Cannot do

[tuixiu]

There are some things, that no matter how much I wish to be skilled at them or at least not poor, I cannot learn. So, this thread is dedicated to that skill which you have been unable to master despite reasonable dedication/desire to do so. I'm curious what other people have in the forever unchecked "learn" list.

I've got two right off:

1. Play chess. I'm no dummy but I just suck at chess and it pisses me off. I've read enough books to know most openings but by mid-game I've always done something stupid. The mind is a strange thing, and mine cannot grasp chess.

2. Fillet a fish. I see those guys who can take a dull knife and come out with a cartoon fish bone thing and two beautiful fillets, I cannot. I get shreds, I get bones, I get fish nuggets, I get wasted fish. Arggghhh.

Carry on.

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

Play the piano.

 

[ksr]

I'm not proud of this but I'm a disaster when I try to drive a car with manual transmission. I've learned how to drive with a stickshift several times, and know what I'm supposed to do, but have just never been able to master it. And I finally gave up.

I'm sure there are other things, but this is the one that comes to mind first.

 

[Martha]

My hand-eye coordination is terrible. Can't catch anything people throw to me.

 

[easysurfer]

I can't drive around without a GPS. My sense of direction is terrible.

 

[Purron]

Play the piano.

Same here. I even took lessons. My piano teacher was very happy when I finally gave up.

 

[REWahoo]

Carry on.

I can't carry on, not even in a bucket.

 

[samclem]

Learn another language. I've tried to learn Spanish and Russian, and I was able to learn vocabulary at a fair rate, but putting proper sentences together was not something I found easy to do.
. . . which might be because I never mastered English grammar. Yes, I learned the basic parts of speech and how to diagram sentences at a primitive level, but I couldn't identify an infinitive phrase today if it bit me. As a kid I read a lot of good novels, which helped me recognize when sentences were put together right and when the proper form of a word was used. This allowed me to write well enough, and made up for my shortcomings in formal knowledge of grammar.

 

[Ronstar]

I cant play golf - the last time I played I shot around 130

 

[SecondCor521]

Play bridge.
Avoid getting lost in the mall.
Succeed at being married to my first wife.
Understand electricity (capacitance, voltage, amperage, inductance, resistance...whatever!).

2Cor521

 

[Khan]

Write legibly.

 

[Leonidas]

Dance. At least not while sober.

 

[bbbamI]

YouTube - Can't Get Next To You - The Temptations

 

[Amethyst]

Office politics. I never see the knives before they stick me.

A.

 

[Amethyst]

Well, if you are an electrical engineer, this is bad news. If you aren't, the big thing is never to complete a circuit with yourself!

Amethyst

Understand electricity (capacitance, voltage, amperage, inductance, resistance...whatever!).

2Cor521

 

[Tigger]

Successfully combine work/relationship/hobbies/adequate sleep.

 

[Onward]

Iron a collared, long-sleeve shirt and leave it with no wrinkles. It's the most frustrating thing I've ever tried, and I've never gotten it right.

 

[Orchidflower]

Like Kahn, can't write legibly if my life depended on it.

 

[tuixiu]

My hand-eye coordination is terrible. Can't catch anything people throw to me.

I've learned the hard way that if something is tossed to my wife her instinct is to bat it to the floor so there is minimal risk to her personal safety and object can be retrieved at her leisure. It's quite strange as my instinct is opposite you could throw me a cartoon-style bowling ball looking lit fuse bomb and I'd attempt to catch it to see what it was.

Also strange = of our two dogs they are the same, one will catch anything in her mouth while the other likes to use two paws to trap stuff against the floor.

 

[W2R]

Apparently I cannot fly, at least not so far. I know that because I tried it many times as a little girl. (Having at least a little common sense, I jumped upwards rather than out of windows, thank goodness.)

I also have not yet managed to solve a Rubik's cube without cheating. But I don't know for sure that I cannot do it. Maybe this is more in the "have not yet done" category than the "cannot do" category.

In 2000, it seemed far more likely that I would be able to solve a Rubik's cube while flying, than that I could ever retire. And yet I did retire and in doing so, accomplished something that I previously thought I could never do. HA!! Anything is possible. Anything. Just not everything.

 

[Khan]

Like Kahn, can't write legibly if my life depended on it.

I sometimes have dreams where my life depends on writing legibly and I can't manage it.

 

[SecondCor521]

Well, if you are an electrical engineer, this is bad news. If you aren't, the big thing is never to complete a circuit with yourself!

Amethyst

Firmware engineer still trying to learn about electricity, actually. It would help me in my job .

+1 on the dancing and golf. I've played for 30 years and have yet to break 100.

2Cor521

 

[Janet H]

Apparently I cannot fly, at least not so far. I know that because I tried it many times as a little girl. (Having at least a little common sense, I jumped upwards rather than out of windows, thank goodness.)
.

YouTube - Guy Clark- The Cape

can't:
Paint (walls, etc) without making a mess.
Type accurately
Learn to like mayonnaise

 

[W2R]

YouTube - Guy Clark- The Cape

Thank you!! I never heard that song before, and I think it is not only a terrific song, but also describes my point of view very nicely.

 

[DangerMouse]

Refold a map, I'm definitely spatially challenged.

Add me to the list of those who suck at learning languages and I can't play chess to save my life.