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Original poster

Is there something you're really good at, but never tell new friends etc. because...

420 replies

SaladandGravy · 19/02/2022 18:58

... it sounds so highly unlikely you think people won't believe you?

I have one talent that sounds impossible (I may share later!!) but my great-grandma was about 4 feet nothing tall, not very agile but she could juggle with just about anything you could throw at her that she could physically hold (Diddy little hands too!). We used to just shout "oi Grandma" and throw 3 things at her. it was so funny, and she loved it too.

And my ex could turn a digestive biscuit 360° back to front and widthwaya without it breaking.

(Csn you tell I'm. bored?)

OP posts:
2catsandhappy · 20/02/2022 11:00

@NiceCardigan oooh do you work for the Government in the spy department? We won't tell anyone that you told us Wink

StarCourt · 20/02/2022 11:03

Best thread ever

Gwenhwyfar · 20/02/2022 11:03

@Santiagopink

I can give myself goosebumps on demand. I can also send a shiver down my spine either to wake myself up a bit or to cool myself down. It was only recently whilst watching taskmaster that I found out not everyone can do this so i looked it up and apparently it's extremely rare.
How do you do it?
Gwenhwyfar · 20/02/2022 11:07

@burnoutbabe

I can't ever imagine a man with a first class degree thinking it was something awkward and not to mention it until directly ask!
I can. I have a friend who went to Cambridge. I knew him for years before I found out when a friend who is a bit obsessed with that kind of thing asked him. The ones who tell you straight away are the ones with MBAs.
Silversprinkles · 20/02/2022 11:08

@KittyKattyFosterMummy

I have never had a hangover. And I drink. A lot. And I can mix my drinks without any ill effects at all and pretty much drink anyone under the table. It's not something I'm particularly proud of but it is handy and annoys the heck out of friends as I'm irritatingly chirpy early the next morning... Grin
I used to be like this - then I had DC and hit 40 in rapid succession and boof! Superpower gone and started having the hangovers from hell. Then I understood what everyone else had been moaning about for years Grin
bluesugar · 20/02/2022 11:09

I'm an expert in antique porcelain, silver and jewelry. It's not something I mention.

Possiblynotever · 20/02/2022 11:14

Wow, some of you have really incredible talents!
Mine is a bit more niche and linked to my job: I am amazing at getting paid. I make sure that I get the best deal possible and fight for it with all my strength. I work as a consultant and I now have a percentage of 99% of timely (within one year and no recourse to justice) payments. In my field, I am the only one I know, as I work with several different cultures, and some try to take advantage of you in every possible way. It is not a talent though, it is probably a skill I had to develop to survive as a woman in a highly male environment.
So, possibly just a survival skill.

LoisLane66 · 20/02/2022 11:16

If you dressed 6 females of broadly the same build, in identical clothes, sans make-up, facial surgery or tatts showing and without them talking, I could tell you what social strata they were born into.

Silversprinkles · 20/02/2022 11:19

I am also a "super recogniser" of faces, I've realised from reading this thread! But absolutely not with names. Appalling with names.

I can remember car registrations and phone numbers from decades ago and I'm also pretty good at remembering routes once I've done them once too.

My real superpower was related to my job though, I could always identify the root cause of an issue and point people in the direction of the right help to solve their issue. A million times they would be disbelieving but go along, get it sorted and come back saying "you were right!"

catfunk · 20/02/2022 11:19

-I have incredible aim with shooting and archery (not that I do if much!)
-I can make perfect Yorkshire kids every time even if I vary the mixture
-I can do the splits (I don't look athletic at all)

godmum56 · 20/02/2022 11:19

@Juniper68

He's being a dick.

What are his good points?

is your special power posting in the wrong thread? Grin
Dindundundundeeer · 20/02/2022 11:21

@SiliconDioxide79

I can whistle ridiculously loudly. I taught myself when I was 10. It's not that great a skill but not many people can do it.
That’s so funny as so can I. I whistle to call our kids and people stop and stare. The kids appear like dogs on recall.

I also taught myself aged 10.

It’s a great skill Grin

MoonOnASpoon · 20/02/2022 11:23

This thread is amazing!

