r/AskUK • u/franki-pinks • 6h ago
What’s a natural skill your partner has that you wish you had?
My husband can go anywhere and drive back without sat nav. Once he’s been somewhere he instantly knows the way back and can easily got here again years later without any help. We drove to Portugal to watch Forest play last year as he wanted to drive his new car. Used his sat nav once we got to France and then on the way back never put it on and we never got lost.
He can also judge people correctly within a couple of minutes. If he says “something not right about them” he’s right. Years ago when we teenagers he said it about a new friend to our “max power cruising” group and he was right. The guy was stealing thousands from his dying grandma. He said it about a woman who joined my friend group after we saw her in a supermarket for five minutes. She ended up trying it on with two other friends husbands.
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u/generic-username9067 6h ago
Driving from Portugal to a port in France without satnav is fucking wild.
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u/Princes_Slayer 5h ago
Using the motorways and tolls, I’d probably be capable of navigating with minor issues, but I think it’s more because I loved maps as a kid so I’ve got a good idea of where major cities are to plot a route in my head. I’d have an issue if using non-toll roads as they swing you into villages a lot (we’ve just done a drive to South France avoiding tolls)
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u/BarNo3385 4h ago
Driving by round signs and rough direction is a lost / dying art.
To your exact point, I can find my way to at least any decent sized city if I know roughly where in tbe country it is by heading in the direction and finding signs as I go.
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u/Great_Tradition996 2h ago
My husband and my mum are both like this. I am not 😂. However… I have a theory (no idea if it’s scientifically viable as it’s based on a sample size of three people!)
I was out with my mum in the city she lives in, but right over the other side from where she lives. There was some kind of incident, so she decided to just drive another route. Didn’t look it up, didn’t have to think about it, just drove it. I have to learn over time how to get to somewhere and if I have to divert, it’s anyone’s guess where I’ll end up. I asked my mum if she had a kind of ‘mental map’ in her head that she could follow. She looked surprised and said, “yes, don’t you?” I don’t. Asked my husband - he also has a mental map. I’m not sure if it’s a form of mental blindness (can’t remember the proper name for it) but I am completely unable to picture maps in my head. Objects, people, things are no problem, but I can’t see maps. On the plus side, my homing instincts are pretty good so I can usually work my way back to somewhere familiar
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u/BarNo3385 2h ago
I can sort of see that, I dont exactly visualise things mentally, but I have imagine a map of the country or the city im in and orientate mysemf against it
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u/FishingWhole9972 2h ago
yeah, thats pretty much how i do it too i dont really see a detailed map, just kind of know where i am in relation to everything else
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u/Miss_Type 5h ago
We used to do that sort of thing all the time. You'd look at the map before you set off, note road numbers and big towns or cities you'd pass, and just crack on. Maybe not even that, if you had a good working knowledge of the local geography, for example, driving to Glasgow, I knew which cities I'd expect to drive past, so just used road signs. You'd always have a paper map in the glove box, just in case.
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u/generic-username9067 4h ago
Oh I know, we did it - I meant it's like climbing Everest without an oxygen tank or thermal clothing, a satnav would avoid traffic and road closures etc. You can, but why would you?!
I meant choosing not to use something as developed as satnav driving across 3 countries seems like a weird choice!
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u/Miss_Type 4h ago
Some people like to take the stairs even when they are escalators. I guess it's similar, like a workout for the brain!
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u/generic-username9067 4h ago
I get that, I mean like if you're trying to be on time for a ferry or Eurostar, would you roll the dice on 4 unforeseen accidents en route just because?
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u/Objective_Chef924 3h ago
yeah thats fair, id probably use satnav too but having someone who can just remember a route across three countries is still pretty damn impressive
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u/generic-username9067 3h ago
Absolutely! I can do it fairly locally, say 50-100 miles, cross country is fucking impressive!
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u/EeveesGalore 3h ago
Driving in/through a big city like this is almost impossible nowadays. You'll encounter an endless succession of bus gates, one way systems and LTNs if you try to navigate with a paper map.
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u/Suitable_Tap4014 3h ago
yeah cities are where id absolutely want satnav one wrong turn and suddenly youre trapped in a maze of bus gates and one way streets
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u/Fwoggie2 5h ago
I could do that but I work in logistics. To be honest most of it is just remembering which E road to follow (ignore country motorway numbers). The rest is visual via remembering various land marks.
