# What basic or simple processes/functions are actually difficult for you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 20, 2014, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767 "2014-02-20T02:54:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/41 "2014-02-21T02:12:49Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Left/right gave me trouble until I started wearing a watch in junior high. The watch was on the left arm. Eventually I didn’t have to think about it. I haven’t worn a watch in 20 years. I got a scar on my left hand that served much the same purpose and with the same results. Still have the scar, but don’t have to see it to tell left from right. At the moment, a number of otherwise normal things are more difficult than usual since I’m recovering from a completely torn patellar tendon and the subsequent repair. Walking is more peg-leg pirate like than usual (brace is locked straight for walking), putting shoes on is tricky, standing up from sitting is sometimes interesting, and pretty much anything else that might normally require me to be able to bend my leg and put some weight on it (driving, sitting in a car like a normal person, etc…) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/42 "2014-02-21T02:16:58Z")
> [@Macca26](#): > > Other responses have reminded me that when someone spells something out loud to me before I know what the word or name is, I get completely lost halfway through. So getting email addresses over the phone is a bit nightmarish sometimes, because for some reason it takes about a whole second for my brain to recognize someone saying the letter “m”, that I need to write that down now, and then getting my fingers to actually write that letter (and not some other letter). By that point they’re already on to letter two or three. > > If they tell me what they’re going to spell out ahead of time, even if I don’t fully get what they’re saying I can anticipate the letter they’re probably going to tell me and do okay. > > I have no trouble writing or spelling in any other situation and I can even spell plenty of words out loud without writing anything down - it’s just a funny disconnect that I have. I don’t have this with letters and words. But I do have it with numbers. It’s somehow difficult for my brain to grasp numbers I’m hearing in order to use them. (It’s not a problem if I’m seeing the numbers.) So doing something like dialing a phone as somebody is telling me the number is difficult for me. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/43 "2014-02-21T03:09:30Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I am dyscalculic (it’s a real thing) – directions, visualizing physical things being described, the most simple grade-school math, I can’t do any of those things without great effort. Like other sufferers I have a lot of work-arounds, from turning back to look at my path to memorize landmarks so I won’t get disoriented (including places nobody else bothers to do this), counting on my fingers under the table, etc. I cannot remember any number whatsoever unless I write it down – if I measure length and width of an object, for example, I will not be able to remember the length in my head. Another odd thing for me with numbers. If I am trying to quickly look at columns of information, it’s much easier for me to scan a row of numbers to find what I am looking for rather than names. For example, if I am quickly scanning a list of names and phone numbers, it’s easier for me to find the number that ends in 8733 than it would be to find John Jones. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/44 "2014-02-21T03:27:36Z")
> [@Weedy](#): > > I used to have trouble with b and d but I don’t any more. This was me in school, to the extent I used to get detention because my teacher decided I was doing it on purpose just to spite her! I did read once that it’s a type of dyslexia that tends to correspond with good spatial awareness 😕 I make maps for a living so who knows. I also transpose numbers a lot, any time I work with figures I have to double or triple check everything. Usually it’s the last numbers I’ll mix up. It’s like my eyes see the first few numbers in a string and then jump to the last number while my brain is only absorbing what the middle ones are and the signals get mixed up. So given **853790** it’s like my brain sees **853_907_**. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/45 "2014-02-21T03:31:38Z")
Swallowing pills. I can do it, but it’s a torment. I have a whole ritual where I stand in front of the mirror, take two deep breaths, place the pill _just_ so, then try to chugalug half a glass of water, hoping that at some part of the process the pill will gurgle down with it. Apparently people with tongue-ties (which I have) often have overactive gag reflexes, because there are quite large areas of the back of the mouth cavity that simply can’t be reached with the tongue, so if anything gets stuck there it can’t be got out, short of poking round with the fingers. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/46 "2014-02-21T03:37:04Z")
Like in the linked thread, I also can’t burp. I’m almost incapable of keeping my balance on my bicycle if I take my left hand off the handlebar. It makes it very difficult for me to make hand signals during turns, because that’s supposed to be done with your left hand. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/47 "2014-02-21T03:43:09Z")
If I am working with gears or pulleys or levers and such I have to physically spin my fingers the directions something will go and do that all the way to the object I am trying to turn. I also have problems with left and right rotational things. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/48 "2014-02-21T03:56:08Z")
