# Do you have a "small superpower"?



## AdmundfortGeographer (Sep 18, 2011)

My wife, a fellow fan of sci-fi and fantasy, mentioned to me at yet again another occurrence of something remarkable and yet normal that happens around me. She remarked, "that's what some call your 'small superpower'".

We laughed at it.

But that got me thinking, who else out there can identify a "small superpower" of their own. For ideas, things like:

- the traffic lights just seem to time themselves for your arrival _most_ of the time.
- find missing collectibles for your own hobby in garage sales you just decide to stop at.
- rolling that vital 20, in the open, more often than odds would account for, just when it is needed.
- catching the knocked off condiment dispensers, in mid fall, avoiding the messy spill.
- mesmerizing infants with your stare, rarely inducing giggles or cries, just mesmerizing them.

My own small superpower? According to my wife, finding amazing parking spots near the entrances when people are with me in the car. By myself, it seems average. But when I have passengers, it's like the parting of the Red Sea. 

Do you have a small superpower?


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## Relique du Madde (Sep 18, 2011)

No, I have a large one.


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## Relique du Madde (Sep 18, 2011)

But in all honesty.. I have no clue..  I have been told that little kids and animal seem to like me.. but I haven't really noticed if I have any real ability that I would consider to be a minor superpower/ability.


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## Kzach (Sep 18, 2011)

I do, but nobody ever believes me when I mention it. It's always branded as 'internet bragging'.

My 'small' superpower is knowing exactly what to do in a fight. I've been in many dangerous situations, several of which where my life was on the line, and in the instant that it mattered, I knew *exactly* what to do, how to do it, and being able to see each step as if everything is in slow motion and I just move and it happens.

I've taken down people bigger than me (and I'm 6'2"), people with knives, multiple attackers and black belts. Yet in sparring or points matches, I get my ass kicked. It's only when it's a real and dangerous situation that some sort of switch flips and I become "Super Ninja Awesome."

*shrug* believe me, don't believe me. It's never failed me yet so that's all that really matters to me.


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## jonesy (Sep 18, 2011)

I have a really fast metabolism. People who don't know me keep telling me I shouldn't eat so much. But I don't seem to gain any weight from it, and I've been lithe all my life. But if that's a superpower, it's really lame.

I've also been in a lot of situations which could have turned real ugly, but somehow I've always managed to talk through them. Drunk people and the really dangerous looking people always think I'm their best friend. I have no idea why.


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## Dioltach (Sep 18, 2011)

When I still followed current music, I used to be able to predict which songs on an album would be released as singles. (My predictive abilities are nothing compared with my sister's, though: I've seen her get up and walk to the phone before it starts ringing!)


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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 18, 2011)

I can sing along with songs I've never heard before.  Not all songs, and not all perfectly, but close enough that people who don't know I've never heard the song ask me to tell them more about it.  Which I can't.

Sometimes, I can't even recall the lyrics after I've sung them.

The main limiting factors: it has to be a genre of music I listen to and it HAS to be in English.  And even if it ISN'T in English, I can often hum along.


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## Asmo (Sep 18, 2011)

A classic!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWJJBwKhvp4]Heroes--Zeroes Trailer1 DON'T MISS EPISODES 1 thru 4! - YouTube[/ame]


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## Fast Learner (Sep 18, 2011)

I had a buddy who had an extremely minor but shockingly effective superpower: if we were standing outside somewhere (in the city, mind you), you could at any time say, "Don, where's a penny?" Without fail -- and I mean _utterly without fail_, despite having made the request more than 200 times -- he could think for about a half a second and then take no more than 5 steps and point to a penny on the ground. It was no trick, he wasn't chucking pennies, and he could do it 4 or 5 consecutive times before saying that there weren't any more.

It was truly bizarre, and incredibly minor, but never failed to amuse.


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## Cor Azer (Sep 18, 2011)

I have the ability to tick off my wife at the most inopportune times.

But maybe that's actually the ability of whichever show I'm watching on TV at the moment.

Also, I can always find fallen Lego bricks. Can't always reach them, but I always seem to find them.


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## SnowleopardVK (Sep 18, 2011)

I can smell nearby garbage cans down to their location and approximately how full they are even before I know that they're there.

