Lifestyle
People Are Sharing The Ways They’ve “Won The Genetic Lottery,” And To Say I’m Jealous Is An Understatement
Last month, Reddit user bouquetoftarnations posted to the popular Casual Conversation subreddit with what I thought was a pretty fun question: “In what small way have you won the genetic lottery?”
Paramount Pictures
“In my family,” they said, “we don’t get eye bags or dark undereye circles. Ever. No matter how little sleep we get. And my parents and I are all really terrible at maintaining consistent sleep schedules and getting a healthy amount of sleep. So, I do feel we’ve sort of won the genetic lottery there. I was wondering if anyone had some similar small wins.”
People chimed in with some great answers, and I think it’s always fun to appreciate the positives about yourself! So, here are some of the best:
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1.“Three fully functional kidneys.”
Md Ariful Islam / Getty Images, Paramount Pictures
—u/ADICTO613
2.“I have the genetic variant known as CCR5-Δ32 deletion that is resistant to HIV infection. Discovered accidentally when testing for a rare genetic mutation that runs in my family.”
—u/whineybubbles
3.“I can draw near photographic portraits of people with a pencil. I didn’t know until I was a teenager, and it was a school assignment, and I just did a great job, and was shocked, I had no idea I could do that. Then I went to show my grandma how proud I was, looked at the art on her walls, and realized I inherited it.”
Sunlion2000 / Getty Images/iStockphoto
—u/bluetuber34
4.“My brothers and I can all wiggle our noses (like on Bewitched). We got that from our dad. We use it to say ‘love you’ whenever the fancy strikes.”
“But my real ‘genetic lottery win’ is my brothers who show me affection in this small way.”
—u/Artz-Rhb
5.“Apparently, I have enough room in my mouth that I can keep my wisdom teeth.”
MSC / Getty Images
—u/twinA-12
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6.“I have NO leg hair. Or arm hair. Literally NONE. I haven’t had to shave in 26 years. Feels nice sometimes, not gonna lie.”
Apple TV
—u/IrresponsibleSiren
“I lost my leg and arm hair in my 30s. I don’t remember exactly when, but on a sunny day I just noticed it and thought, ‘Awesome!’ Turns out I had thyroid cancer. Once I got it treated the hair came back.
I still think about it though. I used to just touch my arms. They were so smooth!”
—u/HeadstrongHound
7.“Huge bladder (or just dull stretch receptors). Road trip champion!”
—u/adrift_in_the_bay
8.“I have no reaction to mosquito bites or poison ivy. No clue why.”
“Also, I’m genetically resistant to Norovirus, which would explain why literally everyone in my college dorm got it but me. I’m pretty sure my mom is too, as she was a kindergarten teacher and was often exposed to it (a wild amount of people send their kids who are vomiting to school), and she never got it.”
—u/themehboat
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9.“My teeth are perfectly straight. No one believes that I’ve never had braces. I’ve also never had a cavity or any other dental work.”
Peter Cade / Getty Images
—u/sarahsuebob
10.“I don’t need glasses.”
Troublemaker Studios / Dimension Films / Via giphy.com
—u/happy–muffin
11.“I have clear skin. I don’t get pimples often. 🌞”
—u/Little_Owl114
12.“I have absolute pitch, which is the ability to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of a reference tone. I am not a musician so I am wasting it away.”
Pop TV / CBC Television
—u/cloudewe1
13.“My immune system kicks butt. I am a kindergarten teacher. Kindies are renowned for being adorable and efficient little vectors of all kinds of disgusting contagion. In the past 11 years, I have taken only ONE sick day because I was actually sick.”
ABC
—u/sometimes-i-rhyme
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14.“I have very dense bones…”
NBC
“I found that out when I had to have a hip replacement. When my doctor told me I have above-average density of my bones, I said, ‘OH! So I really AM big-boned!’
He turned and looked at me and flatly said, ‘Yes, but you’re fat, too.’
He couldn’t let me have that for just five seconds…LMAO!”
—u/VividFiddlesticks
15.“I have an epic beard and am freakishly strong. I guess the two go together when I’m cutting wood or doing other manly things.”
—u/WyldStalynz
16.“My hair is brown, but my beard is red! I feel like that’s pretty cool.”
—u/Jovian_Moons_97
“That means you are a carrier of the ginger gene! You could make a ginger baby with someone who also has the incomplete gene; they don’t have to be ginger to have it! It shows in men through ginger facial hair often!”
—u/gibgerbabymummy
17.“I stay fit super easily; I live a healthy life and exercise often but particularly if I want to strength train, I gain significant size and definition within a few weeks. My army buddies said I just had to walk past the gym and I’d bulk. 😆”
—u/beltfedfreedom
18.“Everyone in my immediate family is very intelligent. We’re all outshone by my little brother, though. He’s one of those weird super-genius kids. Taught himself to read and write at about 2 years old, and now he does programming and 3D modeling at 11.”
Dorann Weber / Getty Images
—u/femboy_siegfried
What d’you think? Do you have any of your own “genetic lottery wins” to share? Let me know in the comments! Or, if you prefer to stay anonymous, you can check out this anonymous form. Who knows — what you share could end up as part of a future BuzzFeed article!
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