Let's find ways to excel. We need that, especially now. No matter how insignificant, tell us all about it. Anything can be a conversation starter.
Bumps
Drew Barrymore Goosebumps GIF by CBSGiphy"I can control my goosebumps. Science says I shouldn't be able to control an autonomic response. But here I am, killing it."
I recognize...
"I can recall and recognize to this day people that I was in preschool with or have seen very briefly. When I was dating my ex I would see someone that I recognized and would walk up to them and do the whole "aren't you so and so from blank?" It gave them (my partner) extreme anxiety because strangers and what if I was wrong but I am always right, every time."
Top Marks
"I was the top Latin student in my high school and always got top marks on the national Latin exam. Too bad I had no interest in studying classics, but I'm holding out hope that I'll be able to time travel to Ancient Rome before I die."
- anderjp1
"Chances are you wouldn't be understandable anyway since it would be hard to know how any commoners spoke."
CLICK
"I can click my tongue REALLY loudly."
"My friend's daughter is like this! It was a natural talent practically from birth (she's only 7 now). I chuckled that it feels like it has to be genetic because she was adopted as an infant but is ethnically Xhosa, which is one of the languages that uses clicks."
- arcinva
Make a Wish
Happy Birthday GIFGiphy"Remembering birthdays. I remember people's birthdays even if I haven't talked to them in over 5 years."
So far, I'm intrigued. I would love to control my goosebumps. And remembering birthdays is a gift. I've given up on trying. Tell me more...
I See You
Watching You Tina Fey GIF by Unbreakable Kimmy SchmidtGiphy"Being able to perfectly recreate facial expressions of other people from memory that they do, that no one else really recognizes until I do an impersonation of them. It's a great party trick that gets lots of laughs especially if a few people know that person."
Tongues Out
"Touching my tongue to my nose, however this has gotten me a free drink at a bar."
"You know that game where you catch a stack of quarters off your elbow with the same hand? Apparently my dad used to go to bars with NO MONEY whatsoever and get his whole bar tab paid by doing this lol. Turns out it doesn't have to be so useless."
People Share Which Social Norms Absolutely Baffle Them | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Do You Hear?
"Vibrating my eardrums."
"HOLY FREAKING CRAP!!! I have tried to explain this to other people my ENTIRE LIFE and no one understands what the hell I'm talking about. And now I find out that not only do other know about this, but there's a name for the body part responsible for it. I freaking love you beautiful reddit people!"
LETTERS
"Word searches."
"I used to be a word search demon in elementary school, especially if prizes were involved. Especially if they have those word searches that give you backwards diagonal words, you know it's going to be a banger."
Memory Loss
Will Smith Memory GIF by STARZGiphy"I am amazing at keeping secrets because I forget them immediately."
Hidden Talent
"I am fantastic at folding a standard piece of paper into thirds, brochure style."
"Maybe you could do a Twitch channel (asmr category). Maybe spa music and pleasant paper folding. If it is profitable, think of deducting the paper as a business expense and potentially launching a cute brochure template on Etsy."
I Know Them
"So I have photographic memory with actors in films. It's like a photographic recalling of what film they were in and what role they played. Even if I saw the film years and years ago. I remember their voice and body language; it's usually a particular line they say which I try to use as an anchor for placing them. It's odd because I'd say I'm very tuned in to people's body language and general mood which may have something to do with it."
northern ireland football GIFThe Notes
"Memorizing songs after just listen to them once."
"Ah that's what I was gonna say, my boyfriend will show me a song for the first time and I can sing along to the second chorus. The only way this would be useful is if we were in theatre or something?"
- mellb00
"I hate this. I listen to songs a few times, I remember everything, and then I sing them in my head for the whole day, then that song becomes boring, and i start hating that song. it's completely useless and it's just taking space in my head, but i can't stop it from happening."
9 to 5
"I thrive at looking busy at work while doing absolutely nothing."
- Jjay_11
"I would argue this is not a useless skill especially since most jobs I have had in my life I am given 10-20 hours of work to do in a week and I am expected to be there for 40. This is why I am loving working from home."
Info Wars
"Retaining loads of absolutely useless information. It's my true talent but a waste of brainpower."