Like some PPs, I’m great at knowing the exact time, but only since I stopped wearing a watch, so I think I’ve somehow trained myself or learned to pick up on the position of the sun or something,

I have brilliant spatial sense and can pack any space in the most efficient possible way. I can get a vast amount of stuff into a car boot and am really good at parking. I don’t tell most people this but my kids like to cheer me on when we park and see how close I can get to the kerb or how small a gap I can get into. It’s v satisfying when some bloke walks past and tells me I can’t fit in the space or stands and watches and I do it perfectly :o

The other one is I’m very good at judging character and get a bad feeling about people very early on who later turn out to be nasty pieces of work, even if they seem lovely. I’ve sometimes brushed it off or tried to ignore it and that was never a good idea.

I have it about certain well-known people (who I would never name of course) and if they turn out to have done something terrible I will be totally unsurprised.

The one I’m most envious of is the social ability and being able to chat to anyone and put people at their ease - I’m socially awkward and can only do this if I genuinely click with someone, which isn’t often.

Shehasadiamondinthesky · 20/02/2022 11:26

I practice traditional witchcraft and have done for 40 years. Started in a coven but now prefer to work alone. I prefer that nobody I actually know knows that and especially nobody at work. You are instantly stamped as a nut case.

MoonOnASpoon · 20/02/2022 11:26

I can make perfect Yorkshire kids

:o very important skill. I’ve tried but I’d moved away from Yorkshire and they’ve turned out Scottish!

Juniper68 · 20/02/2022 11:27

godmum56 I'm actually a psychic medium so you'd think not Grin

crowsfeet57 · 20/02/2022 11:28

I used to be good at IQ tests, have an IQ of 158 tested by Mensa, but I'd never mention it because I'd sound like a twat

Annoyingly, I have poor communication skills, people who meet me usually decide I'm 'ever so nice', or 'so cute', but I suspect, a bit thick because I freeze and go blank in groups

Wow! I'm the same. Very similar mensa score to you but rubbish at communication and in groups. Wonder if it's connected.

Gwenhwyfar · 20/02/2022 11:29

@LoisLane66

If you dressed 6 females of broadly the same build, in identical clothes, sans make-up, facial surgery or tatts showing and without them talking, I could tell you what social strata they were born into.
That is really interesting. How do you do it without any of the usual cues? (Send me a message if you like).
tcjotm · 20/02/2022 11:30

@Sandunesandseashells

My late mil knew if you were pregnant before you knew yourself. When the announcement was made public she often asked women why they didn’t tell her the last time they met?
I could do that when I was younger. It was bloody awkward, I’m glad I seem to have grown it.
Alcemeg · 20/02/2022 11:31

@ElephantandGrasshopper

I can spell pretty much any word and spot typos all of the time, but I never point them out because I would look like a twat. I can also recite the alphabet backwards as quickly as I can say it forwards, this is not a skill that is very useful in daily life.
I'm like this too. It confuses me when I'm driving because I can read words upside down/back to front just as easily and quickly as if they're the right way up, so "STOP" written across the road ahead for cars coming in the other direction has just as much impact on me.
godmum56 · 20/02/2022 11:32

@Juniper68

godmum56 I'm actually a psychic medium so you'd think not Grin
hahahahaha
WeirdCatLady · 20/02/2022 11:34

I’m very good at lying. People think I am incapable of lying convincingly. But that’s a deliberate ploy by me. I don’t do it very often but if I need to, I can do it easily. 😇

catscatscurrantscurrants · 20/02/2022 11:34

I read incredibly fast and absorb knowledge quickly. It was very handy at university! I am also brilliant at sewing historical garments and am an expert in a particular era.

MoonOnASpoon · 20/02/2022 11:35

Annoyingly, I have poor communication skills, people who meet me usually decide I'm 'ever so nice', or 'so cute', but I suspect, a bit thick because I freeze and go blank in groups

Yes I relate to this too. High IQ and intellectual job but I’m used to people speaking to me as if I’m a bit dim, before they get to know me. Especially kids’ teachers. I’ve had teachers apologise to me after they initially assumed I had no books in the house and no interest in my kids’ education. I have no idea how I manage to come across like that!

godmum56 · 20/02/2022 11:36

not any more but as a child I I could project moving eidetic images. They looked like colour films long before colour TV was a thing and were so real to me that I couldn't see through them to the real world. I didn't have full control over it and sometimes they would come unbidden so i would bump into things if I tried to move through them. Luckily it went away as I got older and completely ended in my teen years. Good job really as it would have made adult life dangerous especially driving.