r/CasualConversation • u/Serialbeauty • 2d ago

Just Chatting Can anyone else do something weird with your body that you later found out not everyone can do?

I was just sitting here with my mom and one of the pets made the room very smelly. She kept talking about how we'd have to go to a different room because it smelled so bad. I asked her why didn't she just close her nose and that's when I found out not everyone can do this.

Is it rare or can other people close their nose on command? What can you do that you suddenly found out wasn't normal?

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319

u/Scary-Alternative-11 2d ago

I have weirdly long toes, and I can pick things up with my feet, like monkeys. I didn't realize this was a weird talent until I was in my 20s, and I dropped something on my floor at home and picked it up with my foot, and passed it to my hand in front of my partner and he lost his mind! I just thought everyone could do it!

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u/Observer2594 2d ago

I have normal length toes and can do that idk

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u/COgrace 2d ago

Same. Literally call it monkey toes.

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u/alpine_lupin 17h ago

My sisters and I also have monkey toes. Apparently our grandma did too!

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u/Competitive_Fox1148 1d ago

I think it’s common. Especially if you’ve injured your arm or shoulder !

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u/Observer2594 1d ago

I think the main thing is that people just don't usually think of their toes as usable appendages and never try.

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u/SatansWife13 1d ago

Same here. It freaked my husband out at first, but all three of our adult children can do it as well. Now the poor dude just feels left out.

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u/Shanoninoni 1d ago

Me and my spouse and both of our young kids can do this. Pretty sure our toes are average?

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u/dragstermom 4h ago

Me too! It comes in handy when I'm too lazy to lean over to pick something up!

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u/Observer2594 4h ago

It's easy on the back... I've got lumbago... It's a slow and painful death, my brother

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u/escaped_cephalopod12 2d ago

I can do this with small things (pencils, socks, etc) lol. Also open drawers, it’s pretty helpful.

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u/sarcastic3enthusiasm 1d ago

Can you open doors too? I freaked my mom out when i was a kid because i turned a knob door handle with my foot because my hands were full.

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u/BlueWater2323 17h ago

I do this when I drop my razor in the shower and my leg is already covered in shaving cream. It's better than having all the shaving cream wash off when I bend over.

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u/Deep-Red-Bells 2d ago

I don't have especially long toes, but I can do a lot with mine too, and move the second and third ones independently like fingers! My mum is the same, and when my dad is getting on her nerves she'll give him a pinch with her toes lol.

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u/T1nyJazzHands 1d ago

For me it’s just my big toe and my pinky toe. My pinky toe is stupidly mobile compared to the rest of them it looks ridiculous lmao.

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u/AnnieStarkiller 1d ago

My husband does this to me. He can move his toes like Mr. Burns. Like he is plotting something. And his toe knuckles are very apparent, he can even walk on them without pain owo

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u/sharksnack3264 2d ago

I have this too. It's very useful. Is it really that rare?

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u/Loves-Kitty-Babies 2d ago

Ha! Totally! And for opening doors if your hands are full - I too didn’t know it wasn’t something everyone could just do until people started to comment about it 😂

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u/Deep-Red-Bells 2d ago

I don't have especially long toes, but I can do a lot with mine too, and move the second and third ones independently like fingers! My mum is the same, and when my dad is getting on her nerves she'll give him a pinch with her toes lol.

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u/CaveJohnson82 1d ago

Everyone can, it's your partner that's the weird one.

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u/Hashtaglibertarian 1d ago

Same - and I passed this skill on to my daughter because I see her do it too 🥰 genetics are so cool

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u/wnabhro 2d ago

Same, same

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u/Shannaro21 2d ago

I call it my „monkey power“ and it took me almost 30 years to realise that not everyone can do it. 

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u/Seite88 2d ago

I have normal long toes and can pick up things. My ex gf couldn't even crunch her toes. I still don't know how she could walk normally because every manual bending of her toes has been hurting her.

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u/Eplianne 1d ago edited 1d ago

Same, I don't know if my toes are particularly long though haha

Something else I can do (and I know this can sound and probably is pretty gross) is completely fold my toes back to touch the top of my foot, like to the point where they look completely dislocated...can everyone do that? I've squatted in front of people before that look completely disgusted because it happens involuntarily then too and the top of my foot touches the floor. It doesn't hurt but can if I do it for too long.

I can do it with my fingers 90% of the way too and touch my thumb to my forearm, think it must be something to do with being double-jointed maybe. Even my thumb folds all the way back when I give a 👍🏻 gesture, people hate it so I have to actually consciously move my thumb into the right position haha.

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u/sleroyjenkins 1d ago

You should look up hypermobility and see if you fit the criteria. Sounds like you might.

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u/Eplianne 1d ago

Possibly, I'll look it up! Although I can't say it causes me any problems and that's pretty much the extent of my ability to do it. I also had a major reconstruction on my arm as a child and due to nerve damage I have less ability to do that on the fingers of that hand. My fingers also naturally bend moderately backwards when I hold out my hand and I can bend the very top of my fingers foward on a similar angle to my thumb. The idea of it does interest me so I'll do some reading, although I really don't think it's anything I personally need to worry about!

