I mean, what’s something you can do that people are like, “really? You know how to do that?”
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I’m a tall burly cisman so people are always surprised that I know how to sew. I mostly hand-mend my clothes but I made my own pants in high school when I had access to a sewing machine.
Sewing fellas unite!
I usually make hats and tool wraps, but I mend dresses or alter clothes for friends too.
I can sew, although I kind of hate it. Sewing is an essential skill if you own a sailboat and have no money.
“own a sailboat and have no money” that’s a redundant statement :]
Hand-sewing is my “something to occupy my hands while watching tv” hobby. I usually take shirts that I buy at a thrift store and customize them (side panels to make them fit better, add lacy pieces, etc.).
“Sewing is girly”
Meanwhile boy scouts, military, and doctors sewing stuff all day long.
Sewing seems like a good hobby for anybody who likes to work with their hands. In my 20s my housemate let me borrow her sewing machine to put together a thinsulate jacket from a Frostline kit. It was a blast, but that was the last sewing I ever did.
sewing is mine also. I don’t think I’ve talked to a single person in the 15 years I’ve been sewing that hasn’t reacted with shock to some degree or another upon finding out.
i like repairing clothes and making backpacks.
Lockpicking
I’m really good at hating myself.
I can survive - until now
I’m pretty old & geeky so people are often surprised I can do a great cartwheel. One trick pony when it comes to acrobatics, it’s just the cartwheel.
I never forget a face
I never forget a face but damn if I can remember their name. Drives my wife nuts, when she asks me who that was
People are surprised that I’m really good with horses. I’m a very short, timid person, but I can handle the huge animals with ease.
Landscaping
My very first job at the age of 15 was working at a Nursery/ Garden Center. I also would work on the landscaping crews and even did some design work.
When my wife and I bought our house she said she always dreamed of having a big flower garden, but said she didn’t know how to do it properly.
Well… I do. Even my Mother-In-Law, who is an experienced gardener, learned a few things from me. Although, I have to admit, she really does know a lot and I learned a lot from her as well.
Our flower beds are beautiful throughout the growing season with a huge variety of plants.
I surprise ppl with my drawing skills, and they always say my place is nice and cosy. Everyone who comes over for the first time gets weirdly surprised. I am not sure if that is a skill tho xD
I’m a massive nerd, no one is surprised by my ability to debug a printer or install an operating system.
They’re generally surprised by my people skills and carpentry skills though!
Driving a manual transmission vehicle.
This is funny, I drive manual in the US where even most pickup trucks now have automatic transmission, and the two groups who have been impressed (I am a middle aged lady) are valets and mechanic shops.
I do think that for my 21 year old daughter it’s an unusual skill and one she values. None of my other kids can drive my car, I had to teach that one because I let her use the car to go to college, I bike to work now since it’s much closer than the school.
My ex can drive the big trucks with like 16 gears. And both he & my husband can shift motorcycles with ease, I struggle. I guess it would get easier with practice.
Yeah, I learned from my dad - who is a professional driver.
It came in handy in the Army.
Oh yeah, i always forget most people (at least in the US) can’t. I learned to drive on a stick shift pickup and took my drivers license test in it 😁
I’m a crossing guard at school. My amazing trick is to balance the lollipop on my nose.
I also know some Shakespearean sonnets and the first page of finnegans wake by heart, but that’s usually more expected.
The most wow reaction i had from my sons’ friends was when i swore better than them. But then again, i once went on a two week tour to schools teaching the kids how to swear, so …, no big deal.
i once went on a two week tour to schools teaching the kids how to swear
I feel like this needs elaboration.
Long story short: taught kids about swearing as s substitute teacher, got the principal (my mother) in trouble, wrote a manuscript about swearing, interviewed a linguist about religion for the humanist (atheist) magazine, she invited me to join her book project on swearing, the book was published, the «kulturelle skolesekken» (bringing culture to schools) invited me to tour the northernmost, most swearing part of Norway to talk about swearing.
https://www.nettavisen.no/teacher-taugth-swearwords-in-religion-class/s/12-95-151785
People are surprised that I can jodel a bit. My geeky high-schools self worked hard to build this skill.
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Pattern recognition. There are only so many stories and story elements that people work with. Familiarize yourself with them for long enough and most stories can be correctly ‘read’ before act 2 even begins.
Good authors know how to take advantage of this and fake out a seasoned audience, but most stories follow fairly simple patterns.
As I found out recently, drawing.
I took some classes in high school and only recently got back into it, and I’d consider myself…averageish? I know where I need improvements and I see the quirks and wonks, so to speak.
The people in my adult life who have seen my sketchbook make (positive) comments, which surprised me. Still, it’s nice.
Drawing has always been super impressive to me. I pretty much gave it up in high school, but my husband is an incredible artist and I just always appreciate seeing what other people do. It seems like it’s hella zen when you get into it. Awesome skill :)