I think I picked this one up after a couple years working on the cleaning staff at a theme park.


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## Meatboy (Sep 18, 2011)

I can wake up before my alarm without fail, regardless of what time its set to.


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## Plane Sailing (Sep 18, 2011)

I can catch things that I knock off shelves in mid-fall. But I don't know if everyone else does that all the time, or if it is my minor superpower!


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## RainOfSteel (Sep 18, 2011)

No superpowers here, but I have long wanted a minor superpower:

The ability to cast my voice into one or more selected vehicles to give people a critique of their driving ability, or rather, the lack thereof.


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## Janx (Sep 18, 2011)

Plane Sailing said:


> I can catch things that I knock off shelves in mid-fall. But I don't know if everyone else does that all the time, or if it is my minor superpower!




technology works for me, I can make things work where others failed.  Examples include:
it works when I click it, failing for others.
I'm right when i describe how something probably works and when somebody goes to try it or digs deeper, they find I was correct.
I have Faith Healed an Apple IIe in front of others.  My landlady just got her son an old Apple.  It wouldn't boot.  I strode up to it, shouted "Heal!" and slapped my hand down on the case.  I then turned the switch and it booted.

I also rarely get sick.   At most, I get a cold each year or a 1 day flu.  I have always been this way.

I'm  also a good shot, despite not really practicing.  Not sniper level, just functionally good with BB guns, paintball guns, pistols and rifles.

I'm also lucky.  I've made some really good rolls in D&D.  I did not work exhorbitantly hard in finding a job out of college or in leaving that job 14 years later. (both times, the employer contacted me).  I bought my first computer with money I found on the ground.


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## cignus_pfaccari (Sep 18, 2011)

If I just get up and leave, without thinking about it, whenever I get to the Metro, my train will be pulling in.

Brad


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## Cor Azer (Sep 18, 2011)

RainOfSteel said:


> The ability to cast my voice into one or more selected vehicles to give people a critique of their driving ability, or rather, the lack thereof.




Tangent: My brother and I always fantasized about building some sort short range device to overpower radio signals so we could offer such enlightening advice.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 18, 2011)

Plane Sailing said:


> I can catch things that I knock off shelves in mid-fall. But I don't know if everyone else does that all the time, or if it is my minor superpower!




It's a superpower...and I have it too!

Another one: I can make snarky comments at a dinner table that everyone EXCEPT the target will hear and laugh at.

Hmm...it sounds like I'm becoming minor-superpower Superman here...all kinds of litle crappy powers.

Maybe I'm not human, but actually a Craptonian!


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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 18, 2011)

Cor Azer said:


> Tangent: My brother and I always fantasized about building some sort short range device to overpower radio signals so we could offer such enlightening advice.




Y'know, the Mr. Microphone used to work with your car radio when it was set to the right channel.  I bet you could alter it's transmitter to allow you to work over a broader spectrum of the RF dial.

Of course...most people are listening to CDs and mp3 players these days...

Still, I think a kind of override device should be available to First Responders and Emergency vehicles- "Don't you hear my siren, you self-absorbed moron?  GETOUTATHEWAY!"


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## Fast Learner (Sep 19, 2011)

I also have the magic technology fixing power. 

One example: a company had a flakey network that would suddenly go down without apparent cause; they called me in as a consultant to resolve it. Their offices were on the 12th floor of a building and the first time I arrived they noted that the network had just come up 30 seconds earlier. Because this was an old AppleTalk network from years ago there wasn't much in the way of useful diagnostic information so after doing whatever poking around I could, I eventually told them there was nothing I do and to call me the next time it went down.

They did, and again, just as before, the network came back up mere seconds before I arrived. After this happened the 4th time the receptionist noticed that when the elevator arrived at their floor with me in it, poof, the network was instantly back up.

They continued to call me in every few months for the next couple of years to work my magic. It always felt like a consulting failure since I never was able to figure out what was going wrong, but at least I could fix it and bill an hour.


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## Bullgrit (Sep 19, 2011)

I have never had a visible bruise. No matter how hard I get hit, or where, I don't bruise. No matter how much it may hurt, there's no mark.

I have remarkable situational and body-position awareness. I can move through a crowd of people like a ghost. It gets humorously frustrating sometimes when I'm with someone and we want to cross a crowded area, and they stutter and hesitate trying to find a way through. I zip right on across, then turn and look back at the other person weaving and bumping around the crowd like they're in a pinball machine.