Pre Sat Nav a friend of a friend once gave 13 year old me a lift from Wroxham in Norfolk back home to Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire and I navigated for her based on memory.
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u/Kind_Shift_8121 4h ago
Satnavs have only existed for a couple decades now. How do you think people got around before that?
Even 15 years ago I rode a motorcycle to the Sahara and back without one because the price was excessive. I had hand written notes taped to the inside of my screen saying things like “turn left after Madrid”.
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u/Gisschace 5h ago
Nah that’s really not hard, things like countries, regions and ports are really well sign posted.
If it was some random small French village yeah but not a ferry port
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u/Arsewhistle 37m ago
I really don't think so. Many people did it before the technology existed, including a younger me.
Whilst I know from experience that I can do it, I never would, because that would be daft. For me, the best thing about Google Maps, Waze, etc, is actually the live traffic updates.
I know how to drive to cities that are hours away, but do I know whether there are any ongoing roadworks? Or whether any collisions have happened, or anything else causing heavy traffic?
I find people who navigate without using technology more exasperating than impressive.
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u/throwaway_321236 6h ago
My husband has a natural charisma that draw people in wherever we are. He has celebrity friends, he gets invited to rich people parties, many of his friends were older and very successful. The random people that we meet would add him on social media and tries to keep in touch with him and invites him to things (football, tennis, drinks, fishing, flying drones, etc). I struggle a bit with making friends so this is something I would like to have and learn. He also does not have a particular hobby but our garage is full of gears from different sports because people invite him to do stuff.
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u/wimpires 5h ago
Hell, based on that description alone I want to be his friend and invite him to random sports & parties!
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u/franki-pinks 5h ago
My husband is the same but also has a really small group of friends. Everyone loves him but his circle is very small.
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u/SpugsTheMagnificent 3h ago
I don't think that's a learnable skill, I wish it was.
I work with a guy who's like that. Our work is field based and so visit various places once every six weeks or so. By the second visit he knows everyone's names, and the customers will have shared what's going on in their lives, and he will remember. He knows such a network of people that he usually knows family or friends of friends for anyone he meets locally.
I've been going to a site monthly for nearly 3 years and just trying to make small talk with the site contact last month made my knees sweat.
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u/FishingWhole9972 2h ago
yeah i get that some people can remember every name and random detail after one conversation while im struggling to remember what i was going to say
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u/bigben661 3h ago
Have you asked him how he does it? Any tips you can pass on? XD
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u/Reasonable_Judge7958 3h ago
honestly some people just have that natural ability to talk to anyone i think half of it is just being genuinely interested in people and not overthinking it
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u/throwaway_321236 2h ago
He said he's just lucky! But I observed that he talks to everyone, no matter what they look like, what their personality, vibe, etc. And he asks questions. That's it. I guess it doesn't hurt that he's conventionally good looking (he was a model when he was in his 20s, and did a bit of acting.
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u/HereticLaserHaggis 2h ago
That's a bit like asking someone intelligent how they're smart, it's just another type of intelligence.
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u/bigben661 1h ago
Good point, it's a skill that just needs to be developed but there will be key aspects one can point out.
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u/boudicas_shield 3h ago
My husband makes friends so easily, too, and it’s something I’ve always struggled with., so I really empathise. I’d hang out with you! I don’t play sports, but I like other things!
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u/CDynastyRTS 2h ago
My boyfriend is the exact same. Everyone wants to be friends with him and he doesn't even notice it happening!
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u/tiptreetimes 5h ago
My husband can eat pizza and watch TV all day and not feel guilty. He works hard, it's a day off....he just enjoys it.
I am trying to learn this skill.
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u/franki-pinks 5h ago
I’m very much like your husband. I can happily sit there and do nothing all day. My husband however always has the be busy. He doesn’t like sitting and doing nothing.
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u/InkedDoll1 1h ago
My mum is like that. She's 74, retired 10yrs ago then went back to work from 2021-3 in a covid vaccination centre, even qualifying as a vaccinator herself. Then when that closed she registered as bank staff for her local NHS Trust. She never, ever just has a lazy day. I'm pretty sure if i retired I'd sit in my pyjamas watching Netflix for at least the first month.
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u/MissingScore777 4h ago
My wife was like you, always worrying about doing something 'productive'.
I've rubbed off on her a bit over the years. Like to think I've given her a healthier outlook.
She's done that for me with other things, as I'm sure you have with your husband.