- gooqie
"You must be my long lost sibling, I too, am full of useless information. Information that I drop on unsuspecting people every chance I get."
Look Close
Cat Staring Contest GIFGiphy"I can win a staring contest against anyone. I consecutively beat 6 people without a break. I've held my eyes open for about 10 minutes without blinking, I've made people uncomfortable in every sense of the word."
Classic Moves
"Remembering useless and obscure information from video games I've played over twenty years ago."
"I was playing Zelda II on an emulator when I was 18 or so, so like 2004. My dad walks by, looks over my shoulder, and says "move five blocks right and one up." And there's the secret hut! We hadn't had the NES even set up in MANY years."
"This ability for me at least has also migrated to TV Shows and films. Haven't seen a TV show in a few years, catch literally a few seconds of the show and I instantly know what series and episode it is."
Face Off
"Facial recognition. Some profs from the UK developed a test to study it. I'm in the top 0.1% apparently. I've recognized people i stood in line at a Starbucks beside years later while they were zipping by in a car. I have not found a use for this. Greenwich University is where the study was done."
Virtuoso
Season 2 Dancing GIF by The Fresh Prince of Bel-AirGiphy"Learning something fast, but not good enough to excel in it. I've learned basic guitar, piano, cooking, drawing, basketball, shooting, video games on my own. I never get really good at it, but I can do it. Except maybe dancing. I just look bad when I dance."
Be great at all the things you can be, no matter what. Even if your skills won't change the world. You never know if ten quarters on an elbow could entertain the Queen. There is a game changer.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Here are some of the best accounts of being in the right place at the right time. M1racle asked:
What was your best "right place at the right time" moment?
Pure luck can truly save a life. It just depends on who is around to help.
It was fate.
“A buddy and I were driving down a remote highway in rural Alberta, two hours from anything. We were passing the only other vehicle we had seen in a while, when there is a huge shudder. The guy in the vehicle we are passing is pointing frantically at our front right tire, and his eyes are huge. The tire explodes. My buddy who is driving barely gets the vehicle under control in order to eventually get it slowed down and stopped in the shoulder.
That vehicle we just passed? A AAA tow truck, and I'm a member. He pulls over, checks my card, and changes the tire while we take a smoke break. We were back on the road in 10 minutes.”
Rip currents are no joke.
Ocean Surf GIFGiphy“Outer Banks North Carolina. I went down to the beach kind of early and I noticed a group of people right at the water's edge looking concerned, pointing etc. As I get close to them I realize there's a person perhaps 50 yards offshore floating on a little raft you'd see in a pool. I know there are nasty rip currents there, but I slowly start walking out in the water thinking as long as I don't get too deep I'll see how far I can get. I end up getting within arms reach of the girl on the little raft, when I realized her boyfriend and a guy probably in his seventies are holding onto the far side of the raft, as well. I ended up pulling them in and probably saving the old guy's life because he was really struggling to keep his head above water. Once we got the shore, he collapsed and was vomiting sea water until the ambulance showed up.
It was pretty stupid on my part, and I was probably right next to the rip current, not in it or I would have been screwed too. Anyway, none of my friends saw this, but the next day as we're down there, one of the group came over, handed me a beer and told them the story like I was some incredible superhero. So that was cool.”
Thank goodness for that nurse.
“It was actually my father.
He had received a double bypass about 12 years before and was now semi-retired.
My parents had a spot at the "First Monday Trade Days" in Canton, Tx. where they sold various things he restored/built. (It's like a very large swap meet). They generally set up on Wednesday and were open through Sunday. He had an awning he set up over his spot so he stayed in the cool shade. Normally, either my mother or sister were with him to set up and help run things. For whatever reason this time he was on his own.
According to the bystanders, he was reaching up attaching some rope to the awning when he had a heart attack. Technically dead before he hit the ground. It just so happened that the lady who had a booth a few spots away saw it happen and was a registered nurse.
She immediately started CPR while others called 911. When the ambulance arrived, they used a defibrillator and were able to bring him back.
He coded again in the ambulance on the ride over and they were able to bring him back again.
At the hospital, we were told that he would probably never recover as he only had about 15-20% heart functionality. (Spoilers - he recovered).
