# Your Unusual Talent/Gift **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 15, 2000, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490 "2000-06-15T15:34:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Danielinthewolvesden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Danielinthewolvesden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danielinthewolvesden)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/41 "2000-06-15T22:23:50Z")
Read 700-100 wpm with 100% comp. Make snap decisions, that are usually as right as those made by lesser beings after 40 hours of thought & discussion. Use contents of “little black bag” (see male slut thread). Oh, and Sunshine, Amijane\*, & Edwardina: you did not know this, but by posting these claims you are required to back them up with posting actual photographs of yourselves doing these things- right Guys? Right Slythe? 😉 And a warm welcome to you, Amijane. ---
**Author:** ![amijane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@amijane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amijane)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/42 "2000-06-15T22:49:00Z")
> [@](#): > > **And a warm welcome to you, Amijane.** Heesh, what nice people 😛 One quiet remark about breasts and I get such a welcome - who’d have ever expected it? Thanks, sweet things ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/43 "2000-06-15T23:23:40Z")
Fitting your fist in your mouth? WOW, bet the guys dig you! LOL, I don’t have that talent, in trying it, all I can do is three knuckles. Damn, I can’t think of any talents I have. Um, well, um, damn! I spend more time on the internet than anyone I know…not a talent but certainly note worthy. ---
**Author:** ![Snark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Snark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snark)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/44 "2000-06-15T23:25:25Z")
My unusual talent is to be able to become facially and vocally stoic when I’m being tickled or in pain (such as at the dentist’s office, when I was being drilled on without Novocaine once). This bothers my girlfriend to no end, especially when she tickles me and expects a reaction! ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/45 "2000-06-15T23:37:28Z")
For some reason, lots of useless, trivial information that I read or hear on the radio or in conversation gets stuck in my mind for instant recall at a later date – sometimes years later. Fortunately, I’m married to a woman who often asks questions that require me to dredge up all this useless, trivial information. When she asks and I answer, she doesn’t even ask anymore how I know. She just knows I read or heard it somewhere and I just know. I’m also pretty good at recognizing voice-over actors. If I hear a voice on one cartoon or commercial, I can sometimes say, “That’s the guy who does…” All that musical training didn’t go to waste, I guess. My wife’s talent is knowing where things are. Even in other people’s houses, if they say something like, “Where’s my watch?” She’ll know where it is. I cannot explain how she does this. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2000, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/46 "2000-06-15T23:50:35Z")
I finally figured it out! I can whistle through my tongue…not your typical whistle but by curling my tongue on each side I can make a noise like you would hear blowing in a beer bottle! Okay I am sure others can do it but hey it’s one of the few things I can do that I have only seen one other person do! ---
**Author:** ![Koffing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@Koffing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koffing)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/47 "2000-06-16T00:07:12Z")
Well, I can do the raised eyebrow thing, too, but I started practicing back when I first saw Mr. Spock do it back in the 70s. Now I do it reflexively. In addition, I’m a Ph.D. equivalent as far as comic book physics goes. Related to that is my ability to justify anything for a RPG character. Given a completely random character, I can create a rational background, no matter how disparate the abilities/powers/whatever. These are all gifts that serve me well… ---
**Author:** ![Eo\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Eo\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eo_Echo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/48 "2000-06-16T00:34:15Z")
I’ve got photographic memory, especially with road directions, which is why I haven’t yet quit my crummy underpaid job driving a shuttle van. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/49 "2000-06-16T00:51:15Z")
Well, you’d kinda have to be there to appreciate it, I suppose, but I can perform “Stars and Stripes Forever” by making little farty noises with my lips for percussion while simultaneously humming the melody. If I am doing it because I want to show off, I add tongue clicks and thump my chest rhythmically too. If someone asks me to do it because they want someone else to see it, particularly large groups of people, I usually leave the extras out. ---
