# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/101 "2010-02-25T04:29:58Z")
I _used_ to know the armour thickness and slope (all sides, top and underneath), and armament, of every major German and British tank of WWII. And I _used_ to be able to add up a column of 4 digit numbers in my head; if there were 4 or fewer of those numbers instantly, otherwise in a few seconds. > [@Ruffian](#): > > **But the big winner is:** > I can recite Kentucky Derby winners, frontwards and backwards, from 1969 to present. _I_ can name the backwards ones, from since they first ran the race! So there. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/102 "2010-02-25T05:11:31Z")
Me? I can collate and staple with the best of 'em. ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/103 "2010-02-25T05:14:13Z")
I have a very fast foosball shot in which I do not hit the ball, but accelerate it from a dead stop to frightening speed without giving any other indication that I’m about to shoot. I learned to play with expert players, and if I actually swung back to hit the ball, they’d already be in position to block it, so I had to develop this “sweep” shot, which is really much more about strength than speed. This may be correlated with my other least important skill: taking six years to get a four-year degree. ---
**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 25, 2010, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/104 "2010-02-25T05:28:33Z")
> [@groo](#): > > This may be correlated with my other least important skill: taking six years to get a four-year degree. Bah, I can beat that. I can take five years to get a two year degree. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/105 "2010-02-25T06:32:45Z")
> [@Icerigger](#): > > I can recite the alphabet backwards just as fast as forward. In first grade we were taught both ways and at that age you didn’t know the difference. This was pre-Sesame Street when kids often did not know their ABCs before starting school. Damn public schools… we didn’t get the “how to get out of a DUI lessons.” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/106 "2010-02-25T06:49:48Z")
I can solve riddles really quickly. Well, actually, I’m not solving them. I just like to read books of riddles, and I always end up looking at the answers. It turns out that, up until you hit, like, puzzlehunt-level challenges, there’s only 2 dozen or so different riddles. And I can remember the answers to pretty much all of them. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/107 "2010-02-25T07:18:02Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I can, and do, recover from unintentional pratfalls so well that anyone who hasn’t seen it before assumes it’s on purpose, or looks around for the cameras. > I guess that’s not the least important, though, since it saves me everything from skinned knees to twisted ankles to, of course, face. > > I can wake up without an alarm clock, and have a life-long talent of being able to know what time it is to within a couple of minutes. Perhaps we were twins separated by birth. And possibly years – since I never EVER fell in my youth, but as I’m older and fatter I can’t always catch myself any more. The clock thing too. I never use an alarm even when I have to get up at unusual times. Am I the only one who can spin a record album jacket on my finger for like, an hour or more? I’m not sure I can still do it, since I no longer have a record album or a jacket. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/108 "2010-02-25T07:28:55Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > You know when you buy some foods that come in a jar or cup, you unscrew/prise off the lid and there is a plastic film sealing the container? > > I can pull, like, 99% of those suckers off. \* In one piece\*. > > Check with my publicist for interviews; I’m already booked on Leno. Damn. How are you with removing plastic wrapping from CD jewel cases? ---
**Author:** ![cuzn\_ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@cuzn\_ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuzn_ed)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/109 "2010-02-25T11:36:52Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I can twiddle my thumbs in opposite directions (so one thumb circles one way while the other thumb circles the other - both left and right going clockwise at the same time). Not many can. Trying to do this pissed me off somethin’ fierce. So i guess that’s mine: i can get _really_ pissed off at the drop of a hat. ---
**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 25, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/110 "2010-02-25T12:57:55Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > That’s . . . weird. Do you take commissions? I do and frequently have. It depends on when the birthday is, though. That’s a rather seasonal skill I have there. 😛 Besides - getting the clovers from Germany to Seattle while they’re still fresh might be tricky. I’ll be happy to deliver them personally though, if you pay for the flight. 😉 ---
**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 25, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/111 "2010-02-25T13:05:21Z")
> [@Staver808](#): > > 5,6 and 8 leaf clovers? You don’t happen to live near a nuclear power plant by any chance? And I gotta say, getting a bouquet of 4 leaf clovers for my bday would be totally cool. I vote this as a bad post since this isn’t a useless skill IMHO. Nope - only coal-burning power plants around here. But I do get that question a LOT. 🙂 I agree that it’s a fun skill, but until **lissener** pays me to deliver a bouquet I won’t include it in my CV. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/112 "2010-02-25T14:09:55Z")
