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Original poster

Things that most people can do and I can't

141 replies

billycat321 · 28/07/2025 11:38

I can't-
Send or receive texts (don't have a mobile phone)
Change a wheel
Do self service at checkouts
Do 'pay at pump' at petrol stations
But I can-
Grow potatoes
Darn a hole in the elbow of a jumper
Sing the tenor part of The Messiah
Make and repair clothes
Embroider

Anyone else not quite fit into the 21st century?

OP posts:
MageQueen · 28/07/2025 13:23

I agree, there's a big difference between can't and won't. And your examples strike me as won't examples.

I can see maps in my head and orient myself... except, weirdly, when I can't. It only happens very occassionally but when it does, it irritates me so much I will track down paper maps for that area until I understand why I can't figure it out. It's weird.

I read faster than anyone I know and when I read it's like movies unravelling in my head. I don't read word by word at all.

I cannot fold things well. And strangely, the "easier" a thing is to fold, the harder I find it. Towels and bedding are completely beyond me. It's ridiculous.

shellyleppard · 28/07/2025 13:23

I can.... change a car tyre and the oil. Do a basic service on an old car. Unblock a toilet. Cook a roast dinner for 6 ...just 🤣Can't do self service tills in a supermarket.... they self destruct!! Use a QR code reader, or whatever they are called. I have my sons to help with the more technical stuff. I think everyone has good points and not so good points. Its just life x

TheOriginalEmu · 28/07/2025 13:22

BeRedRobin · 28/07/2025 11:57

Remember any song lyrics. I'm a technical person and was very good in math and engineering science but I can't for the life of me remember one full lyrics for a song.

Edited

Ah that’s because I stole all the ‘remembering song lyrics’ brain cells. I only have to hear a song once or twice and it’s in my brain for life.
this is an utterly useless skill, because I can’t sing, and it means I have no room in my brain for things like where I left my keys, if i locked the door, when the MOT is due and all the other stuff that life requires to be a functioning adult. 😂

Wolfpa · 28/07/2025 13:20

Are these things that you can’t do or won’t do?

wertgyhjk · 28/07/2025 13:20

Drive. Never tried, never wanted to.

Clarinet1 · 28/07/2025 13:18

I can’t -
drive (never tried)
Knit (DM and DGM tried to teach me but I just never got the knack)
Crochet (ditto)

I can -
Play several instruments
Read music
Speak two languages besides English pretty well and three others moderately
Remember oodles of songs and lyrics

ChocolateCinderToffee · 28/07/2025 13:12

I can’t ski, drive, ride a bike, skate or hear.

I can knit, embroider, paint watercolours, speak two foreign languages, read a map and bake.

RimTimTagiDim · 28/07/2025 13:08

I can't whistle.

Stresshead84x · 28/07/2025 13:07

I can't tread the water in a pool. I'm a confident swimmer, I even went to a swimming club at one point when I was around 10 but I've never been able to tread the water I just start to sink. Even on holiday all my friends found it hillarious because in the sea I'd have to be constantly swimming or I could barely keep my head above water and that was in the salt water haha.

Kateluvscats1 · 28/07/2025 13:05

I can-
Read people like a book, almost like I'm in their head
Fix things (sometimes with the help of YouTube)
Good at problem solving and extracting information
Excellent at maths

I can't -
Drive in London or abroad (terrified)
Speak any languages apart from English
Know very little about history
Stick to a hobby

Luckyingame · 28/07/2025 12:55

There's a massive difference between can't and won't.

ignatiusjreilly · 28/07/2025 12:49

TaupeLemur · 28/07/2025 11:52

You think most people can sing the tenor part of The Messiah? And your including women, boys and girls in that ‘most people’ who can????

I think the second section (where she listed The Messiah) is a list of things the OP can do that most people can't.

NamelessNancy · 28/07/2025 12:42

Sounds more like won't than can't really.

PinkyFlamingo · 28/07/2025 12:41

Well you are choosing not to have a mobile really.

PumpkinsAndCoconuts · 28/07/2025 12:40

Do self service at checkouts
Do 'pay at pump' at petrol stations

Why? Do you stick to cash transactions? Are there accessability problems? Nobody needs to be good at everything. I would simply try to ensure that you're not left behind by technical and societal progress. But maybe I am barking up the wrong tree and it's nothing like that (in your case).

I myself am pretty bad at most kinds of DIY / home improvement etc. I was never taught / never learned and my partner does these things nowadays. But I have been getting him to teach me!

latetothefisting · 28/07/2025 12:35

Surely "Darn a hole in the elbow of a jumper" comes under "make and repair clothes" anyway?

How on earth can you not do self service or pay at pump? If you can pay a cashier you can pay a machine. It's exactly the same process.

Lorrymum · 28/07/2025 12:34

Swim. I have had countless swimming lessons but as soon as the floating device is gone I sink like a stone.

CherryRipe1 · 28/07/2025 12:34

Can waterski but can't ski.
Can cook all types of egg bar poaching.
Can't knit, too kackhanded or impatient but can crochet.
Cannot follow spoken directions (except satnav ones) but am a whizz at navigating without a satnav in areas I've visited before even if briefly. I remember strange landmarks.
Am a super-recogniser but can't remember names particularly well.

gattocattivo · 28/07/2025 12:34

@billycat321can you explain why you can’t do checkout self service? I really don’t understand.

insomniac1 · 28/07/2025 12:33

Swallow tablets

Lesleyb32 · 28/07/2025 12:31

I cant swim although I taught my 3 chldren to swim years ago, it just doesn't work for me.
I cant sing in tune.
I can cook and grow stuff in the garden.

YellowGuido · 28/07/2025 12:29

I can’t swim or read music - both sources of huge frustration as I would love to learn to play music properly and to go scuba diving. I just don’t seem to have any knack, despite having lessons in both instances…

weaselyeyes · 28/07/2025 12:29

I think there's a difference between can't and choose not to.

ThatsABitExcessive · 28/07/2025 12:26

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Purplecatshopaholic · 28/07/2025 12:26

I can’t click my fingers of my left hand, only my right.. And I’m left handed!

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