# What's the least important thing that you're really, really good at? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 23, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166 "2010-02-23T20:57:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/61 "2010-02-24T15:51:38Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > But can you take apart the remote control and almost put it back together? No, but I can make computers survive aquatic conditions! šŸ˜ƒ Actually, I can tell you the number of letters in any word faster than anyone else. Iā€™ve demonstrated this for many years and no one has beaten me. So, in a contest if someone says: ā€œdemonstratedā€, I would respond with ā€œ12ā€ faster than anyone else. The only time I might lose is if I mess up a spelling of a word. Also, I can recite the 21 counties of New Jersey in alphabetical order. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/62 "2010-02-24T15:52:29Z")
I can type 120-130 words per minute, and have an insanely high score on the ā€œTyping Maniacā€ game on Facebook. Thatā€™s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/63 "2010-02-24T15:58:08Z")
I can recite the alphabet backwards just as fast as forward. In first grade we were taught both ways and at that age you didnā€™t know the difference. This was pre-Sesame Street when kids often did not know their ABCs before starting school. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/64 "2010-02-24T16:06:42Z")
> [@Silver Tyger Girl](#): > > Theyā€™re very different if youā€™ve developed the eye. The sā€™s and cā€™s are the biggest giveaway. Futura just looks like bolded Arial to me; I couldnā€™t tell the difference if I tried. Helvetica and Arial have always looked different to me, even the first time I saw them. I guess we have another case of certain things standing out more to certain people, perceptions and all of that. Kind of reminds me of [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=535939) wherein posters discussed viewing the same visual signs as everyone else, yet seeing them differently. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/65 "2010-02-24T16:09:44Z")
I can pronounce the typewriter keyboard. Thereā€™s a little paper folding thing I do with used snacks bags that minimizes the space the take up and the fold doesnā€™t come apart like wadding them up does. I even tried to find out if the folding operation has an origami name, with no luck so far. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/66 "2010-02-24T16:15:40Z")
Oh, yeah, something elseā€¦I can draw horses very, very well. All other things I can draw okay-ish, but horses I have downā€“if they are facing to the left. Facing to the right I can manage pretty well, but any angles (head turned, body at an angle, etc.) and they come out looking like a 12yro did them. Years and years of doodling horses while trying not to be bored out of my skull listening to class lectures created this. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/67 "2010-02-24T16:23:08Z")
I can take photos with relatively long exposures hand-held, and get reasonably sharp results. Itā€™s actually a bad habit, because it means that I donā€™t use a a tripod when I should do. And Iā€™ve been able to do it a long time: [this is a picture that I took at age 16](http://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/4336602761/) in 1961, probably with an exposure of 1/8 second on an ordinary 35mm camera. (It was taken at night so it must have been as long an exposure as I thought that I could get away with). [This is a more recent picture](http://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/4334526245/), taken at 1/20 second with a zoom lens at 87mm on a digital SLR. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/68 "2010-02-24T16:57:58Z")
I am really good at picking up things with my toes. I donā€™t even have finger toes, just very adept little piggies. Change? No problem. Pencils? A breeze. Wood floor, carpeted floor - doesnā€™t matter. One spring when I was a teenager we had problems with crickets in the house. I could, in complete darkness, locate where a cricket was by itsā€™ chirping, and smush it with a VHS tape (itā€™s what was available). Mom or dad would come downstairs in the morning to find movies all over, with crickets mushed to the back. Iā€™m still the one the family calls upon to find the source of a sound. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/69 "2010-02-24T17:12:11Z")
I can remember numbers really, really well. Does anyone want my first husbandā€™s social security number? šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/70 "2010-02-24T17:16:36Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > One must go under the other each time. I just tried this and I think my brain started bleeding. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/71 "2010-02-24T17:22:37Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I am a natural at Skee-Ball. I havenā€™t played in years, so I donā€™t know if Iā€™m rusty, but as a child I never even played very much of it - just a true idiot savant at Skee-Ball. My father-in-law also posesses this skill, and he passed it down to his children AND grandchildren. My wife and (young) kids once racked up something like 15,000 points in about 50 rolls. We have a genuine oil painting of a Paris cityscape to show for their efforts. Perhaps youā€™re the proud possessor of the Skee-Ball gene! ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/72 "2010-02-24T17:23:26Z")