Hmmmm - I can get the bolt into a C9 machine gun, even if it’s slightly bent, much to the irritation of the men in my section. I can also manually load a magazine lightening fast. (these two may not seem useless until you realize how brutal I am at actually shooting the bloody things) I have a great brain for trivia, if it’s obscure and I have read it or watched it, chances are I remember it I can accurately fake many accents ---
**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 25, 2010, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/113 "2010-02-25T14:25:49Z")
> [@Shark\_Sandwich](#): > > I don’t know why, but I can’t stop laughing at this. 😃 > [@Gestalt](#): > > If this is your “least important,” than you must be a very, very useful person. No, I’m just not good at anything. ☹ Trying to think of talents I have that are in no way useful… Uhh, I can gift-wrap like a MFer! I can crack my knuckles by just bending the joints. I can eyeball a precise jigger even though I’ve never tended bar. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/114 "2010-02-25T14:30:54Z")
i can touch my left thumb to the inside of my left arm, and my right thumb to the inside of my right arm (not necessarily at the same time). ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/115 "2010-02-25T14:35:10Z")
I thought of one more - I am very good at voice procedure and for some reason, my voice transmits clearly over the radio, even with weak and distorted comms… ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/116 "2010-02-25T14:39:33Z")
> [@FE3O4ENAIL](#): > > How?. I just tried and I can’t keep one going and reverse the direction of the other. This is a drummer’s coordination excersize. We used to do it spinning our fingers pointing each other. Start out your left hand if you are right handed, then start the right one the opposite direction. _Then pat your head whilst you rubbeth thy belly._ ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/117 "2010-02-25T15:09:13Z")
I can write in cursive backwards. Fear my skillz. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/118 "2010-02-25T15:46:14Z")
My useless talent is singing and playing Rusted Root or Jason Isabell songs _exactly_ like they sound live. My band does a crowd pleasing Carny Man - Cross Canadian Ragweed and Send Me On My Way - Rusted Root medley that gets them up dancing. I also can hack antiquated devices to do useless shit, for example, changing channels on a VCR from the kitchen so that the VCR can be used as a head unit for a radio to be run through my television, and the radio is actually a tape deck ripped out of a 1987 Honda civic that is mounted in a box using a 386’s power supply for 12 volt coversion… I have a way with dogs that gets them to like me for some reason, even though I am afraid of big strange dogs. I have really great luck going to the post office/DMV/tax office. We used to be able to hit people with sliced prewrapped American cheese down in the parking lot from the fifth floor window. I won a karaoke contest with a three set linup: Fast Car, Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, and Angel from Montgomery, and I ordered two pitchers of beer while I was singing. I was reasonably decent at hanging upside down from a tree and dropping eggs on cars when I was 10. ---
**Author:** ![Anduril](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Anduril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduril)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/119 "2010-02-25T17:17:45Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > I can put my hands together in ‘praying’ position behind my back (palms together, fingers pointing upwards) in between my shoulder blades. > > I used to be truly awesome at Minesweeper, and got my best time on the largest setting to 78 seconds. I can barely break 100 now, though. Funny, but that’s my record time, too. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166/120 "2010-02-25T17:45:35Z")
There are only three things I’m good at, all magnificently unimportant. One is **reverse parallel parking**. There’s some sort of circuit in my brain that just works out all the correct angles without my even trying. It’s odd because in all other respects, my spatial awareness is poor and I’m no-one’s idea of a particularly good driver. Another is **freehand bread slicing**. I do wish this was a popular sport that attracted massive sponsorship deals. I can produce straight, even slices, time after time with any ordinary bread knife. I can do slices of any desired thickness, consistently, evenly and relatively quickly. My third and final flourish of unimportant giftedness has been rendered obsolete by the passing of time, and is also impressively obscure. However, I was once a very, very good **operator of an Aston 3 caption generator**. Back in the day, this was a huge box of electronics, like half a fridge, hooked up to a keyboard and a preview monitor. It was used to super-impose captions during a TV broadcast. The one we used was a very temperamental bit of kit that often sulked and threw tantrums, but I could always get it to work even when the trained engineers couldn’t. And I was pretty nifty at typing out page after page of captions fast enough for a high-pressure live TV broadcast, without any embarassing errors. I know, I know, it’s all just _too_ impressive, isn’t it? Those wishing to touch the hem of my garment, please form an orderly line. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-least-important-thing-that-youre-really-really-good-at/530166.md?page=7)