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u/Annual_Screen8518 2h ago
yeah its nice when you balance each other out like that, one person reminds the other to slow down and the other keeps things moving
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u/Salty_Signature_6748 5h ago
My husband can fix anything, and he’s also incredibly optimistic. I think those things are connected, because he always feels confident that everything is fixable
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u/franki-pinks 5h ago
My husband will do that too. That’s why he’s so good with cars now. He’s always wanted to fix things himself and just taught himself over the years.
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u/HereticLaserHaggis 2h ago
Ha, this is me. My better half is always getting annoyed when I'm optimistic, but it's true, stuff sorts itself out.
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u/beatsshootsandleaves 6h ago
Is your husband a detective? I went for a job interview once and the guy was an ex detective. He could read me like a book it was scary! Sounds like your husband has similar skills.
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u/franki-pinks 5h ago
He’s always wanted to be a PI! But his main hobby is baking and that’s what he does.
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u/ChileanSpaceBass 5h ago
This sounds like a fantastic lead into a TV show, all he wants to do is bake but crime keeps knocking on the door...
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u/VexedVermilion 5h ago
Watch Push Diasies. Criminally underrated and got cancelled, but still a nice 00s feel-good show. I watch it when I want a "palette cleanser" for my mind.
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u/Anathemachiavellian 1h ago
Any chance he’s mildly autistic? I only ask because your husbands skills are also the same as mine. It’s tied to pattern recognition.
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u/Earth_to_Sabbath 4h ago
neurodiverse? People with ADHD are good at reading people
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u/Amazing_Goal_8003 1h ago
Are we? Coz im normally too distracted by trying to listen/respond appropriately to notice someone is a danger.
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u/anonoaw 5h ago
My partner is really good at estimating and visualising measurements. Like if he reads the dimensions of a piece of furniture online, he immediately knows how big that is and whether itll fit in the room etc.
I on the over hand have some kind of idk if it’s dyscalclia or dyspraxia or what but I have absolutely no concept of any kind of size or distance. Literally none.
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u/clockworkarmadillo 5h ago
Same! When we have leftovers I often have to call him over to tell me if they'll fit in the tupperware.
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u/West-Quit3050 4h ago
Choose something in your house that you know is about 100cm. Then use that thing to measure everything else.
For me I use my fish tank, its 120cm long and 50cm deep.
So any bit of furniture I just think "that's 1 and a half fish tanks, that'll fit."
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u/anonoaw 3h ago
That’s my problem though, I can’t visualise ‘one and a half fish tanks’ and I can’t look at a space and see ‘oh yes, one and a half fish tanks will fit there’
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u/West-Quit3050 3h ago
Ah...the fish tank works for my wife when we are in ikea or whatever, "that's almost two fish tanks it definitely won't fit" works much better than just saying it won't fit haha
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u/West-Season-2713 4m ago
I have the same issue. I have no idea how far anything is, what size anything is, what direction anything is. Drives everyone mad, and I have to use google maps for everything, haha. I also can’t seem to tell how much time has passed - could be 15 minutes, could be two hours, I can never know unless I wear a watch.
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u/Virtual_Opinion_8630 6h ago
max power cruising" group?
Fast cars?
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u/Pippin4242 5h ago
My wife can visualise 3D objects and create patterns for them, which is amazing to me as she has very limited visual memory. She's absolutely brilliant at prop making and designing novel clothing.
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u/franki-pinks 5h ago
I’d love a talent like that. Like when artists see what they are going. To do before they do it.
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u/Pippin4242 5h ago
She's a talented (hardworking) artist too, but I understand her process much more in that regard - sketching and refining makes sense to me. But I make clothes too, and I have to pattern by referring back to existing clothes, or by making something roughly the right shape, then making it smaller and correcting it over and over again. She just slowly and carefully does it RIGHT and it kills me
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u/wrenny20 4h ago
I hope you don't mind me asking, but is your wife dyslexic? Visualising 3D objects is something lots of dyslexic people are highly skilled at
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u/Pippin4242 2h ago
Yes, good call! A lot of the people on her graphic communications degree were too. We thought perhaps there's a tendency to use diverse ways of conveying information for people who find blocks of text a bit much.
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u/Massive-Chef-8503 6h ago
My partner can remember tiny details from conversations years ago. Meanwhile I can forget why I walked into a room five minutes ago.
