I can’t do mental math without great difficulty. Throw an algebra problem in front of me, fine–but ask me to take away 7 from 42? I did arrive at the answer–35… but I promise, it took me much longer to figure it out than your average person. Also, I’m about 20% likely to come to a wrong answer when I do that stuff. When people tell me what year they were born, my head nearly explodes trying to figure out how old they are. It’s kind of sad.
And I can’t tell directions to save my life. I once went to a seminar on the ground floor of a university building… and after that long half hour speech I had totally forgotten whether we’d gone upstairs or downstairs to get there. I have also gotten lost in my own dorm after living there for over a year.
I live in the Land of [Somewhat More Than] 10,000 Lakes, and I cannot swim. I can’t open my eyes underwater or put my head underwater without plugging my nose, either.
It’s always been a great source of frustration to me that I can’t do that two-finger whistle; I feel better knowing I’m not alone in that. I also can’t whistle using a piece of grass.
Oh, and I can’t raise just my right eyebrow, so my :dubious: expression is a bit lopsided.
I can not pronounce the word thermometer and I mess up pronouncing library quite often.
Thermometer gets me tounge tied to the point that when I am speaking the other person will say it and my response is “yeah that”
Library comes out lyberry a lot and I have to think before I say it.
Thinking Thermometer before I say it does nothing. It still comes out wrong no matter how I try or how slow I say it. “Thermadamer” is usually what comes out.
I can read aloud, but not very well and I will always have to go back and read it again to myself. I have such a terrible short term memory that even though I am reading the words all my mental thinking goes towards to correct pronounciation and speaking of the words.
I suppose most people lose concentration when they aren’t forced to participate. Me though? I might as well be out of the classroom when I have to read aloud.
To me, growing up, taking a pill with a glass of water was as obvious as putting something on your feet to go outside. Pills are dry and get stuck, hence the obviousness of water.
I am colour blind so there are certain colours I can’t distinguish between.
Same here. Let’s add to this list
Snapping my fingers (left hand) (I can’t snap very consistantly with the right.)
Driving a stick shift
Thinking of anything else
Can’t whistle-- with fingers or normally. Can’t ride a bike (see the thread about inability to ride a bike). Can’t do handstands. Can’t cross my eyes-- when I think I’m crossing them, apparently it’s just one eye going off in some weird direction.
Those 3D pictures are odd; I see them in inverse 3D. An image of a schooner looks like someone’s mashed a schooner into clay, then gaily painted speckles over the impression.
I have trouble telling left from right. I have trouble remembering trig identities or doing simple math (which doesn’t sound too bad except for the fact that I’m majoring in math-- I can do proofs and pages-long multivariate calculus problems, but I’ll mess up adding fractions or whatever).
I’m pretty proud of my pill-taking ability, though-- didn’t realize it was a problem for so many people.
I’m a pretty good musician so I can read all the notes and stuff. I’m an organist, so I can read three lines-both clefs and the third line being the pedal. But for the life of me I can’t read open score for the choir. I can usually handle three parts, but add the fourth one and I’m done for. You have to transpose the tenor line down an octave in your head. Damn! It’s hard!
I’m also a bookkeeper and sometimes I have to add on my fingers. Thank god for calculators.
I also can’t remember numbers. Someone will say “how much do we have in such-and-so fund” and I’ll say something like, “I don’t like to give an amount because it will not be accurate and I don’t want you to go on an inaccurate number.” Meanwhile, I’m thinking “it could be $2000, it could be $80,000, I have no idea.”
Rachel I was also never able to tell my right from my left. One day when I was about 19, I was driving with my dad in the passenger seat and he said “you need to turn right at this light” (I was in the right lane) I cut across 3 lanes of heavy traffic and then turned left. My dad was screaming the whole time and demanding that we pull over. When I did he pulled his hand back and hit me as hard as anyone ever has (to add to this my father hadn’t laid a hand on me since the last time he spanked me at say age 5 or 6. So this action came some what of a surprise) I was now sitting in the car holding my aching arm and he looks me dead in the eyes and says “If I can hit you I’m on your right”. To this day I have not forgotten my right from my left and always think to myself, what side is dad on?
Thanks dad
Embarassing, but I feel like sharing because I have the potential to “win” this one.
I can’t multiply ANYTHING without a calculator or, say, counting in threes until I reach 3 x whatever. Or adding in my head.
Because… I don’t know the “multiplication table.” Honest to god. What’s 7 x 8? I have no idea. Seriously.
I was really sick and missed a lot of school in third grade when we learned this. I have never been able to learn it on my own. Somehow, still I managed to work my way up to calculus in college…
I don’t know how to tie shoelaces. :o I did learn when I was in 4th grade, but I stopped wearing laced shoes arount 7th grade. I didn’t even realize that I forgot until last year when my grandfather got very sick (some kind of fever that affected his mind) and I was helping him get dressed. When I put his shoes on I had no clue how to lace them up. :smack:
