What aspect of 'normal' life is alien to you?

[PurpleSky300]

By which I mean... what are the "normal" things of life you haven't yet done or experienced, compared to most people?

For me it's:

Driving, I'm hopeless, just can't get it
I've never been to a club
Anything to do with babies
In-laws
A properly "senior" job

The stress of being close to accidental death? The odds are 24 per 1,000,000 or 0.002%. You and I have very different definitions of close.

I think when it comes to cars if you don’t drive it’s fine and you can’t really understand why people need to but if you do drive you equally can’t fathom how you go about not driving. It’s very difficult to have a truly objective view on it. Obviously there are people who did and now don’t and vice versa but the arguments you tend to get are not from people in that category.

The one that stands out to me a lot is having a glass of wine with dinner regularly. It’s just not for me, I don’t drink much other than socially so I guess it’s because of that.

Don't follow or understand the fascination with 'celebrities' -- so if TV features them I hardly ever know who they are/why they're famous.

Never been on TikTok

Can't drive

It must be lovely to just jump in a warm, comfy car and go wherever you want, and maybe come home for lunch before going back out again! I've never done that!

I live semi rurally and don't have a licence. We use public transport which is miserable and takes ages so we're either in the house for the day or out. Every time we leave the house I feel like I'm packing for a long weekend and I need to prepare for every eventuality: food, water, calpol, umbrella, sunscreen, sunglasses, rain coat, swimming gear and book all weighing me down in a rucksack.

Can't wait to be driving and hoping this will be my year (bloomin' test backlog!)

Haha same, I have a niece and several friends with kids now. I love them and of course would care for them in any way I could, but I still, at 35, have not had that ‘broody’ feeling. And if I’m honest, when I hold babies I find they smell a bit sweaty haha.

dirty dancing I didn’t watch until my twenties so imagine I miss the nostalgic element. Friends, I have tried and just can’t find funny haha. I’m more of a geek and like big bang theory as a sitcom choice

Agree, a beautiful and thoughtful response to a question that was quite strange. I mean, I work as a psychiatrist. I love my work but it doesn’t mean I want to develop a mental illness! Why would being a midwife mean someone would want to have children?? Or why would not wanting children make midwifery a strange career choice?

Sitting down to a leisurely breakfast before work.

Anything to do with sports (have never watched a full match or game) or pets (have nothing against animals but would never want to spend precious time/ energy looking after them).

Not crazy at all. DH listens to all kinds of music and I do go to concerts and gigs with him. But the music itself is not relevant to me and I sort of mentally delete it when it's over. I never listen to music on my own- just wouldn't occur to me. Words are my thing.

Driving - passed my test 30 years ago because it seemed like the done thing. Hated it and have never driven since. I am still in awe of people who drive.

I also struggle to sleep in the same bed as anyone which makes relationships a bit tricky.

It's more like 1 to 100, not sure where you get that number from?

• Reading the same books as everyone else. It baffles me that people have to be reading what everyone else is reading. Ffs, you have 3,000 years of great writing to choose from. Wtf would I read Richard Coles?
• Watching TV or going to the cinema to see the latest piece of PC/woke drivel.
• Having a big group of friends and a busy social life. Can’t imagine anything worse than all the jealousy and bitching and one upmanship, not to mention the constant invites to weddings and christening and barbecues.

Do you have staff to do these things for you?! Or do you not work so can get these things done Mon-Fri? Or does your OH take care of it? Genuinely curious, don't mean to be rude!

ETA: do you not have a car? And do you have enough free time to do smaller shops as and when you need things? Or is it just you or you and OH so your shops always seem small compared to a family of 6 day?

Being able to just pop over to my parents' house for a cup of tea, or even for a long weekend, and everything that comes with that - casual conversations, close involvement with grandchildren etc. I've lived on the other side of the world from my parents since I was a teen, and then my mother died before she could meet her grandchildren. We see my father once a year.

All forms of “beauty” - massage, makeup, spas or proper haircuts

Having nails and eyebrows 'done'
Shopping from Temu/Shein
Reality TV; friends might say ' oooh have you seen what happened to "Pete"or "Jon"??
No I haven't and I don't care
'Exotic holidays' ie the Far East, South America, etc. I used to want to visit so many places but have no interest now and i don't know why that desire has gone 😟
Running - so many runners where i live and i don't get it. Ironic as I used to run!
I wonder if I'm just getting old... 😳
Or more miserable!!

Riding a bike / never learnt as a child

Hate driving - although was a means to an end. Now can’t due to medical reasons.

Never had a ‘senior’ job either. I’ve worked in a few different arenas but never the corporate world.

crap at make-up.

not bought from shein / temu

Makeup
Spas
Nailbars
Networking
Gossip / chatting

So you’re saying there are 695,000 people killed in car accidents in the UK every year? Based on a population of 69.5m. I’m very intrigued to see your source for that statistic.

Captions, most of the time. I only watch movies, usually old ones.

Sitting on a couch every evening with the same man.

Hosting dinner parties

putting “sexy” stuff on for sex. Or owning sexy satin-y nighties etc

batch cooking lasagnes

(I hope they are not somehow related)

Having a dog
Having children
Driving
Having a supportive partner
Having a family
Holidays abroad
Using a dishwasher
Being snobby about reality TV 😉

For those mentioning driving stats, these are the latest 2024 UK figures, published Sept 2025: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-annual-report-2024/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-annual-report-2024

• 1,602 fatalities, a decline of 1% compared to 2023
• 29,467 killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties, a decline of 1% compared to 2023
• 128,272 casualties of all severities, a decline of 4% compared to 2023
• in 2024, 76% of fatalities and 61% of casualties of all severities were male

Of course though 1,602 fatalities is a tiny percentage of the population every death is a terrible tragedy for their families. The ones I find saddest are children knocked over by careless or drunk drivers.

Driving. I can and do drive, but I've never for a single minute felt comfortable behind the wheel of a car. It leaves me sweaty and stressed, but unfortunately I often don't have the choice due to my husband's health problems.

Swimming. Again, I can do it, but it's never felt comfortable or natural, and the thought of floating in deep water gives me the heebie-jeebies. I can just about tolerate it if I can see the bottom.

Jogging/running. Being taller than average and irredeemably gawky, uncoordinated and clumsy, I always just looked - and felt - ridiculous. Now that I'm fatter than average as well being taller, and too bloody old to care anyway, I can safely say it won't happen again. I'll stick to a gentle stroll, thanks.

oh the book thing! I loathe and hate book recommendations especially "oh you HAVE to read" or "If you liked xxx author you should read yyy author