Have you ever realized that you don’t know or can’t do something basic, something almost every other adult knows or does? No? You’re well-rounded and pretty much awesome? Okay, fine.
I’m not. And neither are the characters of one of my favorite TV shows, How I Met Your Mother. [Yes, this is a TV post, but I promise it’s about more than just that!]
When I was a junior in college, I took a basic public relations class. During the semester, we had to give several presentations to our teacher and classmates, and during one of mine, I had to use the word “ethereal.” Several times.
I’m so sad to say that I pronounced it wrong. Several times.
It turns out – much to my humiliation and thanks to my teacher’s subsequent correct pronunciation – that you don’t say it like this: eth-uh-real. Nope. Just in case you, like me, aren’t sure. The word is pronounced uh-thi-ree-uhl.
Right. Of course is it. So embarrassing.
That memory has haunted me for years is the reason this week’s episode of HIMYM struck me as so funny and real. The gang decided to point out each other’s “gaps,” things they were embarrassed about not knowing.
Ted mispronounced – in front of his entire class of students – “chameleon.” And Robin mistakenly thought the North Pole was a fictional place. The looks on their faces when they realized how very wrong they were just cracked me up! I know what that feels like!
For Lily and Marshall, their gaps were actual skills they don’t possess (even though most grown adults do). Lily can’t aim, whether throwing keys or using the bathroom. And Marshall, well, he had a lot of gaps but the most poignant for me was his inability to wink.
There’s nothing wrong with not being able to wink! {I can’t wink.}
So, let’s talk about our grown-up gaps today. I’ve shown you mine; now you show us yours. Can you read a map? Do you know how to whistle? Do you know how to pick out a nice bottle of wine? {I can’t.} What can’t you do that most adults can?
You can watch the full episode of HIMYM on CBS.com. And this post includes affiliate links.
I have no grasp of estimating distance or to tell how many people were in the crowd. If you ask me how far away something is (say, past 10 feet), I have NO clue. Or if you ask me how many people were at the concert/event… I haven’t the slighest idea! I always feel like everyone else knows this. “If you just go 100 yards, past the crowd of 60 people….” lol
I am NOT good at those things either!!
I have a hard time pronouncing certain words. I even add extra letters into the words I can’t pronounce! :s I know the words but for some reason it gets “lost in translation” from my brain to my mouth! At times it can be entertaining. :)
Probably more entertaining to others than to you, though, right? ;)
In front of a group of coworkers, I mispronounced the word ‘Carafe’. I pronounced it Cara-Fey…one of my coworkers…who was always on top of pointing out my mistakes…made sure to correct me loudly (and not very nicely) in front of everyone. It’s CA-RAF! Oh well…I’m not at all bitter about it.
Oh, Nik, that’s a bad one! How embarrassing. Feeling your pain…
I can do everything. Just kidding. I can’t think of anything quirky and simple like my husband who can’t roll his “R’s”, but I have a horrible sense of direction and I am REALLY bad at math. If you said how old you are and how old your child is it would take me the entire day to figure out how old you were when you had your kid (this a real life example from yesterday.)
Oh, that reminds me of something else I can’t do – talk in French. I can read it and write it like a champ. But speaking it without sounding like a second-grader? Nope.
I cannot for the life of me talk without tripping over/mispronouncing/forgetting words. It’s worse with mommyhood & pregnancy. I almost ALWAYS mispronounce “cockroach” as “coke-rahch.” Why? I have no idea!
And I can’t do percents in my head to save my life (unless it’s something easy like 20% of 100). Very embarrassing.
I have to ask…just how often do you find it necessary to say “cockroach”?
Hmmm. I have to say, basically the only thing I know about picking out a bottle of wine is that the quality of the wine is usually inversely proportionate to the appealingness of the label. Which I guess is a decent start, but doesn’t go very far. And I have terrible depth/spatial perception. I run into furniture, corners, doorknobs…all the time. The good news is that I can laugh at myself, so I don’t get embarrassed so much as just, well, bruised.
I’ve heard that about wine and their labels. But it just doesn’t seem right. I’m a sucker for clever advertising, so shouldn’t a clever label mean tasty wine? (Or whatever adjective wine people use to describe their wine.)
Wow! This post totally hits home with me! I feel like a total imposter when it comes to most things adult–even though I am months away from 40, have been married for 8 years, and have a nearly 6-year-old son. I can’t scramble eggs. I don’t know how to use the carpet cleaner. I only know how to make coffee the way I like it and I’m fairly convinced that no one else in the world likes it the same way. I can’t make it home from Walmart without forgetting at least 5 items. I get hives when we have to make a major purchase. I could go on and on, but I will close with the fact that, until college, I though that Yosemite was pronounced “Yose-uh-mite.” What can I say? I’m from Missouri and Yosemite doesn’t come up much in conversation! I’m a fellow HIMYM fan and I’m having fun exploring your blog. Have a great weekend!
I do not know how to make coffee! I should’ve included that one!
One more thing. I am not sure if it’s that I don’t want to learn or if it’s that I truly AM directionally challenged. Give me “directions” and landmarks…I can get around. Give me a MAP and tell me NSEW, I get all frazzeled and confused. No, I don’t know what’s North of there, or what is South of that. I just know where it is b/c of what it’s by. Ha. Tell me left and right, I can do that.
I’ve tried to get better, and it does baffle my husband. The funny thing is that my first job out of college I was a medical representative…and I would fly to a new city every week and visit 50-60 offices in a week’s time. I had to use a map then…I hated it. Wish there was GPS then. But then again, I don’t have GPS in my car even now. :-)
I’m sure I have plenty of gaps, but for whatever reason, they’re just not coming to me right now. (Probably because I don’t know that I don’t know them. LOL)
Had to say that I laughed so hard at all of their gaps though (especially Robin’s). HIMYM is one of our favorite shows too. (Didn’t realize I would have to cry during episodes this season though. Whew!)
I KNOW about the crying during HIMYM! I think they’ve handled Marshall’s dad’s death SO well, but it’s not what I expected from one of my favorite comedies!
My husband and I came home from a wedding one evening and I was carrying “fancy” leftover cupcakes. My husband said something like “Do you have those?” and I said “Of course, I have skills.” Then, I dropped them face down. We now referred to my “cupcake skills” often when either one of us can’t do something. So, I may not have cupcake skills, but I can do lots of other things.
Sarah, that cracked me up! :)
I have no depth perception. Cannot judge for the life of me how close or far away something is. This reminded me of a church event I attended long ago where a woman had to fill in at the last minute. Apparently, she hadn’t had time to read her part before going on stage. She pronounced ‘epitome’ as ‘ep-a-tome’ (instead of a-pit-o-me). As we say in the south–bless her heart!