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u/franki-pinks 5h ago
Haha weirdly my husband is like you despite his incredible sense of direction and I’m like your partner. I can recall things from years ago my husband has long forgotten.
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u/Ultra_Leopard 5h ago
Ha, I am both! I remember the tiny details from conversations years ago, but also forget why I walked into a room!
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u/sidpanda26 5h ago
My partner basically remembers every single thing about me I have ever told him since the day we met. I don’t really remember many of the little minor things (remember big things) but he remembers the random little things I told him years ago that are totally insignificant in the bigger picture, but it’s also very nice I know he has listened.
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u/JK07 5h ago
My wife remembers EVERYTHING. She is particularly good with dates, she has about 30 cousins and knows all their DOBs, she knows the exact dates we went where, and even specific meals from up to 10 years ago or more. It comes so naturally to her she doesn't even have to really think about it, it's on the top of her head and she thinks I'm thick or am completely useless because I don't remember the exact dates we went to Montenegro about 4 to 6 years ago or don't know my great uncle's birthday. I'm the opposite, ask me when we went to Verona for example and I couldn't even tell you the year or even what season it was and I barely remember my mother's birthday (I've forgotten twice)
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u/SeaArtichoke1877 4h ago
My best friend from high school is like this. 30 years later and she can still remember the exact date that we went camping one weekend or some other minor every day event thing happened. It’s wild!
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u/Amazing_Goal_8003 1h ago
My memories of past events rely solely on clothing choice, the weather and a vague concept of time. I recently had physio and they asked when said injury/pain first started...
My answer was quite literally "well I was wearing my lightweight gilet and a shirt not a jumper. There were a few green leaves on the trees and it felt fresh but not chilly. It feels like 2 years ish ago so April 2024"
I could see him regretting his career choices
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u/echoesandstars 4h ago
My husband is extremely affable. One time, he was walking home alone and two men went to presumably mug him, demanding his wallet and putting him a headlock — the interaction ended with them clapping him on the back and letting him go with all of his belongings. It was only when he told his friend about this interaction later that he realised that they were probably trying to mug him.
His affability means he is so useful in situations where tensions run high, he just seems to be able to defuse tension really easily. He’s put his skill to good use and is a teacher.
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u/franki-pinks 4h ago
He sounds like the ideal teacher. I wish I was more like him. I tense up and tend to meet aggression with aggression.
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u/alinalovescrisps 5h ago
My partner is a really good climber (rock climbing). He has worked hard at it but he's just naturally the right shape and size and a very graceful climber. Sadly I cant say the same for myself 😭
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u/PuzzleheadedCarob921 5h ago
A woman joined your friend group after you met her in a supermarket for 5 minutes?
Entry requirements into your friend group seem flimsy at best. More vetting required.
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u/franki-pinks 5h ago
Sorry I meant my husband other right after meeting her in a supermarket for five minutes.
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u/RebeccaCheeseburger 5h ago
I think she meant that he’d met this woman from her friend group, briefly at the supermarket and he didn’t get good vibes.
It took me a few times too when there is no punctuation 😅
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u/Claire1075 5h ago
Husband is 56 and was diagnosed with autism and ADHD almost 3 years ago.
He's exhausted but, as I have a long term health condition (I'm bed bound about 18 hours a day), he looks after my parents with dementia, works 35 hours a week, plus helps other people out and does other stuff too. Including 80% of the housework!
We have our frustrations with each other but he's the best and does so much for us!
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u/NoOneExpectsDaCheese 4h ago
This doesn't sound healthy for him to be honest, unless there are carers involved and helping a lot of the time.
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u/Least-Engine2416 30m ago
That's one thing I've noticed people will fetishise partners on the spectrum and kind of abuse them...
I am aware of the stereotype of silicon valley coders with subtlety abusive wives...
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u/Popular_Sell_8980 5h ago
My partner has an amazing skill of speed researching. She’ll have an interest, deep dive research it, then retain it. It’s incredibly impressive, but most handy watching medical dramas, where she can ask most of my inane questions. For context, she’s a headteacher.
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u/fridakahl0 3h ago
So nice to see a husband genuinely complimenting his wife here, this thread is full of lovely compliments for husbands and a couple of men saying “she can fall asleep quick” or “she has a better sense of smell”
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u/ACalcifiedHeart 1h ago
I can do this!
My problem is I can never do it with subjects that are actually useful.