It turns out that despite his sticking to a heart healthy diet, his heart was deteriorating after the bypass (they only last around 10-15 years or so) and when he had his heart attack, the doctor reckons he had about 30% functionality. The heart surgeon said the only reason he survived is that his heart was so used to functioning on such a low level, that it wasn't as much of a "shock to the system" as if a person with normal function had that kind of event.
They gave him a pacemaker with a built in defibrillator, and he is still plugging along over 5 years later.
But if it hadn't been for that particular nurse being right there and seeing it happen....
They still stop by every year and give her a basket of goodies by way of thanks. (mailed it due to the CoViD last year).”
Being in the right place at the right time can also mean massive career changes in just a split second.
Knowing Excel pays off.
“I showed up to the temp agency for my first job on the day they were about to call a business back to tell them they didn't have anyone who knew Excel. I knew Excel very well, and after temping at the business for two months, got hired on permanently. I've been here for 30 years now.”
People Break Down The Creepiest Research Holes They've Ever Fallen Down | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Now THAT’S cool.
You Shall Not Pass Lord Of The Rings GIFGiphy“Got called up as an extra on Lord of the Rings, sent to the Minas Tirith set. Immediately greeted by "Hi Dingo!", make up artist was a friend from high school who had me set up in hero (close camera) Gondorian armour.
Got paid to hangout on a cool movie set, chatted to Sir Ian, can see myself in RoTK doing some stuff. And the ice cream truck came too!”
Dodged a bullet there.
“I went to a job fair, nearly two decades ago. Handed my resume around. Had a brief stairwell interview with a the PI of a small cancer research lab. Got called back, and part of the interview was with the tech I would be replacing. They did everything they could to signal to me all of the red flags that she was a terrible boss. Body language, odd statements, the PI was nuts and they almost said it outright. But I needed the job.
She called me back saying that while I was a great fit for her, actually her husband needed me more, would I work for him even though the position wasn't yet posted? In a much larger more prestigious lab because he was the Dept Chair, doing things better suited to my skill set (small animal surgery). And as it turned out, he wasn't nuts, he was a great boss. (His wife was really nuts, this was a close call). Two years later his recommendation got me in to medical school. I learned a lot and had a great experience.
Always interview like it's a great job, you don't know who's watching.”
Most of all, cool happenstances like these always make for a cool story.
Score.
“I bought a single ticket to Kanye's performance of 808s And Heartbreak at the Hollywood Bowl. I was in the center nosebleed section. Pretty crappy seats but I was cool with it. I went for a walk around the venue before the show started. When I got back to my seat someone was sitting there. After I got the courage to confront him we talked and he was super apologetic he said his friends were there and he just wanted to talk to them. Since I was alone I just said "hey man if you want to switch seats that's fine, my seats can't get much worse".
He just smirked and made a comment about it being my lucky day then he gave me a paper that gave me a near front row box seat. The crazy thing is mid way through the show I saw him in a different box seat. I can only assume he was someone important.”
A very cool find.
hockey stick GIF by NHLGiphy“Not necessarily the best, but today I was in a thrift store looking for a laptop bag strap, and found a really nice hockey stick. I picked it up, and it was a CCM composite, long enough for me, and a lefty curve. I carried it around for a while before I noticed the nametag on it.
After a Google search, I paid $4 for a game-issued but unused 2008-09 season stick belonging to Pittsburgh Penguin Maxime Talbot. (It has the NHL logos, inventory barcode with serial number, and player's stamp.)
The thrift store is within sight of the Pens practice facility, and there have been 2 sticks identical to this one at auction in the past few years. He's holding an identical stick on his trading card.”
Living the dream.
“I was doing an event for NASCAR in Las Vegas. We were at the end of the event, and had to get the cars from the display area to the trucks they use to transport them. This was something that we had planned on doing at 4 am when the crowds were low, but no one wanted to do that.
So, while we were having a meeting with the Las Vegas PD and the drivers, the LVPD captain said, "Why don't we just do this right now(9 PM)? I'll just shut down Las Vegas BLVD and we can drive the cars right down the street." Everyone agreed that was the best option, but one problem was, there were only 11 drivers for 12 cars. The question then went out to the group, "Does anyone know how to drive a stick?" Everyone kinda stared blankly at one another until I said, "yeah, I can."
