Do you have a pointless superpower?

[GnomeDePlume]

You know, that thing you can do which others cant but which is surprisingly useless.

Mine: I tie shoelaces upside down which is great if I am tying someone else's shoelaces but means my own are upside down (ie loose ends at the top of the knot). This was a useful skill when DCs were little but now they are in their 20s and dont need me tying their shoelaces.

DH: putting up coving - he can just see all the cuts he needs to make so there is almost no wastage. The house is perfectly coved. We dont redecorate often enough for him to use this skill.

Anyone else have a pointless superpower?

Photographic memory. I can literally take a snapshot of anything and remember it forever. It’s very useful.
If someone throws something at me I can catch it without even looking. My kids call me the Terminator. I can’t throw though

Plus I'm the only person I know that's right handed but left footed.

I'm too. at school when doing athletics I had to make sure that I jumped on the left foot. my right is useless.
also piorettes when (ice) skating. always on left leg.

but in a way it's similar for my arms. my right arm/hand is dextrous but my left is strong.
typingon phone I can do equally well with either thumb.

Great thread OP.

I have an amazing sense of direction. In the days before satnav I could look at a map to see what direction my location was and just set off driving. I would get there using whatever roads were available and changing course as needed.

I also have terrible terrible motion sickness and I do wonder whether these are related. Aren’t all good superpowers offset by some dangerous deficiency elsewhere? Otherwise the hero would just win every time and there’d be no story.

@CalmConfident are you sure you don’t just have a squint?

I can remmeber people names and also every person that they've ever spoken about. Sometimes I don't say anything because it makes me seem like a stalker I just have a really good name memory!

I can get up in the morning. I need an alarm to make sure I wake up but once I'm awake I have to get out of bed.

Aren’t all good superpowers offset by some dangerous deficiency elsewhere?

I think it also works the other way. I have a poor memory (bad) but it does mean that I cant stay offended or hold a grudge (good).

my pointless superpower failed me yesterday, my boiled egg was over cooked.
might have to have a rethink

I’m really good at face painting. REALLY good. Discovered during lockdown. Not artistic or creative in any way but my god I do a good leopard on a 2 year old. Went to the zoo since wen DC wanted face painted- afterwards said it wasn’t as good as mine (it wasn’t). Completely useless day to day but I’m proud of it.

Cats who are usually aggressive seem to like me. This comes in very handy in my role as a volunteer cat cuddler.

I’m also often told, when a dog comes over for a stroke when I’m out walking, that I’m honoured because the dog doesn’t usually like strangers.

I guess mine isn't entirely pointless for those struggling to go but I have the power of making people poo. The most constipated people seem to release when I'm near by, it's become somewhat of a reputation at work as in,

"Tit's Mr Y in room 123 hasn't had his bowels open for a coupe days so I'm giving him to you today ok?" 🙄

I am the angel of turd. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Photographic memory, excellent sense of smell and I am a supertaster do all green veg taste horrible and bitter. Super tasting is the most boring super power ever!

@BashfulClam

Photographic memory, excellent sense of smell and I am a supertaster do all green veg taste horrible and bitter. Super tasting is the most boring super power ever!

I was briefly a supertaster, and it was horrible. It came on very suddenly, I had made thai green curry with courgette, broccoli, mange tout etc, all veggies that I liked, and it tasted absolutely revolting. I was apologising to my DH and saying I couldn't understand it as I hadn't done anything different from previous green curries and he thought it tasted fine. I thought it tasted of the stuff that you paint onto your nails when you want to stop biting your nails. I didn't know what to do about it and one of my friends suggested taking some multi vitamins and minerals in case I was deficient in something, and gradually it faded away again over a couple of months.

Oh I have the brilliant inner compass thing too. I can always find my way home. Drunk or sober and even in cities where I've never been before. One look at a map to a see general direction (or a memory of the way we got there) and I'm off weaving through the streets with purpose. My mum on the other hand literally has no sense of direction. It's scary. I'm sure she'd get lost in Asda and I'd never see her again.

I can say LlanfairPG , the long version. I'm also good at knowing where somewhere is by the post code.

I am a really quick cook. Not a great cook but a quick one. I once made chocolate brownies and cleared up in 17 minutes.

I can convert currency instantly when we are on holiday to the nearest penny without thinking about it. DH will say ‘How much is that in pounds?’ and I know automatically.

I can also touch my left ear with my left hand wrapping my arm around my head.

Oh yes, the inner compass. I can visit somewhere once and then go back twenty five years later and find it instantly. And always know which way to go when we get lost in the woods.

@BestIsWest - we need a photo of left ear left hand trick. I just tried it and can't believe it's possible.

There are a lot of pointless superpowers here that I'm rather envious of. Apart from shoelace tieing all my other skills are distinctly mediocre.

Speed cooking sounds useful. I made moussaka the other day and it took so long that we ended up with takeaway that night and had the moussaka the following night.

Mind, I blame that on recipe books which cheat on the cooking time by listing prepped ingredients and leaving the prep time out of the cooking time.

I can remember the number plates of my friends parents' cars from the 80s

@GnomeDePlume was is something like 'leave to marinade for 5hours' on the top of the second page of the recipe?
I have a cookbook with recipes like that.
the dishes are tasty but the book could fo with better editing.

@pinkbalconyrailing exactly, lots of finely chopped, thinly sliced ingredients. An assumption that the cook has access to a professional kitchen with nuclear powered grill and a huge hob.

My rather more domestic kitchen has a budgy fart grill which has a safety cut out as soon as the temperature gets to 'tepid'. Absolutely rubbish for grilling the large quantities of aubergine required by the recipe.

I never sleep in and I never use an alarm. Give me any time and I’ll be awake within 5 minutes of it.

@MustDust

I can write joined up backwards rather neatly.

So can I - but only from right to left . . . !

My sense of smell is generally rubbish, but I can smell if someone is ill or about to become ill.

I can also knit really fast!