people I really care about by “ignoring them,” when in fact I just didn’t know or wasn’t sure who they were. ☹ I hate doing that, but nothing seems to help - I’ve tried the nmemonics and memory tricks and even taking pictures of everyone and making flash cards. Doesn’t help. > > ETA: I wonder how much of my anxiety disorder is actually due to the stress of this, in fact. I think a whole lot of it. Yay! I think you sound like the proverbial textbook case. I say “yay” because it really is nice to have a name for it, and you can use it to explain to someone why you have ignored him or her (if you get the chance: sadly enough, we have probably ignored many people and never known it…). It sounds better to say, “I have prosopagnosia” and then explain it than to lamely stutter, “Um, I’m bad with faces…” The site with the rocks and stuff is great – and it’s a great way to explain it to people who don’t have it. I would find it easy to believe that an anxiety disorder could stem from this. Now that you know what it is, maybe that will help… ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-a-difficult-time-doing-that-most-other-people-don-t/462628/106 "2008-09-11T14:21:25Z")
You could call off sick with it, too. “I’m sorry I can’t come in to work today, boss. I have prosopagnosia.” I plan one day to call off because of my chronic turophilia. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-have-a-difficult-time-doing-that-most-other-people-don-t/462628.md?page=5)