Bullgrit


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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 19, 2011)

> I have never had a visible bruise. No matter how hard I get hit, or where, I don't bruise. No matter how much it may hurt, there's no mark.




Me either!  And I've had plenty of experience- mostly in college- when playing sports and drinking in excess to have gotten bruise-worthy injuries.  Almost nonpost-surgical swelling, either.

And speaking of drinking to excess...I don't get hangovers.  Or puke for any reason- drinking, illness, I just don't.

I'm also seemingly immune to cholesterol.  My numbers just sit dead center of the ideal range, regardless of diet.  (Salt is my kryptonite, though.)

Maybe there's something to this Craptonian stuff.


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## AdmundfortGeographer (Sep 19, 2011)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> I'm also seemingly immune to cholesterol.  My numbers just sit dead center of the ideal range, regardless of diet



Well, high cholesterol is not bad, despite what the statin makers and general doctors tell you. There is no correlation with high cholesterol and atherosclerosis. Funny thing people don't know, a body produces 80% of its cholesterol and will regulate cholesterol production when more is consumed. And saturated fats have no correlation with cholesterol fwiw.


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## Janx (Sep 19, 2011)

Not a real power, but once I convinced somebody I had ESP.

A friend had come over, and on some lark, he had bought a deck of those ESP testing cards (the ones with a circle, waves, square, triangle).

I think my wife tried it first, to statistically average results.


Then i tried it.  About 2 cards in, I noticed that I could see the card faces reflected in my friend's glasses.

So, I started "dialing it in" and would nail 4/5 cards on purpose, throwing a few mistakes in, so it wouldn't be as blatant.

When he reached the end of the deck, he was in awe.

I've also made another friend run out to check out the "damage" to his Mustang. Twice.

It's rather odd.  People will suspect me of trickery when I'm not involved (understandable), and then totally fall for it when I'm pulling their leg.


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## wolff96 (Sep 19, 2011)

Stoplights know me.  They love me.

And they long to shed their reddish glow upon me for as long as possible.

It's uncanny.  Kind of like the rain god from Hitchhiker's Guide...  I'm the deity of red lights.


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## Roland55 (Sep 20, 2011)

Yes, yes I do.

But mine is remarkably small.  Approximately 5 Angstroms in height.

No one ever notices it.


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## Gulla (Sep 20, 2011)

I have one. Most of the time. It is "Dad is driving" giving mostly green lights, a gap in traffic when i reach a crossing and always a free parking spot close to wherever I'm going.

Unless I count on it, then it fails me


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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 20, 2011)

wolff96 said:


> Stoplights know me.  They love me.
> 
> And they long to shed their reddish glow upon me for as long as possible.
> 
> It's uncanny.  Kind of like the rain god from Hitchhiker's Guide...  I'm the deity of red lights.






Gulla said:


> I have one. Most of the time. It is "Dad is driving" giving mostly green lights...




The answer: both of you live in the same town, and your paths keep crossing.


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## Villano (Sep 20, 2011)

I'm hyperflexible.  This means some of my joints bend way more than the average person (sometimes in the opposite direction), especially my fingers and legs.  My chiropractor has to really twist me around to get anything to crack.

Normally, people just refer to it as "double-jointed", but I prefer "hyperflexiblity" because it sounds like a superpower. 

On the downside, both my knees have a habit of randomly dislocating.  I have to pop them back in (you can actually hear the "clunk" from a few feet away).  Hurts like hell.


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## Nagol (Sep 20, 2011)

Villano said:


> I'm hyperflexible.  This means some of my joints bend way more than the average person (sometimes in the opposite direction), especially my fingers and legs.  My chiropractor has to really twist me around to get anything to crack.
> 
> Normally, people just refer to it as "double-jointed", but I prefer "hyperflexiblity" because it sounds like a superpower.
> 
> On the downside, both my knees have a habit of randomly dislocating.  I have to pop them back in (you can actually hear the "clunk" from a few feet away).  Hurts like hell.




I have that one as well; in addition to losing a kneecap in random conditions (including walking across a carpeted floor), I've dislocated pretty much every joint capabile of coming apart.


