Things that most people can do and I can't

[billycat321]

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?

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.

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!

Well you are choosing not to have a mobile really.

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

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

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

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

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.

I can't whistle.

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.

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

Drive. Never tried, never wanted to.

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

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. 😂

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

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.

I can’t -
walk
wear a pair of shoes
be in a relationship

I can-
play piano to a high standard
write with either hand

I can't:

• skate (tried so many times, both roller and ice - useless)
• make straight lines (think when you sow seeds in a veg patch, sew hems, measure things,...)
• remember movies (my memory seems to be extremely short term for movies!)
• ride a motorbike
• ride a horse (well, never tried)

I can:

• drive cars everywhere in the world, right or left-handed, on right or left sides of roads, manual or automatic, all types of roads
• ride a bike
• swim in pools or open water
• scuba dive
• speak several languages
• ski
• ride a jet ski

I'm in awe.
Please explain how you know which direction you are facing by looking at a tree - and will any old tree work in any season?

Some of those are choice though and easy to learn. The question is why you don't want to.

Neither can I!

Getting older and being left behind by technology scares the crap out of me. First it’s that you don’t listen to radio one anymore, then before you know it you’re too scared to try things like scan as you shop or the internet. Gah. So help me, I will not be that person.

Self-serve checkouts give me the rage. I can't go through one without swearing and looking deranged.

Same. I’ll never deliberately leave myself in a situation where I can’t access the technology needed to function in society. My grandmother is 93 and manages to send texts, email from her ipad, pay bills online, use self checkouts etc, because she’s made sure that she can.

Knowing the type of tree helps but everything about a tree will tell you direction. Prevailing wind will point its trunk and branches usually north east in the UK because wind usually comes from south west. Generally the south side of a tree will be much more open and with branches falling closer to the ground as the leaves are trying to catch the light, whereas on the north side they will be more pointed upwards because its reaching for the light. There are of course many nuances like hills, egdes of wooded areas, other weather patterns etc to be mindful of but there are loads of things to look for clues like roots, lichen shape and colour of leaves.