Daily discussion post: superpowers

[magnetic_pole]

Folks, what are your superpowers?

Before you protest that you don't have any, let me assure you that you do--you just haven't thought about them that way. My partner R, for example, can always spot an extra space between words in a page of text. On screen, on paper, doesn't matter. She's pretty amazing at catching typos, too. See? Superpowers.

I have the power of not-getting-lost. Drop me off in a completely new city, and I'll navigate with aplomb. An old housemate of mine has a favorite story about the time a long-distance bus dropped the two of us off at the side of the road in a remote part of Greece. The driver definitely knew where we were going, despite our embarrassing lack of language skills---I'd copied down the name of our destination and showed it to him, and he'd nodded and smiled and helped us put our luggage away. When he stopped the bus and gestured furiously for us to get off, I discovered a superpower I didn't even know I had: navigational skills for the win! We were going to a port city, so we just kept walking downhill until we finally met the water, and from there it was easy to see how to get into town.

I've also got the power to smell food that's bit off, but honestly, that's more a curse than a superpower, so best not to dwell on that one.

So, folks, what are *your* superpower? What can you do that your friends and family generally can't?

Comments

[rebeccarobota]

I work in a public-facing job (or at least I used to before COVID-19) and am very good at customer service and handling difficult customers. If someone is really angry or abusive I get flustered like anyone else, but I am very good at diffusing most people before they get to that point, and I have often enjoyed the challenge of creating a positive outcome out of a negative customer interaction (although after more than a decade in customer service roles, I'll admit I don't get the same joy out of it that I used to!)

I also know a lot of fiddly grammar and style rules, like how to use a comma correctly or the difference between "which" and "that." I am not actually a prescriptivist when it comes to grammar, but it's still handy knowledge.

[therealsnape]

I used to work on a helpdesk, so I know how difficult and negative customers can be - sometimes with reason, sometimes not - and I think it's amazing that you can turn that into a positive. Great skill.

[aome]

Would you explain the difference between "which" and "that" because I admit that it's not one of my strengths.

(On the other hand, I know when to use "fewer" vs "less" which a great many people - including those who write the signs for every express lane at the grocery store - do not. :P)

[cactus_rs]

"that" is essential information, "which" is incidental. For example, "Taxis that are dirty are banned in the city." versus "Taxis, which are dirty, are banned in the city."

Punctuation obviously matters in demarcating these things as well, of course!

[aome]

Thank you!

YOUR ICON

[jesse_the_k]

...is perfect!

Re: YOUR ICON

[aome]

Thank you! (Although I cannot take credit for it - LJ user joking created it, and gave me permission to use it because, as you said, it's perfect.)

[rebeccarobota]

So here's rule of thumb that seems to work for me: "which" always follows a comma.

"My hovercraft is full of eels, which is very inconvenient."
"My hovercraft is full of eels, which I find very troubling."

"My hovercraft is full of eels that I purchased at the market."
"My hovercraft is full of eels that are plotting to overthrow the queen."

As for WHY it works this way, here's a fuller explanation than I can give:
https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/relative-clauses/

But like many grammar rules, it's a totally arbitrary distinction that is mostly found in the US. I think most British writers would be pretty comfortable with the following sentence, even though it breaks the so-called rule:

"My hovercraft is full of eels which I purchased at the market."

[aome]

Thank you for the explanations. Your examples completely cracked me up. :D I do hope, should you ever acquire a hovercraft one day, that it is NOT full of eels. Unless, uh, you want it to be.