I have no problem telling left from right, but I’m quite seriously navigationally-challenged. I still use GPS to get around the city I moved to 8 months ago. I know how to get to work and back, and Walmart and the grocery store… but any place I’ve never been before and I whip out the navigation. Even some places I’ve been to several times just don’t stick. Part of the problem is I’m very verbal, so I need to know street names before I can commit a route to memory. My boyfriend is very visual-spatial and can never remember street names, so we can’t tell each other how to get anywhere unless we’re in the car together. I might say, “Oh you just turn left on Main and then take the third right onto Buffalo,” which means nothing to him because he doesn’t pay attention to street names unless it’s a major highway (and even then he mixes those up easily). But he has a great memory for where things are, and can easily figure out where to go after driving once past pretty much anything. He just can’t communicate that information to me in a meaningful way. I’m often surprised when I put a new place into my GPS and, upon arrival, discover that I’ve driven past it twenty times and just didn’t notice or retain that information. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/49 "2014-02-21T04:18:44Z")
My handwriting looks like a someone gave a blindfolded monkey a crayon. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/50 "2014-02-21T04:35:00Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > We must be related. Nobody in my family has any sense of direction. We are so bad it’s a family joke. To get where I’m going, I have to memorize almost every landmark on the way. > > Left and right? Put your thumb and forefinger out on each hand. Your left hand makes an “L” for left. Congratulations! You’ve just won today’s competition for “Annoy the Hell out of the Old Guy”. There is NO natural distinction between left and right - every time someone comes up with some theory to explain it, they always commit a self-referential argument. Points on a compass, markings on a clock, shape of your hand. All come down to “and then move to the right (or left)”. For the left hand argument: describe which on side of your index finger does your thumb lie? No, you can’t refer to left or right. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/51 "2014-02-21T04:41:25Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Swallowing pills. I can do it, but it’s a torment. I have a whole ritual where I stand in front of the mirror, take two deep breaths, place the pill _just_ so, then try to chugalug half a glass of water, hoping that at some part of the process the pill will gurgle down with it… I can’t swallow the larger pills such as multivitamins. 2 things: 1. Chewables are no longer limited to children’s medicines 2. If it has to be a pill" position in center of tongue, near center of a bit back. Holding lips barely open, suck in the water. The force of the water stream will get the pill past the sticking point. Works most of the time for me - you may wish to try. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/52 "2014-02-21T05:28:11Z")
You know how if someone has a schmutz on her face and you point to your own face? Everyone always expects me to be pointing to the mirror image of their face. The schmutz is on their left cheek, so I should point to my right cheek. BUT I CAN’T DO THAT. If it’s on their left cheek, I point to my left cheek. And because I know that people expect me to be doing the mirror thing, I often announce at the same time that I am not a mirror. If I can announce that I recognize I’m doing it wrong, why can’t I do it right? My husband laughs every time. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/53 "2014-02-21T06:05:27Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > We must be related. Nobody in my family has any sense of direction. We are so bad it’s a family joke. To get where I’m going, I have to memorize almost every landmark on the way. > > Left and right? Put your thumb and forefinger out on each hand. Your left hand makes an “L” for left. That depends on the hand’s position. I’ve got a sense of direction, but it’s “thataway”. Don’t talk to me about this “left/right” thing, I need to think about it. So long as left and right are not involved and borrowing an expression from my grandmother, the whole family is “like a salmon at baby salmon time”. I can whistle but not shepherd-whistle (the kind you do with two fingers stuck in your mouth). Mind you, yelling “EU!” works just as well when it comes to grabbing the attention of those two students who’d rather discuss their weekend plans than pay attention (you wanna discuss weekend plans, do it in such a way I don’t understand it clearly from the front of the class). ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/54 "2014-02-21T06:33:00Z")
Well there are jokes about people who are too dumb to work at McD’s because they can’t make change. I have a really hard time making change because, apparently, I can’t count. (This would explain all my problems with math, although I will point out that I did pass all high-school and the required bone-head college math classes.) When doing laps in the pool, I have to have a bunch of hair ties on one wrist which I move to the other wrist or I forget how many laps I’ve done. Actually I’ve given up and now go by time. When proofreading books one of the things I have to do is make sure all the page numbers are correct and all I can say is thank the stars for automatic numbering, although there are still glitches (like this one book that had 130 pages of front matter, which is numbered by roman numeral). Don’t look at me to keep score in any game, unless I can write it down. Oddly enough if I am proofreading something I have no problems with numbers, even though checking the math is not part of my job (aside from the page numbers). For instance I caught that somebody had added stuff up that came to 110% instead of 100% even though I wasn’t looking for it. Also, the left and right thing. I think this might have come from my being very nearly ambidextrous as a child. I can usually remember the thing the mnemonic device is for better than I can remember the mnemonic device. I am an excellent driver and can parallel park in a space about four inches bigger than my car, but if I have to back up using the mirrors, forget it! I cannot figure out which way to go when using a mirror. Also can’t french braid my hair using a mirror. Other people’s hair–fine. My own hair without a mirror–fine. You’d think the mirror would help, but no. