‘What completely normal UK thing are you embarrassingly bad at?’ – 22 people who can’t even queue properly

Karen Dickinson. Updated October 9th, 2026

As people who live in the UK, there are certain things we’re supposed to be naturally good at, like standing patiently in a line, drinking enough tea to sink a pedalo, and being passive-aggressive.

But what if we’re not good at those things? Have we failed at being a Brit?

They’ve been discussing this on the AskUK subreddit after Rough-Foundation9208 shared the way they feel they aren’t quite hitting the mark…

What completely normal UK thing are you embarrassingly bad at?

Mine is probably small talk. I know loads of people find it tough, but unless I have a subject I know well and have an interest in, I’m completely lost! I know Brits can famously blab about the weather forever, but it usually only gets me like 30 secs of convo.

What’s yours?

Lots of helpful folks chipped in with the national stereotypes they can’t live up to either and showed that, actually, there’s no right way to be British…

‘Banter. I hate it, I always take it too personally, I feel awful giving it out. I just want no part in it.’
–Forsaken1741

‘Talking about football. I don’t really pay much attention to it so when ANY conversation comes up about it, I’d rather go a round of drinks in the hope that the conversation had moved on by the time I return.’
–mrew42

‘Saying goodbye at the end of a night out. I never know if we are doing one hug, two hugs, a handshake or just a quick see you later.’
–Bright_security_

‘Whenever someone says “Hows it going?”, I answer them honestly.’
–Crayen5

‘Whistling … simply cannot do it, at all.’
–VanillaCandid3466

‘Having the same accent as the people in my home town. I’m terrible at it. I have such a mild version of my local accent despite having grown up in the town and going to the same schools and colleges.’
–EasyPiece

‘Showing patience when walking down the street and someone suddenly stops in front of me. I catch myself getting irate / muttering something which is so trivial.’
–North_By_Midnight

‘Drinking tea – I don’t really like it.’
–TheMarkMatthews

‘Cracking an egg.

I love eggs but struggle to crack them on a bowl/pan without either hitting too gently and requiring umpteen attempts that invariably ends with disaster, or hitting so hard I obliterate the shell and, worst of all, the yolk.’
–Reasonable_Garden449

10.

‘Making a brew, I genuinely can’t be arsed in waiting for it to steep so I just create a cyclone with the spoon and hope for the best.’
–Douglesfield_

11.

‘Small talk too. I generally only speak when I have something to say and I just find small talk pointless and irritating. I also get annoyed with people who seemingly turn their brains off as soon as they enter a public space, e.g. people who wander around aimlessly in a supermarket and are oblivious to everyone else around them.’
–Extreme_Option8150

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