**Author:** ![soulsling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@soulsling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulsling)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/50 "2000-06-16T01:13:43Z")
oh, and i have a pornographic memory. 😃 pretty nifty huh? ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/51 "2000-06-16T01:28:37Z")
I have two: 1. My tongue takes just about forever to get tired. 2. I have never been lost. I may not know where I am, but I can always get to where I was. This includes such things as driving straight to a Taco Bell in South Lake Tahoe that I had last visited 15 years ago. Or hiking untrailed woods and returning exactly to my starting place. Doesn’t sound particularly great, but it is useful. 3. Did I mention my tongue? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/52 "2000-06-16T02:04:02Z")
Great bunch of “talented” people we have here! 🙂 I can just imagine 13 weeks of that _Survivor_ show with you people on it…hee, hee! ---
**Author:** ![TheNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@TheNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheNerd)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/53 "2000-06-16T02:58:34Z")
I have extremely sensitive senses. I can read normal size text on a computer monitor from across a (largish) room. I have great night vision. I can hear higher frequencies than most people. I can tell you, before entering, whether a room has a tv on in it (due to the sound produced by the picture being redrawn). I can tell the difference, by sound alone, of a tv showing a white screen and a dark screen. I can do the same thing to tell, without looking, when a website has finished loading. I can locate bats by listening to them (no, I’m not kidding). I can balance and navigate (walking around my room, down a sidewalk) without visual feedback. I’m still working on juggling with my eyes closed. I’m a dead-on shot with a rubber band. Name a target in range, and I’ll hit it +/- an inch or two, _without taking time to aim_. Oh, and I can recall entire songs, if I like them. Drums, instruments, voice, everything, start to finish. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/54 "2000-06-16T03:31:18Z")
> [@](#): > > **I can hear higher frequencies than most people. I can tell you, before entering, whether a room has a tv on in it (due to the sound produced by the picture being redrawn). I can tell the difference, by sound alone, of a tv showing a white screen and a dark screen. I can do the same thing to tell, without looking, when a website has finished loading. > I can locate bats by listening to them (no, I’m not kidding).** I can do the part about telling if there’s a TV on. That’s about it. My ex-girlfriend could turn her feet backwards (no, that didn’t have anything to do with why we broke up ;)). ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/55 "2000-06-16T03:49:34Z")
I am supremely and utterly talentless. Not a special thing pops to mind… Wait… I can be ignored in any crowd imaginable. I can be anyplace, talk to people, and no one will recall me. Oh never mind… ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/56 "2000-06-16T05:27:56Z")
I am a truly excellent speller. I’m not as good a typer as I am a speller, so sometimes you’ll see a mistake, unfortunately. I can spell extremely quickly, too, faster than most people can write, because I can see the words written down in my mind, like selective photographic memory. And much more usefully, I can flip people off with my toes. But only with my left foot, not my right. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/57 "2000-06-16T06:14:27Z")
My gift, if you want to call it that, is being able to read rapidly. I can look at a message board topic, and read it so fast, that I have to wait for my guy to catch up. ---
**Author:** ![realm505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@realm505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/realm505)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/58 "2000-06-16T08:35:22Z")
1. golf, Many spend their life perfecting the game. First time and at the frist tee, I was 1 foot from a hole in one. and I outshot my buddies. The thing that kills them is that I don’t care, I hate golf. 2. “LockJaw reaction” when women see it, that happens 3. I can kill a joke or a funny conversation in seconds. ---
**Author:** ![TN\_hippie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@TN\_hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TN_hippie)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/59 "2000-06-16T12:52:37Z")
Modesty. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2000, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490/60 "2000-06-16T13:19:11Z")
“This I gotta see. Go on Eve, post like Garbo.” –Umm, well, they’re VOCAL imitations, so until computer technology catches up . . . I once worked at a magazine with a writer who did a great Jimmy Stewart. He and I used to entertain co-workers by doing our version of “Green Acres” starring Jimmy Stewart and Greta Garbo. “Waall, waall, Lisa, the, the people are here to repair the, uh, closet . . .” "Oh, Olliver. I cannot face Ralllph und Alllf. Und dee peeg, eet depresses me . . . " [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unusual-talent-gift/22490.md?page=4)