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## jmucchiello (Sep 20, 2011)

I can decide to wake up at a specific time in the morning and will do so within about 15 minutes early to 10 later without an alarm clock. In fact, this is so reliable, I don't have an alarm clock or device acting as an alarm clock (such as a smart phone).

Awake, my nigh-absolute time sense also only works subconsciously. When I'm not paying attention to a clock if asked what time is it I will verbally respond with a value within 5-10 minutes of accurate. Typical response is "It must be quarter to five by now." And then I check if I'm right. If I attempt to think about it, my error interval expands.
--
When I was younger I had a more "useful" ability but my error rate has climbed in recent years. I use to have the uncanny ability to walk into a room with a television on and after 1-2 seconds state the name of the movie (or program) being watched, even if I had never seen the movie or show before. This obviously only worked with movies and shows with some level of advertising. 

My climbing error rate I attribute to the vast number of channels available now and my lack of interest in movies in general. In my youth I paid more attention to what movies were out or coming to TV. These days I just care less. That and my aging memory. Last time I had a chance to exercise this ability the name of the movie would not come to me. I could see the trailer but not the name of the movie in my head.


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## pathfinderq1 (Sep 21, 2011)

Sometimes small, sometimes not so small...

Very nearly absolute direction- especially in vehicles.  Once I have been someplace once, I can always get back- and I have extremely good navigational skills when homing in on new locations.  Plus, I grew up in the country, so I can use a compass and read a map- skills which amaze the GPS-dependent among my friends/co-workers.  Works great on vacations- can always get back to the hotel, even in countries where I can't read the road signs.  But the rental car people hate me- I never want to pay extra for the GPS unit...


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## RainOfSteel (Sep 21, 2011)

Cor Azer said:


> Tangent: My brother and I always fantasized about building some sort short range device to overpower radio signals so we could offer such enlightening advice.



I've been thinking about how much it would cost to mount fore and after cameras on my vehicle to record each day's round trip to work.  I could then run a Daily Death Race segment for a video log on YouTube with voice-over commentary.  [Yeah, this is a total pipe dream, but nice.]


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## FoxWander (Sep 23, 2011)

Bullgrit said:


> I have remarkable situational and body-position awareness. I can move through a crowd of people like a ghost. It gets humorously frustrating sometimes when I'm with someone and we want to cross a crowded area, and they stutter and hesitate trying to find a way through. I zip right on across, then turn and look back at the other person weaving and bumping around the crowd like they're in a pinball machine.
> 
> Bullgrit




I can do this crowd-ghosting also.  It annoys my wife because I wind up accidentally ditching her when we go to the mall or an amusement park.  I snake thru the crowd like it's not there and she gets cut off.

I also have a really good sense of smell.  I've actually been able to track people I know thru buildings a few times.  And I can smell something burning way before anyone else does.  Of course, I'll also get a headache if walk by the bed and bath store at the mall or the store aisle that has all the scented candles.  So it's troublesome small superpower.


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## tecnowraith (Sep 23, 2011)

Believe it or not I a couple of them. When I call someone on the phone, I can sense when they are just about leave or coming home, like literally just walk in the door or when they finish doing something important.

I can also remember which movie an actor or actress they have been in 2 sec, sorta like a small video library or an index of star to the movie or tv in my head.


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## Zelda Themelin (Sep 23, 2011)

I can and often will translate what animals or people are wanting or feeling, when target of their need is cluelessly watching to wrong direction or ignoring them.
(I also have ability to ignore it when I am the targe myselft.)

I can watch youtube for weeks without going insane (much).

I can change my taste for music at weekly basis.

I can mentally resist feeling cold, but it makes me feel annoingly hot when I get someplace not cold. My friend has that ability as well, so I assume it's rather common.

I am really good at guessing plots of stories, but I guess actually useful stuff almost always wrong.

I have amazing no sense of direction. I have been known to get lost in store (as not finding door out), when it was 10 m from we just covered by passing people.

I think I might have anti-belief aura. Ever since child no supposed ghosties appered when you said three times names in front of mirror or o. boards didn't work.

Weird crazy people thinking I am somehow connected to their weird crazy stuff as somekind of semi-supernatural person. Why don't they pick on some friend of theirs who want to be that. No. I didn't dress weird, no they don't know I play rpg:s. My friends sometimes wonder where do I find these people, and so do I.

