Let's be positive too - what simple thing are you totally excellent at?

[clary]

I love the thread about stuff you cannot do (I can't draw, or spell broccoli) but wanted to flip it; so what random talent do you have that sets you apart?

I am excellent at untying knots - tightly pulled wet trainer laces? Not an issue. Tangled necklace chain? LEAD ME TO IT it's so satisfying.

I am also oddly skilled at doing random maths (percentages and fractions) and understanding the rules of English punctuation (when to use a semi-colon). That last one is my job tho tbf so it's just as well.

What about you?

😂 I bet they love you

I am an exceptional armchair psychologist and also a human doctor google. I find both mental and physical health fascinating and love learning about different conditions. I've also been told (by both an anaesthetist and a pharmacist) that my drugs knowledge is very impressive. I use none of these skills at work, but have suggested many conditions to people they later turned out to have, including a woman who had been a stranger who approached me months later to tell me I had saved her life by suggesting the condition she was later diagnosed with while waiting with her at the bus stop. I barely make minimum wage so wish I had considered medicine when I was young

Typing.

I haven't had 'training' and I don't type correctly - some fingers are on the wrong keys. But I'm lightening fast and very accurate...just from years of practice of typing several long letters a day for work. I touch type and don't look at the keyboard. No idea on my technical speed but it's fast.

I can also hold a conversation whilst looking at the person and continuing to type (as long as my content is straightforward and I don't need much thought in it).

DH finds it fascinating that I can concentrate on both decently... sometimes we'll be talking about dinner casually but I'm still typing and HE'S the one who loses track of our conversation because he zones out watching me in amazement 😂

Dutch braids 😂

I have 2. I'm an excellent tap dancer which I haven't done in years.

I can open any jar. Everyone could have a go at a jar, it gets passed around and no one can open it. I can then open it straight away. Don't have to release pressure by stabbing it either. Never failed 😀

Me too @dnac

The finishing sentences. It's made some people really hate me for being rude, others find me a good listener and very empathic, others question whether I'm psychic. Turns out it's ADHD 😂

• Adding lots and lots and lots of numbers up in my head eg I would add my mum's weekly shopping up as the cashier would scan it, and tell her the total before they did. Pretty average at every other mathematical thing, however!

• Remembering birthdates. No other dates, just birthdays!

• Making halloween and book day costumes. I must get eye rolls off other parents but I really enjoy doing it (except when I'm up at 2am trying to dry paper mache), my kid is still into dress up, I have no other unique skills for school age parenting, let me craft! They still look DIY, I'm not a special effects whiz, but I think they're great.

• I'm the person everyone asks 'how do you spell...' but I think this is more to do with a general fall in spelling standards, lol.

Oh, I can read SUPER FAST! But I think this is from being raised in a household where everyone read a lot (before the Internet was a big thing) and I had to share books with my sister. So you had to read quick or the other would moan/try to pinch you.

I can shuffle cards really well.

I flick the corners into a bridge shuffle.

I really wanted to do it, so practiced for hours in my teens - no phones in them days! 🤣

Parallel parking. Like a pp a man on the street once complimented me on my 'nifty parking'!
Also chopstick use, lateral thinking on solving minor domestic problems ( I have to be as DH is extremely DIY challenged) and making tasty meals out of unpromising fridge contents.

I'm a master reverse parker.

I can untie any knot/jewellery tangle.

I'm like a homing pigeon and can find my way/remember a route after doing it once. Mind you .. I can't remember what I go to the shop for though.

I'm a bit of a sentence finisher as well. Have to consciously try to stop doing that as know it's annoying but I just want people to hurry up.

I'm good at keeping the kitchen clean as I go along when cooking - unlike everyone else.

I'm a good mimic and at creating ongoing characters, with voices and back stories, for communicating with my kids.

Also wiring plugs. Something of a lost art these days, but handy when fixing our 22 year old toaster!

I am really quick at word searches.

I can make an excellent Donald duck noise. I have never met anyone who can make a noise quite like it, even though lots of people have tried 😂

Another untangler here, been doing it since about 1970.

Also -

Bringing roses that haven't flowered for 20 years back to glory.

Making a cosy home.

Making bread, though I can't cut a straight slice to save my life.

@PinkPantherPaws Oh, same! I do 120WPM but it’s not touch typing, it looks like a bad actor doing exuberant concert piano in a dramatic sequence. I slow down dramatically if I do it “properly” but if I do my technique I’m fast and accurate.

Lol. That reminds me of my grandfather who would imitate a field of sheep to entertain us as children. He did the deep older sheep voices and the little lamb bleats so well.

Cooking without recipes- even baking nowadays which has come with practice.

I've got a weirdly good cooking eye and rarely even have to taste as I go along.

I've got an internal clock that's better than an alarm on my phone.

Crosswords. I'm a fiend at them, harder the better.

Animals. I'm good with them especially horses, dogs and cats which is handy as that's what I've got.

Driving and parking.
I'm a much better driver than DH

Oh and finding designer things in charity shops. I'm like a machine. Or a sniffer dog.

I’m really good at sleeping. I taught myself as a teenager how to clear my mind and switch off at night, and I’ve kept the skill into adulthood.

Basic engineering. Who would have known that now I'm in my 50s I unearthed a hidden talent. I can completely strip down machines such as washing machines, tumble dryers, PCs etc and fix them. I love the mechanics of stuff and getting things to work.

This is completely as far away from my profession as you could get.

Getting the same weight of mixture in each tin for a Victoria Sandwich Cake. I dump it in first, then weigh to check and it's always very close and sometimes has been right to the last gram.

Reverse parking into tiny spaces. Cannot park for toffee in a empty road!

Exceptional necklace detangler but terrible knowledge of semicolon usage. Hence ruining any phD plans for a correlation study.

Spotting if someone fancies someone else, honestly sometimes even before anyone else has.