# What DON'T you use that everyone else does, the lack of which making you superior to them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 18, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697 "2013-05-18T21:00:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/81 "2013-05-21T06:14:04Z")
[GASP] It’s {insert appropriately dramatic pause} UBER-HIPSTER. We’re DoOoOoOommmeeeddd!!! :eek: ---
**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:** [May 21, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/82 "2013-05-21T16:50:46Z")
I was posting in this thread on page one. Back before it was cool. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/83 "2013-05-21T17:25:10Z")
> [@brainstall](#): > > Apparently, I don’t have a sense of humour. You guys are just weird and I don’t see the need for such silliness. 🙂 That’s the spirit! ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/84 "2013-05-21T17:38:21Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > A calculator. > > I work in a lab with many other engineers, most of whom are older than me. When sitting at their desks, they use handheld calculators to make calculations. They have no idea how to use Excel, apparently. I used to work at a company with a lot of engineers, and they did the same thing. I never quite understood it- they used Excel plenty, but they did a lot of calculating on their old HP calculators. All I could ever figure is that their mathematical thinking processes were in reverse Polish notation, and it translated to the HP calculators without effort. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/85 "2013-05-21T20:27:38Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I used to work at a company with a lot of engineers, and they did the same thing. I never quite understood it- they used Excel plenty, but they did a lot of calculating on their old HP calculators. > > All I could ever figure is that their mathematical thinking processes were in reverse Polish notation, and it translated to the HP calculators without effort. I think it’s just convenience. I started out doing programming by writing canned routines for the HP12c financial calculator that were then distributed to loan officers across the country as part of the loan documentation package I helped draft. However today with smart phones and tablets, you can [still buy one of these suckers](https://www.google.com/search?q=hp12c&num=100&client=firefox-a&hs=3Yu&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&source=lnms&tbm=shop&sa=X&ei=DNibUeCyI87itQbV4oDoCw&ved=0CAwQ_AUoAw&biw=1338&bih=866). I guess unlike a smart phone, you can pull it out of your pocket with one hand and w/o even really looking at it, hit a few keys and do the basic routine calculations that you need 80% of the time. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/86 "2013-05-21T20:41:26Z")
Pants are overrated. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/87 "2013-05-21T21:58:01Z")
Overrating things is overrated. I haven’t overrated something since 1992. Except when I’m doing it ironically of course. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/88 "2013-05-21T22:09:30Z")
Razors Make-up Love, Cookies The Happy Hairy Homo ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/89 "2013-05-22T16:21:40Z")
I am an unabashed elitist Straight Dope member. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/90 "2013-05-22T17:44:35Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > Pants are overrated. [Your hero](http://shechive.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/no-pants-party-10.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/91 "2013-05-22T18:13:51Z")
TIL that elmwood doesn’t use toiletpaper or sheets. Remind me not to touch elmwood’s mattress (or whatever item is used for sleeping, since I’m sure elmwood doesn’t use something so plebeian as a mattress.) ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/92 "2013-05-22T18:17:50Z")
How is it people continue to use question marks? They do nothing but make you look like an indecisive, simpering, boney, ignorant, fool. That’s why I never use the things. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/93 "2013-05-22T19:43:08Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > I’d say succeeding beyond our wildest dreams. I don’t have wildest dreams. All my dreams have the same degree of wildness. To label them “more wild” or “less wild” would be a closed-minded value judgement. ---
**Author:** ![Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Obnoxious\_Hood\_Ornament](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obnoxious_Hood_Ornament)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/94 "2013-05-22T20:49:02Z")
> [@Apollon](#): > > I’m a 38 years old male, and, unlike most other men my age, I have no: > > - TV > - Allergies > - Credit card > - Debt or mortgage > - Male pattern baldness > - Beer gut > - Anything made by Apple > - Any pink articles of clothing > > Yes, not having each and any of these things, makes me feel superior to those who do. This is more or less me, except I have allergies. My vehicle and house are paid for. While I don’t necessarily feel superior, the willingness of some people to rush headlong into the endless abyss of _debt_ has always puzzled me. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/95 "2013-05-22T21:50:15Z")
Pshaw! I run headlong into every abyss I see. For fun. ---
**Author:** ![Didact\_Lectorem777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f05b48/32.png) [@Didact\_Lectorem777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didact_Lectorem777)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/96 "2013-05-22T21:57:05Z")
Limitations. You are all held back by your mortal bodies, infantile minds, and petty thoughts. I see all, know all, think all, AM ALL. Just to prove it, I’m typing this on a C64 keyboard on the surface of a star that died ten years before the Big Bang, connected to an 18th century wi-fi channeled through a late 21st century router. It was uploaded four minutes before the first human was born and 12 years after I solved the famous chicken or egg paradox. My limits are just about six notches above infinity, but 4 dimensions under the Great Noodle. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/97 "2013-05-22T22:57:51Z")
I have no sense of proportion, boundaries or propriety. I don’t need them. My life is much more interesting than all you boring ordinary shlubs’. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/98 "2013-05-23T02:34:33Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > Pants are overrated. [Testify!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1srzsTJOW2c) ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/99 "2013-05-23T03:00:20Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > [Testify!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1srzsTJOW2c) [Hallelujah!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu2nmeKvN1I) ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697/100 "2013-05-23T04:47:36Z")
I don’t have any credit cards, outstanding debts or car payments; however, come to think of it, I don’t feel superior about this. Just grateful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dont-you-use-that-everyone-else-does-the-lack-of-which-making-you-superior-to-them/658697.md?page=6)