Supermarket store doors often fail to open for me. Causes me to walk around them stupidly trying to hit the right angle frustrated and then some other person walks in and I get in when door open nicely for them in first try. Why, it's not like I am character form Mage the Ascension with high arete (or what was it called again). Maybe I am just wrong height or something.

I can spend 3 years in school with same people without learning to remember anyone's name. My heigtened ability to ignore in work as I remember rpg names just fine. I have also totally forgotten person who spent prior day with, let him sleep at my place and next morning at entrance of rope con he says hello and I sai "who are you? do you know me?" That was awkard.

Mmh, If I would have to stat myself you think I might get flaw points from those, or are they just traits?


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## Fast Learner (Sep 23, 2011)

Zelda Themelin said:


> Supermarket store doors often fail to open for me.




I have a similar anti-superpower: automatic faucets completely ignore me. In a busy public restroom I can watch dozens of people walk up to the various sinks and poof, instant water flow when then move their hands near. Me, no matter where I put my hands, no matter what sink I use, nothing. 

It takes more than a dozen attempts to find a spot where the water will come on, usually some place where only a tiny bit of a finger is actually under the faucet. Allows me to grab a quick spurt of water before it shuts off again, so I have to repeat the whole thing several times to actually rinse my hands (adding soap to the mix and rinsing it off would literally take a total of 10 minutes).

I really have no idea what the heck is happening, why they don't see my hands. Very strange.


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## Zelda Themelin (Sep 23, 2011)

Fast Learner said:


> I really have no idea what the heck is happening, why they don't see my hands. Very strange.




Thank you, now I know, that I am not alone.


Mmh I did litte research


"The vast majority of the automatic doors, such as the ones on the big box 
stores (Lowe's, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, etc.), function via an infrared sensor.
The infrared sensor puts out a field in a narrow area directly in front of 
the door. When you walk within the field, you reflect infrared rays back to 
the sensor, and that triggers the door to open."

"The water foundtains at my college are IR I think. They don't work when 
I'm wearing my black leather coat, have to hold my hand up to it then. lol"

So dressing in black might cause these problems. Then again it's not really factor in my case.
But issue seems to relate somehow infra red.


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## jonesy (Sep 23, 2011)

Fast Learner said:


> I really have no idea what the heck is happening, why they don't see my hands. Very strange.



I had a neighbour with a similar problem. The house I was living in got a new elevator and it used a motion detector as the call button. She couldn't use it, because no matter what she did it wouldn't register her hand.

Edit: it might have been IR, not motion.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 23, 2011)

Count me as another for whom sensors are hit or miss.  And another-probably related thing: you see those toys that do things like light up when held in your hands?  They don't for me.


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## Gronin (Sep 23, 2011)

so for those of you for whom sensors don't work - -- Are you lucky enough that the various seasonal decorations that are motion activated don't work for you?


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## Pbartender (Sep 23, 2011)

I've discover a few over the years, most notably...


I can move my eyeballs independently of each other, not unlike a chameleon.
While I can't actually make myself invisible, I can achieve such a level of inconspicuousness that I am, for all intents and purposes, practically invisible.
Given enough time, I can change the weather through sheer force of will.
I can accurately diagnose electrical problems solely by smell.
I can tickle small children into hysterics just by looking at them...  An odd variation on the "Evil Eye", you might say.
My lap attracts household pets in the same the way that Aquaman's forehead attracts sea creatures.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 24, 2011)

Gronin said:


> so for those of you for whom sensors don't work - -- Are you lucky enough that the various seasonal decorations that are motion activated don't work for you?




It follows the same ratio for me.  Some stuff triggers, some stuff doesn't.


My 17 year old cousin has one: he triggers security sensors.  No, I'm not joking about him being a shoplifter.  Every once in a while, they light up for him.  Going in OR going out- never both.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 24, 2011)

> My lap attracts household pets in the same the way that Aquaman's forehead attracts sea creatures.




Insert dirty punch line of choice here.


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## Pbartender (Sep 24, 2011)

Zelda Themelin said:


> Supermarket store doors often fail to open for me. Causes me to walk around them stupidly trying to hit the right angle frustrated and then some other person walks in and I get in when door open nicely for them in first try.






