to ask if your appearance is deceiving.....

[thelastshadowpuppet]

One of our customers came in last week and as he was waiting for his order we got chatting and it turns out he is an amazing opera singer. Looking at him you'd never think it. Think older gent, builder type.

Over the weekend I was somewhere that had a piano so I sat down and played something. Someone commented and said to me that they weren't surprised I could play the piano as I just looked like someone who could.

Is there something about your appearance that would give something away about you or not.

Not a judgy thread, please don't turn this into a bun fight.

Just a fun thread........hopefully.

I'm 62 and look it. People are amazed when I trampoline with my grandchild - I used to represent England in my youth and can still do some fancy moves.
The young chap on reception desk was really patronising when we arrived last time, asking if 'granny' wanted a spectator ticket and a nice cuppa.
'Granny' said no.

My partner has that face.

One time some guy latched onto us for the entire last week of our holiday, DP offhandedly remarked that if he was ever in our area he should look us up, and the bloke arrived a couple of months later for a full week.

Second time he struck up a conversation with a swinging couple and I ended up getting felt up by the bloke. Grim.

And the third time we were enjoying a pint in a tavern abroad and he said hello to the guy at the next table. Just hello. Next thing it's several hours later and the guy has been sobbing for hours about his abusive childhood.

He's not allowed to talk to strangers on holiday any more.

I'm also surprisingly strong and can lift more than most of the men in my day job.

@sorryiasked what a great job! I love fireworks

During university freshers week we all wore t-shirts with out names, courses, what campus we lived in, etc on our backs.
Apparently I do not look at all like a brainy STEM student. People refused to believe I was studying a subject so difficult. I was a bit offended by some of the things people were suggesting I was actually studying (dance/drama/art).
Fuck off, ended up making friends with some equally glamorous women in my class and we all graduated with firsts, you prejudiced sexist fools.

I remember hearing that my daughter's school chaplain did cartwheels up the (cathedral) aisle at the last assembly before she retired ...

People keep thinking I'm a fella. The amount of times in public loos I've had 'excuse me, this is the ladies'... or similar.

On a lighter note, I'm generally taken to be about 10 years younger than I am (which can be both good and bad).

And someone once thought I was a police officer because 'you're so calm'. I did work for the police at the time, but in a civilian role.

i look thoroughly together & confident - I’m not, I have terrible anxiety and am socially quite awkward (I’ve had to learn to socialise but still get it wrong sometimes so I worry constantly if I’ve said the wrong thing - sometimes I only realise a month later!!). I have made some massive assumptions myself - from the school Mum who looked like a trophy ditz who turned out to be the ex cfo of a large financial institution to one of the other Mum’s who I assumed was a base level accountant and turned our to be rather senior in the Bank of England during the crisis of 2008….. I really should learn🙄!!

That's horrendous, @thelastshadowpuppet , so sorry to hear that.

But thank you so much for starting this thread, it's so good (apart from stories like yours, of course).

I'm a middle aged professional, smartly dressed, very respectable, well spoken, highly qualified, gray haired grandmother.
None of my colleagues know I play the drums 😊, they'd be amazed if they found out. I simply don't look like a drummer, I look like a Senior Partner in a law firm.

I have a client who turned out to be an ex-opera singer. She took me and a friend into an empty church once and sang us an aria. It was unforgettable.

Lovely thread thelastshadowpuppet! I love being surprised when I learn something really interesting about a person , whether it is to do with their work or a hobby or interest that you wouldn't have expected. I met an elderly gentleman the other day who had sailed across the atlantic with hs wife, he had some great tales. I am often surprised by people's partners. I often have had this too when I introduce my husband to people , I see a very quick adjustment of their expression.

Mine isn't. But I've done a few big running events and am always amazed at the diversity of the people that overtake me. From fairly fat to super skinny. Young to old. Tall to really, really short. Male / female. Lots that I might look at in the street and not think they are a runner then leave me for dust. I'm not terrible either!

The elite runners have a build, but the 'normal' people running seem to be able to do so whatever their body type / appearance! I'm impressed

Somebody once told me that I look like I make my own shoes.

I don't make my own shoes.

One of the mums at rugby is tiny and is some sort of combat world champion

I've been told I look and dress like Kirsty Allsop. People don't believe it when I tell them I'm a huge drum & bass fan.

Well done 👏🏻💐

I get Mediterranean a lot, plus Greek, Spanish and Jewish.

I am a pale agnostic Scot 🤷‍♀️

People always assume I'm way younger than I am. It's flattering in certain situations, but at 28, when old women comment about these teenagers having 2 kids, pregnant with their 3rd, unmarried and probably on benefits, it gets to me a bit as that's completely not the case, I'm actually married (prior to either pregnancy) in a long term relationship with my now DH before we married, both worked full time until DC1 was born and I went part time until kids are in school, we don't take any money we haven't earned, and our kids, while not spoilt as we're not rich, have absolutely everything they need and most of their wants met.

Mine is just the usual - I'm fat, plain and middle-aged, so people tend to speak down to me and assume I'm not very bright. Except at work, where some of the younger men treat me a bit like their work mum and ask me where the staplers are kept etc. I don't have kids and I have never really had maternal feelings, but apparently I look like a mum - must be the child-bearing hips that have never borne any children!

i dont look like a smoker,
i have given up now

People always assume I'm way younger than I am. It's flattering in certain situations, but at 28, when old women comment about these teenagers having 2 kids, pregnant with their 3rd, unmarried and probably on benefits, it gets to me a bit as that's completely not the case, I'm actually married (prior to either pregnancy) in a long term relationship with my now DH before we married, both worked full time until DC1 was born and I went part time until kids are in school, we don't take any money we haven't earned, and our kids, while not spoilt as we're not rich, have absolutely everything they need and most of their wants met.

One thing that people who've never met me in person before but have seen photos of me (usually Facebook) frequently say upon meeting me, is "How tiny you are!" Sadly I know exactly what they mean. Basically I'm short and slim (size 6-8) but I'm busty and I'm blessed(!) with hamster cheeks. In almost every picture ever taken of me, I look as wide as I am tall so people are shocked to discover that I'm pretty skinny in RL. On the plus side, I do look younger than my age due to my hamster cheeks.

The only other thing that seemed to surprise people in pre-zoom meeting days was the fact that I'm not actually a 60 year old woman. I was dealing with American colleagues over the phone frequently and they were all stunned to discover that I was a young woman in my twenties when we finally met face to face. I dread to think what it is about my voice that made them think I was so much older...

@thing47 Thank you for your kind words x

I follow him on linkedin under a false name and when I used to see he had a new job I used to post a copy of his conviction to them and a copy of the newspaper article 😂

I think I look like what I am tbh, in terms of my job and home life. My background is very mixed though and people never guess where I'm from!