Ask Lemmy

I’m a father living in Japan, so any competent display of childcare is still met with shock and confusion.

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.

I can cook a decent meal. I though it was a basic skill bottom of Maslow's hierarchy of needs etc. But almost everyone I know buys take away or makes the most basic of basic food.

Have an intelligent discussion about theology.

I may look like your average idiot who is also atheist; but it's because I have a weird interest in theology and have read so many religious texts and interpretations of most major and some minor religions from around the globe. Some of them have some kick ass stories. Hell, some of them read like straight up sci-fi!

After loosing some of my hearing and not being able to compose electronic music anymore, I basically retired from being a musician. Picked up drumming about 9 months ago and I'm surprisingly good at it.

Roller skating. I'm super unathletic, but skating (including teaching to others) was listed in the profile of a girl who contacted me on a dating site, so after chatting for a bit I suggested that as our first date. She was super patient with me, I had never put on skates before that day, and was in my 30s.

We're married now, and I now also teach skating where she does on weekends, sometimes to people who have never tried it before.

Pretty much anything DIY. Plumbing, electrical, carpentry, etc. I'm not an expert at any of those things but I can actually do a pretty decent job. I'm not afraid to research a project and take a crack at it myself. I've completed some really nasty projects that turned out well.

Depends on unexpected for who. Most native english speakers seem surprised when they realise I understand "big words" (read: any word with a Latin root) without needing to look up a definition. To me it's pretty obvious. My native tongue is Spanish. Having an accent doesn't mean I don't know anything.

I have an uncanny ability to read super faded receipts, and old people's hand writing.

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!

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.

Patch making, and I've no idea why people are surprised about it tbh. It's really easy if you've got access to a printer (or you can trace from a screen) and a pair of scissors.

That said I have a slightly unusual process where I design stencils in fusion 360 and then print them on my 3D printer, they're durable and reusable that way. I'm still working on improving the final print quality, but I've had some really good results like this gigantic Ash Bricky back patch that took me ~20 hours over three days.

collapsed inline media

Driving a manual transmission vehicle.

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.

I know how to can food and make preserves. I'm 46 M.

Lockpicking

I sometimes have this weird gut feeling about movie/tv characters and know if they are about to become evil or there's some dark thing they're hiding, or anticipate some plot twists.

Maybe I just watched too much and now overanalyze every scene.

I know how to spin a laptop on my finger

predicting the future.

it's not like the movies, it's more like being tied to the train tracks in the direction the train is coming in, and people hate it when you talk about it.

I can drill 6" into my nose, among other sideshow talents.

I can click my tongue really, really loud. Like a baseball hitting a bat hard. Aside from making people jump, I have yet to find any practical use for this talent.

I can work on/repair basically anything old. Things from a certain period and back just make sense, plain and simple.

I can shave with a straight razor, operate an oil lamp (and I have several throughout my house,) hell, I’m a musician, and I recorded on tape until 2014, using clunky, old multitrack tape machines, which I can also repair and maintain. (I still dream of getting ahold of an 8-track reel machine, a Tascam 80-8 or especially a 388. They are stupid expensive if you can find a working one at all.)

i can perfectly imitate the "adult voice" from Peanuts with just my mouth.

• I have decent throwing aim. I can shoot most trash into the bin from a couple of meters away. With practice, I can probably increase my range.
• I am pretty flexible for someone my size.
• I have a pretty scary evil laugh that can scare the neighborhood children away.

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 can survive - until now

Juggle a football only with my weak foot.

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

People are surprised that I can jodel a bit. My geeky high-schools self worked hard to build this skill.