And with that everyone went to hop into their cars, I got an incredibly brief tutorial on how to flip the right switches in the right order to start the car, then I was just left to my own devices. And that's how I ended up being able to drive a NASCAR car down the Las Vegas Strip. And, I only stalled it 4 times!”
I lied- THIS is living the dream.
“I was at a fancy waffle place with some friends. The manager came out of the back and said they were testing new flavors of whipped cream for future waffles and asked if we'd like to participate since they didn't have many staff.
We all got to try lots of fun infused whipped creams. It was a good time.”
Dumb luck can really pay off. My best advice is to follow your gut- you never know where it’s going to lead you.
I will admit that my wiring has been a bit off as of late. There are somethings I could've sworn would only be a fad. Like who really thought being an internet star would be a thing? Or that we'd be texting instead of calling? Or that Donald Trump would be... well, Donald Trump? What else did I miss?
Sweaty Poetry
Looking Kendrick Lamar GIF by SZAGiphy"Saw Kendrick Lamar in a college gym for $5 in 2011 lol."
"Edit: just found the flyer, it was $15. I've swindled you all."
Alien Life
"I read "The Martian" back when it was just a text file on some backwater website."
- 7th_Cuil
"I don't remember all the details, but the Martian was originally released for free by the author for his readers. Some of them wanted him to make a proper ebook so they could read it on kindle, but he'd lose money if he released it for free, so he charged a dollar for it."
"Enough of his fans bought it that it showed up in the best sellers list on Amazon, which caused more people to buy the $1 book. That got the word out, and now he's a household name. I may have gotten some parts of this wrong, but that's how the story was told to me."
- Lorvan
Game Guy
"I was a big freaking nerd and gamer in the late 80s and 90s."
"What's funny is in 2000 I went to an EverQuest guild meet up in Toronto and customs was incredulous, "you're coming to another country to meet people you met in a video game online?" Asked like 10 times in different ways."
"Then in 2008ish I went to Toronto again for a (then-WoW) meet up. "Why are you coming to Canada?" "World of Warcraft guild meetup." "How long are you staying?" "A week." "Enjoy your visit."
I was Spun!
"I had a fidget spinner on my desk for about six months before they blew up. At that time they weren't being mass produced at all. You pretty much got them 3D printed or laser cut from acrylic. I thought they were neat and sent them to my dad and brothers for Christmas. I still have my first one on my desk. It's laser cut neon yellow acrylic."
Geo Ways
ichabod crane map GIF by HULUGiphy"Geocaching. My friends and I were doing it with a Palm III with the GPS attachment back in 2000. I have no idea, I haven't done it in a long time at this point. I would not be surprised that it was ruined by popularity like everything else tends to be."
Ok, I totally called a few of those things. I didn't see Kendrick in a bathroom, but I called his success immediately. And I knew people would be obsessed with those spinners, and I knew they'd die. I feel better. I'm a little clearer.
Login
Celebrate Happy Birthday GIF by Lazada SingaporeGiphy"I needed an invite code to make my gmail account."
- xesalcd
"My college had a bunch of forums and a vote to decide if we were going to register with Facebook so students could get accounts. This was like, 2005 or early 2006."
Risk Your Life
"Bought Bitcoin in late 2010. Was on a Malayasian private server for an old game I used to love, called Risk Your Life (RYL). This server has a real money mall and of course I am dumb enough to want to pay to win. So I go on their site and they don't take normal credit card or PayPal but they offer some weird shi! called Bitcoin."
"So I go through the steps to buy it, spent around $100 usd for around 1000 Bitcoin.Spent 600 of the Bitcoin on some rings/ a sword/ an amulet and an armor. And 400 sat on my wallet until I sold most of it in 2017 for an absolutely massive profit. Still holding a few and changed my entire life."
Ponging
"When I was a young kid, my dad brought home a Fairchild gaming system, and I got addicted to playing video games like Pong and Breakout on my home television. This would have been 1976."
"During that time I was in college. At a party one night someone turned on Pong on the TV. The room got quiet as we all watched two people play the game, fascinated by it."