Fast Learner said:


> I have a similar anti-superpower: automatic faucets completely ignore me. In a busy public restroom I can watch dozens of people walk up to the various sinks and poof, instant water flow when then move their hands near. Me, no matter where I put my hands, no matter what sink I use, nothing.






Dannyalcatraz said:


> Count me as another for whom sensors are hit or miss.  And another-probably related thing: you see those toys that do things like light up when held in your hands?  They don't for me.






Dannyalcatraz said:


> My 17 year old cousin has one: he triggers security sensors.




Maybe it's because of that time you sold your soul...


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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 24, 2011)

I've done that dozens of time to no effect, so it can't be that!


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## Fast Learner (Sep 24, 2011)

Mine is limited to hand sensors, probably infrared, so sinks and towel dispensers and other short-range things. Grocery store doors and other longer-range sensors work fine.

I've leased my soul on several occasions but have yet to sell it outright.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 25, 2011)

The trick is to only sell your soul to those entities in which you already own a controlling share.  Despite multiple sales, I still own 89% of my soul.


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## Zelda Themelin (Sep 25, 2011)

I tried the whole soul selling thing, but I was deemed worthless. Maybe I should try out forces of chaos, they seem to like me.


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## SnowleopardVK (Sep 26, 2011)

I discovered today that I can text one-handed while riding my bike.

This will one day contribute to me being yet another bad driver on the road I'm sure.

I apologize in advance.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 26, 2011)

Are you an organ donor?


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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 26, 2011)

I have a cousin who- without using special products- has hair that resembles that of those Troll Dolls.


She can pull it in a direction and it will just stay however she pulled it: Don King style, horns, Statue of Liberty crown, whatever.


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## Relique du Madde (Sep 26, 2011)




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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 26, 2011)

O-TAY!

Yep, if she wanted to, she could.


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## Cor Azer (Sep 26, 2011)

Apparently I now have a superpowered canine sidekick - four times this weekend, my dog teleported under my foot from across the room, causing me to stumble and thump my shin against nearby furniture.

He's also a remorseless eatin' machine; we never worry about the babies dropping messy food on the floor, but I think all dogs have such an ability.


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## Ebon Shar (Sep 26, 2011)

My wife and I share a "small superpower."  Whenever we are together and we get in a line, be it at the supermarket or coffee shop or wherever, we find the line relatively small, but as soon as we get in line, many people get in line behind us and it becomes a huge line.  We laugh about it every time it happens, but it only happens when we are together.  Strange.


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## DnD_Dad (Sep 29, 2011)

I can set a timer, walk away from it and walk back to it with less then 3 seconds to spare.  I also set my alarm clock and wake up 2-3 minutes before it goes off.


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## fba827 (Sep 30, 2011)

Code Name: _The Baby Whisperer_
Power: The Baby Whisperer can soothe a cranky infant or toddler that he is related to.
Examples:
* The Baby Whisperer can make a related infant go to sleep in under 10 minutes (usually around 5min actually) -- this gift alone is worth gold to the tired mothers.
* The Baby Whisperer can make a related infant stop crying by simply waving at the child (presuming the infant/toddler is not crying for a reason related to food, in which case food is given)
* The Baby Whisperer can understand the babble from a related toddler. This does not extend to nonverbal communication, but is specific to vocalized babble when the child has not yet fully developed words and hard consonant sounds but is poorly attempting to do so.

Limits of Power: The Baby Whisperer's powers stop working on an infant/toddler around the time that the child turns 4.  At that same time, the child is no longer soothed by the Baby Whisperer but instead feels compelled to never leave the Baby Whisperer's side, telling him anything and everything, over and over, ad nauseum.


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## fba827 (Sep 30, 2011)

Code Name: The Exceptionally Unphotogenic
Power: Despite having decent/average enough looks, any photograph with me in it looks horrible; almost as if there is a second visage portrayed by my soul that is only captured on images...
This is not limited to personal opinion but extends to the opinion of friends, family, and even strangers who are shown said pictures.


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## tuxgeo (Sep 30, 2011)

Not I, but my mother had the small superpower of finding "4-Leafed Clovers" in the front yard. 