> [@niblet\_head](#): > > Sigh. I wish I could do this. > > What I _can_ do is make a really, really good grilled cheese sandwich. Excuse meā€¦ Please read the OP before responding. The OP specifically said a ā€˜least important thingā€™. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/73 "2010-02-24T17:24:36Z")
burping very loudly on command ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/74 "2010-02-24T17:31:34Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Futura just looks like bolded Arial to me; I couldnā€™t tell the difference if I tried. Helvetica and Arial have always looked different to me, even the first time I saw them. I guess we have another case of certain things standing out more to certain people, perceptions and all of that. Kind of reminds me of [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=535939) wherein posters discussed viewing the same visual signs as everyone else, yet seeing them differently. Iā€™m a graphic designer. Iā€™m supposed to notice those small stupid differences, although Iā€™m sure some of my classmates donā€™t. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/75 "2010-02-24T17:50:11Z")
I can open any jar or bottle that has a twist top no matter how stuck the lid happens to be at the time. I apparently have Hulk-like strength in my hands and have always been able to twist off bottle tops/jar lids. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Butterfly\_s\_Ghost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_butterfly_s_ghost/32/3462_2.png) [@The\_Butterfly\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Butterfly_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/76 "2010-02-24T18:33:15Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > I am really good at picking up things with my toes. I donā€™t even have finger toes, just very adept little piggies. Change? No problem. Pencils? A breeze. Wood floor, carpeted floor - doesnā€™t matter. Ohhh, I do that too. And when I pick up, say, a dishcloth, I fling it up with my toes behind me and catch it in my hand. šŸ™‚ My least important super-skill is finding four-leaf-clover. I can just walk across a meadow an spot the things. I remember once spotting one from a car at a red light, getting out, picking the clover and getting back in the car again before the lights turned . For birthdays I often give bouquets of clovers: 40 four-leaf-clovers for the 40th birthday. No problem at all. I have also found five-leaf, six-leaf and eight-leaf clovers quite often, but cannot remeber ever seeing a seven-leaf-cloverā€¦ . ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/77 "2010-02-24T19:08:52Z")
I got nothing but Iā€™d like to brag about my cousin. When we were kids he could fart on command. Iā€™m not sure if he can do that anymore. I used to try to catch him ā€œunloadedā€ and at random times I would tell him to fart. He always did and it always stunk. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/78 "2010-02-24T19:12:03Z")
> [@Rheintochter](#): > > My least important super-skill is finding four-leaf-clover. I can just walk across a meadow an spot the things. I remember once spotting one from a car at a red light, getting out, picking the clover and getting back in the car again before the lights turned . > For birthdays I often give bouquets of clovers: 40 four-leaf-clovers for the 40th birthday. No problem at all. Thatā€™s . . . weird. Do you take commissions? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/79 "2010-02-24T19:15:48Z")
I have to say this might be about my favorite thread ever. This is WAAAAY better than a doper picture thread; picturing each doper engaged in the practice of his or her own special skill is a much better way to remember each of you. Plus I think Iā€™ll rolodex this thread under ā€œfreelance.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/80 "2010-02-24T19:17:21Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > I can take a regular medium ball point pen and write really, really, really, really small. And its legible to downright neat. Me too, usually I write ā€œCan you read thisā€. I also print faster than I write and have trained myself into writing quite typwewriter-like. I have difficulty preventing myself from always writing an ā€˜aā€™ like this (backward-6 like versus o-with-a-tail-like). > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Iā€™m the queen of getting more things to fit into a space than should logically be able to fill it. The class examples are dish drying racks and suitcases. > > I, too, have mastered this skill. If I had a nickel for every time some one told me, ā€œYouā€™ll never get that (all) in thereā€¦ā€ > > I am also good at eyeballing whether things are level/parallel, no level required. I hang it and it is perfect, the first time every time. Ditto [sub]though king-ish[/sub]. I can get 20% more into a space than there was before and everything is more accessible. The weird thing is I can do it again; but I have to come back to it after a few weeks or months. I can cross my eyes looking at a keyboard, mesh screen, window blinds, {etc. with a pattern} and lock my eyes crossed. Then, I can look around the resulting pattern. For a keyboard I would see F and H overlapped on an ordinary looking keycap. Likewise G and J overlap but the keycap looks okay. Looking around, the image looks further away and magnified slightly at the same time - very Hitchcockian. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166.md?page=5)