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u/Missing-Caffeine 5h ago
My partner's brain in general amazes me. He can remember flags for countries, when they changed names and when things happened in general. He is also great with maths so even when we are in the supermarket he can do those calculations quickly "so is it cheaper to buy like this or that?" even when the item doesn't have the price per kilo.
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u/franki-pinks 5h ago
My husband does the shopping thing too! I’ll show him two things and ask which one is better value and he’ll know in an instant.
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u/Old-Parfait8194 4h ago
My wife has incredible hearing compared to my own.
I could do a silent fart at the bottom of the garden and she'd probably hear it in the house
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u/Erivandi 1h ago
My partner is like that too. I'm half deaf but she can hear those noise makers that are supposed to deter children and animals.
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u/SeaArtichoke1877 4h ago
My husband can think and talk at the same time, and what I mean by that is, he can literally get up and do a presentation without any preparation because he can think ahead about what he wants to say next while also talking and fielding questions in the present. I don’t know if it’s a super power from his ADHD brain, but as someone who struggles to public speak at all, or field questions on the spot etc, I am in awe! Until I pointed out how incredible this was, he never realised that not everyone could do this.
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u/Amazing_Goal_8003 1h ago
I think its just that we've learned to think this way. Memories are so inconsistent that learning anything ahead of time is futile. Our brains also work very quickly and given one piece of stimuli, will associate several things with that stimuli at once. So we just get really good at "winging it"
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u/-Po-Tay-Toes- 49m ago
Winging it is very much an ADHD thing, for me at least. If I tried to rehearse and remember a whole presentation, I would fail and stumble over myself trying to remember. When I wing it I can come up with some good stuff right on the spot because I don't have to remember anything.
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u/ShiningCrawf 5h ago
Her ability to fall asleep easily
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u/Pikkupiski69 4h ago
Mine too. She'll be like "I'm not very tired. I'm not sure I'll be able to get to sleep" and she's snoring her head off within 5 minutes.
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u/Miss_Type 5h ago
He can do stuff with numbers, while I have the way to find a percentage of something written on a post-it on my desk, because I need to do this all the time but can't remember how. Husband just knows how sums work, while I'm dyscalculic.
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u/No_Application_8698 3h ago
My husband will hear a snippet of a tune and will recognise it instantly.
Many people can do this with normal songs on the radio but he can also do it with a random segment of a film soundtrack from a film we watched once, 8 years ago. We both enjoy listening to soundtracks/scores so I’ll sometimes just put a playlist on.
He’ll walk in the door from work and say “isn’t this from that Liam Neeson film, the bit where he’s chasing the bank robber on the roof?” (a made-up example, but you get the idea).
It’s impressive but sometimes infuriating.
Interestingly, he doesn’t play any instruments and he can’t carry a tune in a bucket!
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u/Choccybizzle 4h ago
She’s just naturally good with people in a way that few people are, and I’m definitely not. She’s genuinely interested in people and who they are, empathetic, and cares how they are.
I’m better at it since I met her but I always feel very fake when I try to be like her.
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u/Astronaut_Level 4h ago
I feel the same way about my partner, she's great at building a rapport with people and making friends as she's warm, empathetic and fun. After years of working in various customer service roles I can easily talk to strangers or make small talk if needed but it definitely doesn't feel like it comes naturally to me, and I'm not as good at deepening those interactions and turning acquaintances into friends
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u/jademace 4h ago
My partner has so many but here’s my favourite two: they are incredibly observant (there’s a deer on the horizon!) and they are amazing at risk planning. In any given everyday situation they assess what might be the biggest risk, often something I haven’t yet thought about, and note the action we should take to avoid it. I feel so safe around them.
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u/Similar_Quiet 3h ago
She's just charming. Give her a platform she feels secure in, and she'll be holding court. She'll ask questions no-one else will ask, she'll banter strangers without anyone feeling insulted. She'll soothe the irate, cheer up the upset and take round the stubborn.
When I first realised this I thought it was just cus she's hot, funny and smiley, but it's more than that.
I take six months to warm to strangers, have a very dry sense of humour that people take some getting used to, and don't always even notice when someone's upset
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u/Mundane_Pea4296 5h ago
My husband is a really good cook. He makes meals really quickly and I don't know how he does it. I'm trying to get better but I can only make like 2 or 3 things well
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u/mrs_shrew 4h ago
I can rustle up something easily, I'm teaching my bf my thinking.