She pressed the pickings in books. 
Several books: Paradise Lost; a Bible; etc. 

The weirdest part of it was her trifocals: She couldn't see straight. That didn't stop the clover-pressing.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 30, 2011)

fba827 said:


> Code Name: _The Baby Whisperer_
> Power: The Baby Whisperer can soothe a cranky infant or toddler that he is related to.
> Examples:
> * The Baby Whisperer can make a related infant go to sleep in under 10 minutes (usually around 5min actually) -- this gift alone is worth gold to the tired mothers.
> ...




That's my Dad's power, but it even works on kids he's not related to.  It served him well when he worked as a pediatrician.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 30, 2011)

fba827 said:


> Code Name: The Exceptionally Unphotogenic
> Power: Despite having decent/average enough looks, any photograph with me in it looks horrible; almost as if there is a second visage portrayed by my soul that is only captured on images...
> This is not limited to personal opinion but extends to the opinion of friends, family, and even strangers who are shown said pictures.




Ahhh, yet another one to add to my list!

And I actually have kept a lot of mine, such as:

1) a passport photo in which I, though sort of caramel in complexion, appear to be as black as ENWorld's default background.

2) a security badge in which I- dressed in a grey shirt with a green vest- appear to have ORANGE skin, a lavender shirt, and a teal vest.

3) a driver's license in which I'm wearing a shirt & skinny black tie...but my shirt is the exact same color as the photo background.

4) a Sam's Club ID in which I look like I was recently released from prison, given too much to drink, and put in a rumpled Saints jersey.

Still, I regret losing he one that made me start collecting them- my first college student ID card.

I was 5'4"- quite round- and wore a high-top fade as was (just barely still) the style.  (But it was in need of a trimming.)  I was wearing a hawaiian shirt of brilliant red with pineapples & parrots.  The photo's background was tangerine.  And the photographer told me to smile...and waited until my eyes were closed to press the button.

Thus was I christened with the first of my college nicknames: Smiling Flattop Buddha.


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## Jack7 (Oct 1, 2011)

I wouldn't call this a superpower by any mans, and it's partially a trained set of abilities.

But I can go days without sleep of any kind, and with very little food or drink, often without much loss of concentration or focus. Though if I go 3 days or so without sleep I'll get a constant dull headache then afterwards I'll sleep for 12 or so hours at a time. The older I get though the less sleep, food, and drink I require. I don't tire easily at all and never have. And I often prefer being up all night.

It's also very hard to shake me if I'm tracking someone, and I can generally drop a tail like a bad habit.


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## Jdvn1 (Oct 4, 2011)

I have the very minor superpower of situational perceptiveness. I notice when someone's trying to take a picture of me, and am able to ruin the photo. My fiancee tries to take candid pictures of me, and I always put on a cheesy smile as she presses the button. If I'm in the middle of a conversation, I try to time it so that the person I'm talking to gives me a weird look, as he wonders why I'm smiling so strangely.

Other stuff...
Reverse mind-reading: Picking an integer 1-10, people can always guess what number I'm thinking of.
Slow mind-reading: I can guess what number you're thinking of, if you pick an integer 1-10. It may take up to 10 attempts.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Oct 4, 2011)

I just discovered a new one: in a certain building on the UT Arlington campus, only one elevator will carry me.  It has been over a month, and only the right-hand elevator appears to carry me up or down.

I asked if the left one was out of order.  It isn't.


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## Cor Azer (Oct 4, 2011)

For a two years in high school, I had a psuedo- Feng Shui/zen/lucky charm relationship that corelated eeriely well with the number of Saturn vehicles on the road during the bus ride to school.


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## Plane Sailing (Mar 7, 2012)

Just came across this girl who has the superpower of being able to say any word backwards instantly. 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QnagEHw8gE&sns=em]Alyssa talking backwards - YouTube[/ame]

Strange, eh?


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## Kzach (Mar 7, 2012)

Plane Sailing said:


> Strange, eh?




Heh, I wonder if that's some form of dyslexia? She sees the words backwards in her head? Either that or she's super-intelligent and given that she's blonde, I find that highly unlikely


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## Dannyalcatraz (Mar 7, 2012)

Zatanna _LIVES_!