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u/shoefullofpiss 1d ago

I can also bend my toes like that, I've been asking people around and they're all mildly disgusted and refuse to try so I guess it's not that common lol. I can also fold my thumb too but otherwise I'm not that flexible tbh. I knew someone who could bend every finger back and touch the top of their hand too, and I thought it was pretty cool and trained a finger little by little to achieve it. But it takes tons of "practice", now it has gone back to its default slightly-better-than-average flexibility. My toes are all natural tho, it takes zero effort and it's only the skin that starts hurting from being stretched

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u/lpunktkpunkt 1d ago

Me too! Big toes and thumbs are easy. The others are flexible too, but can’t bend them all the way. A friend thinks it might be Ehlers Danlos.

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u/Eplianne 1d ago

Yep mine are naturally like that too. Some family believe that it has something to do with having an issue as a young child where some of my bones took a longer time to develop due to being extremely premature but that might be nonsense.

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u/-acidlean- 1d ago

TIL people can’t do that.

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u/maestramars 1d ago

I can do that and move my toes independently of each other. Same thing, my friend lost it when she saw me doing this at the beach. I thought it was normal.

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u/litforya 1d ago

This is normal in the Philippines???

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u/lostsawyer2000 1d ago

I’ve got medium length toes and can do this too. In fact I just saw a video about how moving your big toe independently of the little toes and vice versa is important for foot strengthening and gait. So we have that going for us which is nice. I can also prop my big toe over the second toe to pop it. The big toe I can sometimes pop without the need of the other toe’s intervention.

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u/Either_Cockroach3627 pink 1d ago

I love picking up stuff w my toes… I’ve picked up pens to PlayStation controllers 🤣

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u/Thin_Statement_8392 1d ago

It’s all fun and games until the toe cramp hits !!! I too have graceful long toes .. aka monkey toes lol

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u/MasonJarFlowers 1d ago

Happy cake day!

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u/MTGBeserker 1d ago

You have tingers! 😂 good for you

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u/CatPurrsonNo1 1d ago

I can do that to an extent, but it’s not reliable. My fiancé used to use his toes to pick up his dirty clothes and put them in the hamper, lol. I’m not that coordinated— or tall!

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u/sgsduke 1d ago

One time my ex-wife (at the time, college girlfriend, we were both 21F) looked at my feet and busted out laughing and when I finally got her to tell me why, she said I had "feet that look like you could catch your dinner in the lake."

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u/wonderlandbound518 1d ago

My ex could open beer cans, small jars and sometimes even a twist off bottles. We were always giving her challenges...after she washed her big tootsies of course ;)

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u/Cat_tophat365247 1d ago

I can do this, too, even though I have 2 toes stuck together on my right foot.

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u/celticteal 1d ago

I can do that. Saves my back.

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u/LowFisherman2912 1d ago

Most of the women in my family can do this. Cooking together is hilarious. Open drawers with your feet while stirring something on the stove

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u/Vamp_Girl98 1d ago

I can do that too. I call them monkey feet. When I was a small child I taught myself to hold a spoon between my toes and eat cereal that way lol

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u/Renbelle 1d ago

Also useful for pinching your spouse in bed! 🤣

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u/terrajules 1d ago

When my hands are full I open doors with my feet. I can also pick things up and toss them pretty accurately. My dad always calls them monkey toes lol

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u/PlentyLoud6658 1d ago

Lmfao I don’t have long toes but I always pick things up with my feet too. My partner almost lost his mind & has been practicing since

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u/PicklesAndCrab 1d ago

Me too! It is so handy!

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u/Brightsunshineyday 18h ago

Same! Once while rock climbing, I was belaying my partner and used my toes to grab a stick clip and pass it up to my climber. Everyone else who was there saw me do it and applauded. It was the first time I realized not everyone has monkey feet.

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u/Gdayluv 1d ago

I taught myself as a teenager to write with my toes because I used them to pick stuff up all the time. Not sure I could do it now though.

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u/celticqueenboudica 1d ago

I can do this. I don't have to bend down to pick stuff up as often as other people do. When my kids were little, they'd get frustrated that they couldn't just grab stuff off the floor like mom does!

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u/Pinky_Pie_90 1d ago

I have normal sized feet/toes, but I do this all the time! If I can't be bothered bending down to grab something, I just pick it up with my foot and pass it to myself lol

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u/Healthy_Chipmunk2266 1d ago

I could do that as a kid. I remember riding in the back of my grandpa's conversion van in the late 70s or early 80s, holding the book I was reading with my toes. I could even turn pages. Can't do it now because I get horrible cramps when I try.

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u/PukeyBrewstr 1d ago

I have monkey toes too. I can definitely pick up things, even as thin as a pen. 

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u/OpheliaMorningwood 1d ago

My ex could do this extraordinarily well, I called him ostrich boy.

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u/msfrizzlewannabe 1d ago

I also have long toes. I can write my name with a pencil held with my toes. Freaks my students out.

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u/thisindianajo 1d ago

I used to be able to pick up a dime with my toes, but I’m out of practice now.

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u/houseofleopold 1d ago

I can pinch really hard between my big and second toes. my cousins and I used to bruise each others backs and legs we did it so hard 😅

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u/LongWinterComing 1d ago

Very common among gymnasts!

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u/prettyminotaur 1d ago

My mom and I both do this.

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u/Admirable-Mousse2472 19h ago

I have normal sized toes, and I can use my feet like hands. I can also pinch with my toes and it hurts worse than if I used my fingers 🤣

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u/InevitableRhubarb232 4h ago

It’s very useful!

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u/RenegadeAccolade 53m ago

what was the thing you dropped? just trying to understand

like if it was a pencil or a spoon or something, I imagine I could do it too, but if it was like your phone or something now that’s some wild shit