- maruffin
BLEACH
"I ordered Nirvana's 'Bleach' on cassette before Nevermind came out. (Saw in a magazine that they were supporting Sonic Youth, and Daydream Nation was my favourite album at the time, so that was enough of an endorsement for me.)"
"I was the coolest 14 year old in New Zealand for, like, two months. Then Smells Like Teen Spirit came out, and I spent the rest of my teenage years declaring that i liked them before they were cool. Nobody cared. And I still miss Kurt."
"edit: I was also the first person in my home town to know about Wu Tang Clan, I had to order the cassette from the US... probably had to dub 20 copies from it for all the other kids at school. Man, I wish I was still that hip :|."
With Fries Please!
Happy Popeyes Chicken GIF by Robert E BlackmonGiphy"I don't mean to brag -- but I bought the Popeye's chicken sandwich like a week or so before it exploded in popularity and people started killing themselves for it."
- Proxice
I still prefer KFC to Popeye's, but to each their own. And Nirvana I'll never understand. But I could smell the Teen Spirit. I'm still on the fence with all this cryptocurrency, but i'm doing research. Thoughts?
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
My Mixtape
Driving Off Episode 11 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphyHaving someone sincerely listen to the playlist you put on.
My grandpa's here!
Arriving early to pick up my grandkid (F7) who I (M61) had not seen in months, she spotted me in the hall outside her 2nd grade classroom, With a squeal of glee, she blurted out, "My grandpa's here! My grandpa's here!" Her joy was very evident. Yeah, that stayed with me.
Auditory Feelings
Water coming out of your ear after it's been stuck there for a bit.
My ears don't always clean right and once a year I need to get my ear cleaned out at a doctors office. It hurts during but feels so good after.
They take a spray bottle and shoot up your ear with water and month old ear wax comes flowing out. It's like an enema for my ear, feels so good.
Counting threads...
Happy In Bed GIF by MypenleaksGiphyFresh bedsheets.
When I was a kid, I would play at the beach for hours. I'd run back to the house, rinse myself off and dive under the blankets. Most cozy comfortable feeling ever. Instantly out cold.
New Schedule
Working from home (before Covid once per week, since Covid 100% of time), I low-key already do this. Work more Mon-Thurs if needed, do meetings Friday early morning and then mostly chill. Same amount of work gets done per week regardless. This is in two different companies btw, and haven't had a single complaint so far.
the little things
Doing multiple in case someone already said one:
- When your scissors glide along the wrapping paper
- When you're using a nonstick pan and all of the sauce/ grease just sliiiiiideeeessss right out
- When there's a pause in the music and you hit the next note at JUST the right time
- Finding money in your wallet when you thought you had none
- When you're nice to a restaurant employee and they give you free food in return 💕 this one is fun for everyone involved so it's extra good 🥰. Edog6968
Chug...
Waking up at 3 am with massive thirst and then you take that nice, cold and godly sip of water!
I appreciate this so much more since in college there was a chance that water bottle had vodka. Starting to chug what you think is water and turn out to be vodka is the absolute worst throw up feeling I've had.
That Extra Day
waking up GIFGiphyHaving a 3 day weekend and waking up on that Saturday realizing you still have two more days off.
Adding to this, thinking it's Sunday, and that tomorrow you have to get up early to go to work, and suddenly realize it's still Saturday.
The Givers
Seeing someone happy with the gift you gave them.
You know what I like to do? I like to put a lot of effort into the wrapping paper. I even learnt a way to do it without any sellotape and my good friends were so wowed and impressed with what I had created.
I love the whole process of preparing and giving a gift. I love it 100x more than receiving any gift. One of the very few things that brings me true joy.
Sick Toilet Paper GIF by Tricia GraceWant to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Dumbo's Dirt
dumbo flintstones GIFGiphyElephants are known to bury their dead under foliage and remain with the bodies for some time afterwards, exhibiting behavior not dissimilar to human mourning. Indeed, it is the association of apparent grief or mourning that is considered to indicate a 'burial', as opposed to simply covering up or disposing of a body.
I also read somewhere that they have buried humans.