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## Super Pony (Mar 7, 2012)

I can recall minute details of conversations and interactions I have with people...as long as those conversations and interactions are ENTIRELY banal and unimportant to the continued function of the universe.  As soon as I have to remember something important or a task laid out for me by my wife...*whistle sound* in one ear and right out the other.

But the nice lady named Sharie that was my checkout clerk at the grocery store this morning had orange crocs on, brown short hair, was in her early to mid fifties and was concerned that she wouldn't be able to leave work early today to see her daughter and son in-law because some individual named Devon (_Devin? not sure of spelling_) hadn't confirmed if he could cover the afternoon portion of her shift (_I overheard this in passing as she talked with a co-worker_).

Meanwhile I forgot to pack a snack for my daughter for pre-school (_AFTER my wife made the snack and told me not to forget to pack it_) and left my son's diaper bag at home (_AFTER he plaaaaced it in my hands_) that was needed for daycare.

I think I would have a place beside the Invisible Boy from Mystery Men


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## El Mahdi (Mar 8, 2012)

*I listed my superpowers here, but the mental virus I unleashed to erase it from your memory keeps you from actually reading it*


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## Lwaxy (Mar 8, 2012)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Thus was I christened with the first of my college nicknames: Smiling Flattop Buddha.




Oh dear... now I can't stop laughing.


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## Lwaxy (Mar 8, 2012)

Quite a few "super powers" here which, reading this thread, are more common that I thought. 

Not that good in it anymore thanks to bad eyesight, but I can look at the most complex form of mazes and instantly see the path from start to middle/other side. My brain just seems to single it out at once. 


Then the being invisible - to doors, automatic faucets, elevators - anything with a sensor. Oh yeah, I have serious issues with touchscreens, too, which is a real problem as the ticket sales for any public transit here have changed to those annoying things. Means I need to to get on without tickets in many cases, even had to show to conductor once that I am not just skipping the fee, I can't pay it! Of course, usually I'm even invisible to controls. it is like i don't exist until I shove the ticket in their faces. 

I'm also invisible to real security, although this needs me to clear my mind and believe myself I'm not there. I walked across high security areas like closed off areas for state visits, pop stars etc and no one will notice me. I once walked right through two guards with dogs back in the 80s when Gorbachev was visiting my country capital, then across the whole yard of the castle that was closed off and out the other side past a police car. It was kind of freaky but I didn't quite think about it because I wanted some food from the other side. Then I walked right back with the food. 

I used to do that as a joke in school to get off campus when I was bored with the lessons. Didn't try it out for a long time now, probably would have a much harder time believing I'm not there thanks to all of my pains. 

Then there is the part of technology I'm not invisible to but still affect negatively. Computers, TVs, mobile phones, heck anything gets trouble around me. Let me walk into an electronic store and malfunctions will pop up, some of them visible like screens failing, burglary alarms going off (that happened once when I walked in), blue screens on the monitors and those listening stations to test music almost always die on me. I dread going into electronic stores. It is not every day, I have good days, but the bad days are worse. 

Luckily, my own computer usually gets used to me after a while, but I still get malfunctions at least once a day that make no sense. The rest of my family has me banned from their computers. 

I, too, can often sing along to songs I've never heard before. Doesn't always work and I have no idea what the pattern of it is. It is more common with songs in my own language. I know when the phone will ring and who is on it, even if I don't know the person I'll generally get it right. Like someone from my dad's club or a friend of my son. 

Someone else mentioned the "knowing what to do in danger" thing. Same here. It's like time slowing and the rest comes automatically. I've dealt with people attacking me with knives, a wannabe rapist, a drunk almost falling on the rails and a few other things. The moment it happens, it is all very normal to me. I even told police once that "it was only 3 guys not knowing how to hold their knives" when they did a protocol. It is the day after that I'm shocked and wonder what could have happened, and in the above case why I said that. Sometimes I'm not sure it is all me who does that, hard to explain. The normal me often can't stand up for long without pain, and I avoid hand shakes because my fingers hurt a lot. 

I also used to be able to find people's car keys and purses etc they misplaced, without looking or even remembering having seen them. Not anymore though. I guess I unconsciously registered them and now with my eyes going worse I don't anymore. But I still get asked where everyone's stuff is.


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## megamania (Mar 10, 2012)

Bad Luck



centered on me unfortunately


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