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/55 "2014-02-21T06:45:51Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I can’t pass a field sobriety test even when I’m sober. I have it worked out in my head what I’m going to say if I ever get pulled over by the cops. > > There’s a pose in yoga called “easy-sitting pose”, but it’s really difficult for me to do. When we do it, I just smile and go over to the wall. The wall is my friend. I once nearly flunked a field sobriety test, although sober, because, in the words of the testing officer, I stood up too straight and steadily. He said, “Are you a dancer?” I said yes. He said, “Okay, that explains it, you did that too well.” It was something like–and I don’t remember all that well–stand with my feet together, close my eyes, tilt my head backward, and touch my nose. I cannot believe a drunken person would do that more steadily than a sober one, dance training or no. The next time it came up, the guy wanted me to recite the alphabet backwards. I can’t do that either. Bring on the Breathalyzer, that I will pass. (Note: all this was when I worked in a bar so I was driving home at That Time of Night, and I probably did smell a bit boozy.) ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/56 "2014-02-21T08:35:29Z")
Re backwards alphabet: No rule against tuv, wx -Z! tuvw -X! down to every school kids bane FEDCBA ---
**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:** [February 21, 2014, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/57 "2014-02-21T08:57:21Z")
I’m 68, and I could spend an hour discussing all the things I can no longer do. Just a few: Stand up straight. Cross my legs comfortably. Bend over to pick up something on the floor (I have to remind myself to bend my knees). Put on shoes and socks effortlessly. Scratch the middle of my back. Breathe properly while swimming (I forget to exhale). ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/58 "2014-02-21T10:35:26Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > There is NO natural distinction between left and right - every time someone comes up with some theory to explain it, they always commit a self-referential argument. > > Points on a compass, markings on a clock, shape of your hand. > > All come down to “and then move to the right (or left)”. > > For the left hand argument: describe which on side of your index finger does your thumb lie? > No, you can’t refer to left or right. Exactly. Plus that left and right change around all the time as you turn. It’s unstable. When someone else says left or right you have to work out if they are facing the same direction you are. Saying “walk down Road Street and turn left” is meaningless unless you know the direction. That’s why it confuses me: it’s unstable. Left and right seem to swim around me, making me dizzy. In the car we have resolved this by using port & starboard. It’s so much easier! Everyone is in the car, and the direction is relative to the car and not the person. You could go further and only refer to compass points, but you’d have to be sure to know them at all times. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/59 "2014-02-21T14:38:01Z")
I’m a non-thrower-upper as well. I’ll fight it until the nausea goes away. I just can’t do it. I’ve only thrown up once in my adult life and that was when I was pregnant. Once. I’m so bad at spatial reasoning my little second grade daughter had an assignment and I couldn’t make heads nor tails of it. I can’t turn, flip, or otherwise mentally manipulate shapes to tell if they match. I’m bad with directions too, but I manage. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767/60 "2014-02-21T14:47:03Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > There is NO natural distinction between left and right - every time someone comes up with some theory to explain it, they always commit a self-referential argument. I don’t see why that’s relevant. Of course there’s no actual difference. But humans do have an innate ability to separate what is occurring on the left and right sides of their vision. The problem is with the terms “left” and “right,” not the ability to tell that there are two different sides. > [@](#): > > For the left hand argument: describe which on side of your index finger does your thumb lie? > No, you can’t refer to left or right. It’s on the side opposite of the other fingers of the hand. On one hand, when the thumb is extended with your palm facing down, with the fingers pointing away from you, the thumb makes an “L” shape with the pointer finger. On the other hand, it makes an “⅃” shape. And if you can tell the difference between “L” and “⅃,” you have the aforementioned innate ability to tell the difference between left and right. And if you can tell which one of them is the same as the letter we normally use, you can tell which is correct in asking you to pick the object on the left of some other object. Just because “left” and “right” are defined by consensus doesn’t make them pointless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-basic-or-simple-processes-functions-are-actually-difficult-for-you/681767.md?page=4)