Murderers
Most people know that the mosquito is the deadliest animal when it comes to total human deaths ever. Next to humans of course. And this is due to the malaria parasite spread by mosquitoes. It is estimated that four to five per cent of all humans that have ever lived died from malaria (rather than half as some sources state).
The treatment for malaria is quinine, which was known since the 1700's. This is often contained in tonic water, which is bitter and not that palatable. The anecdotal story is that during the days of British colonization of India, the British East India Company had of course problems with malaria.
Drinking tonic water was not popular with the British, so what'd they do? add booze, i.e. gin. And this is where you get gin and tonic.
Of course modern research has shown that the amounts of tonic water you'd need is quite large (~1 liter for a minimal effect) to make that story apocryphal at best (although I know some people who probably managed to meet the necessary quota to ward of malaria). But it is interesting to think that we managed to make the treatment for one of the worst disease humanity has known into a cocktail.
What is real though is that malaria can be used to treat syphilis. Malaria causes a high fever which kills the syphilis bacteria. In fact, Dr Julius Wagner-Jauregg received the Nobel Prize in Physiology in 1927 for this discovery (but he later became a hardcore Nazi and eugenisist. Of course we no longer use this because the mortality rate was 15%, but this was much lower than the death rate for syphilis.
Unfortunately, many parts of the world still suffer from malaria, where it is still a major killer.
One Bite
Not a single Tarantula species is able to kill you with venom, so if you see a big hairy boy just know, it can't kill you, not yet, also link to a picture of my escaped...
52×51×50×49...
There are more ways to shuffle a deck of cards than there are atoms making up the entire earth (or atoms in the universe if you use 2 decks), thats because the potential options are 52 factorial or 52×51×50×49... etc. chances are if you've shuffled a deck of cards then you've likely made history as that sequence has statistically NEVER happened before. Even if you had a trillion planets with a trillion people all shuffling a deck if cards every second since the moment of the big bang wed only just now be repeating sequences.
Liquid Spark
Water Douse GIFGiphyWater does not innately conduct electricity, it is all the dissolved stuff that allow electricity to pass through it.
Water is fascinating stuff.
Creating Oxygen
The Amazon Rainforest isn't actually the lungs of Earth. Almost all the Oxygen generated by the Amazon is used by the life found in the Amazon. 40% of Earth's oxygen is actually produced by tiny Organisms called Diatoms.
These organisms can replicate at an incredible rate and trillions of them spread throughout the Oceans and create Oxygen through photosynthesis. When the Diotoms die they transform into underwater snowflakes that remain on the sea floor. When these seas dry up, the dead Diatoms create a salt desert, like the one in Northern Africa.
Huge sandstorms pick the Diotoms up and carry them across the Oceans and drop them down on the Amazon and are used as a fertilizer for the rainforest.
Where are Diatoms born? The rainforest, they spread to the sea, create Oxygen through photosynthesis, die, create salt deserts, get taken back to the rain forest and help create the rainforest that creates them.
That's the circle of life right there.
In the Cosmos
On average, Mercury is the nearest planet to every planet in our solar system.
fit all of the planets in the solar system between the Earth and the Moon
Had to look that up. It's true.
Part of what threw me are all the crazy and awkward analogies you hear whenever you watch a space documentary that are meant to impress upon the viewer the immensity of the universe... like, "You can fit 80 gagillion Rose Bowls inside Jupiter's giant red spot and still have room for 7000 Eiffel Towers laid end-to-end."
The Family Tree
Everyone on earth is at least 50th cousin with everyone else on Earth.
And if you are currently dating or married to somebody who is from your own country and is of your own ethnicity, there's a one in five chance that the two of you share a common family member fewer than 10 generations ago.
From Below
Shake Shaking GIF by Southern California Earthquake CenterGiphyEarthquakes can happen literally everywhere on Earth, however humans rarely feel anything below a 2.5 in magnitude.
Bones
Something I read earlier: Babies have around 100 more bones than adults Babies have about 300 bones at birth, with cartilage between many of them. This extra flexibility helps them pass through the birth canal and also allows for rapid growth. With age, many of the bones fuse, leaving 206 bones that make up an average adult skeleton.
Flesh Diet
halloween flesh GIF by SebaldoGiphyThat the human skin Is quite heavy Its around 16% of your body weight.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.