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 father living in Japan, so any competent display of childcare is still met with shock and confusion.
This is very interesting, could you please elaborate a bit? Are fathers not involved in parenting in traditional Japanese culture?
What sort of things would be considered unusual childcare wise?
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.
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.
“Sewing is girly”
Meanwhile boy scouts, military, and doctors sewing stuff all day long.
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.).
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 :]
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.
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.
I’m learning this about young folk (17 - 40) - that they don’t cook at all, just order delivery food. That is so unbelievably expensive! And unhealthy! I know cooking is a pain in the ass, but it’s like cleaning and paying your bills - just something you gotta do.
It infuriates me. People dropping half my weekly food budget on 1 meal just so some underpaid bastard can deliver it to ur door. Then they complain about cost of living. I would spend about a quarter as much as what most people I know do on food per week and I’m eating like a fucking king prime cuts of steek 3 times a week, fresh fruit and veg, the fancy bread, etc. And I’m still winning economically. And we haven’t even got to the health benefits of not eating fake shit full of sugar 7days a week.
Woah. I have some thoughts .
All my kids can cook, and all their significant others can cook. I never thought of it as a pain though, more a creative outlet, and whoever cooks gets to eat what they want, right? I make what I want, everyone else eats that.
One of my brothers went to school in New Orleans and told me he just ate out every meal there. And my mom only followed written recipes or made spaghetti, she didn’t like to cook.
Oh and when I was dating my now husband, one of his kids asked for “mashed potatoes made from potatoes” for his birthday. But he can cook now, his girlfriend has an Italian dad and his standards are high, lol. So both he & the girlfriend are good cooks now.
My ex, he was the worst cook I have ever known, but learned at work and became a very good cook as an adult. Like exceptionally good, could take the produce that was going to be thrown out and make it into something customers would pay a lot for.
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.
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.
Oh hell yeah! I’ve been drumming for 20 years, it’s the best instrument out there. Enjoy, it’s hella fun!
Cheers. It’s really great and lots of fun. Already recording an album for a German band in the studio thanks to some amazing teachers out there.
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.
Jack of all trades! After partly renovating three different houses successfully, I find myself in the same situation as you.
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 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.
Learn how to echolocate!
Lol I thought you meant eat chocolate.
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 😁
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.
Disclaimer
I bought the actual shirt I swear, it just wasn’t the right shape or size for a back patch. Also I never sell other people’s designs like this.
I recognise that patch!
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!
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 :)
I know how to spin a laptop on my finger
I could do that, but probably only once.
That is cool. Maybe don’t tho.
In this economy?
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 drill 6" into my nose, among other sideshow talents.
Don’t feel obligated to elaborate, but I’d love it if you would! That sounds super intriguing
It’s an act called human blockhead, but I do it with a Milwaukee power drill. I used to be a lot more active as a sideshow performer so I can do a lot of weird stuff. I also invented two fire eating moves.