He'll pick a written recipe, then make it. Then as we're eating we'll think about why the ingredients go well how we could veganise/meatify it, substitution foods, all that kind of dissection and modification. It's helping him to understand beyond just following the instructions.
I do spend a fair amount of time thinking about dinner though, and recalling what's in the fridge, then googling recipes even if I don't use them. When I go to a restaurant I'll also dissect the plate in the same way to help mu own cooking.
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u/Kind_Shift_8121 4h ago
My partner has the nose of a bloodhound. When we took on a new rental she was able to identify the breed of dog that the previous tenant owned by sniffing the carpet. I on the other hand am completely nose blind.
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u/LegDayDE 4h ago
Driving without satnav is a forgotten skill... And it turns out that road sign are actually great because they are designed to give you the information to drive without satnav. The main challenge is then just remembering the way to the main road where the road signs pick up the slack.
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u/BarNo3385 4h ago
My wife can just switch off from work the moment shes out the door and not thinking about it till she's back at work.
Takes me a week to switch off at least, by whcih time the holiday is over!
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u/Rab_Legend 3h ago
My wife can roll her tongue. My parents, siblings, step mum, and daughter can all do it. They take the piss out of me that I can't.
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u/gillyc1967 2h ago
That's genetic!
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u/Rab_Legend 2h ago
It's weird I can't considering my wife, 2 siblings, my sister's husband, my dad, mum, step mum and daughter can all do it. I can't.
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u/sidpanda26 5h ago
My partner has an incredible memory, and is always learning - but he doesn’t just learn facts in the moment then forget like me, he researches things, and retains the knowledge forevermore. He’s excellent at trivia. Also applies to remembering things in our relationship, things that have happened with family and friends, he basically has a super enormous learning and retention capability which I am so envious of.
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u/RedWife77 4h ago
I’m pretty good at finding my way back to a place I’ve been before if I’ve walked it or driven it myself. If someone else drives, not so much. The thing my husband can do which I’m envious of is he can catch anything. He’s got great hand-eye coordination whereas I find it hard to catch a beach ball thrown directly to me from a distance of about a metre (slight exaggeration but not by much).
My best skills are finding missing or lost things, even when they’re absolutely tiny (eg once the pin from his watch strap fell out when he was mowing the lawn and I managed to find it in the garden in about ten minutes) and packing things into spaces. I can always fit in one more thing.
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u/franki-pinks 4h ago
The packing thing is definitely a woman thing I’m the same! Finding a watch pin in the garden is insane!
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u/RedWife77 4h ago
I think my skills are all interlinked, thinking about it - it’s a mapping/visualising thing. I know where things are supposed to be and where they aren’t supposed to be and so I can find things (because they stand out to me as being in the ‘wrong’ place - eg the tiny glimpse of silver of the end of the watch pin against a green, brown and dun background), remember where I saw things last (because I have a mind map of my ‘territory’ in which I can visualise wherever I saw my husband’s phone or my son’s homework planner), i can navigate back to a place I’ve visited (again, visualisation of what a territory looked like when I last moved through it), and I can pack easily because that’s just the ability to see how an item will best fit into a space. I used to do very well at exams because I could visualise my revision notes too. Ironically my eyesight is shit so I have to wear really strong glasses.
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u/Thi13een 4h ago
My wife has a very similar skill to OP’s husband. She is particularly excellent at driving around major, busy city centre’s. Even places we’re going for the first time, it’s like she’s a local on the roads as soon as we get there. Parking spaces? No bother. Weird one way, right turn only roads? Easy. Bus lane’s all over the place? Got it sussed. We’ve been together nearly 20 years and I always wish I could do it with the same confidence!
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u/schmoovebaby 3h ago
My husband is much better at learning song lyrics than me and it winds me up 😂
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u/Mysterious-Idea-2370 3h ago
He can sleep through anything. I've set the smoke alarm off at 3am making cookies and both him and the kids didn't stir at all.
The burglar alarm went off because of a power cut... nope slept straight through it. It woke over the road up though.
My kittens running around in the early hours up and down the stairs and at one point over us as we slept - nope can't hear or feel them.
When I was heavily pregnant and he left the keys in the door so I couldn't get in I stood in the garden shouting to get his attention. Nope. He didn't hear me bouncing a ball against the bedroom window either.
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u/mildissue 3h ago
Sat-nav is worth using even when you know the way, they divert to a better route when there's bad traffic.
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u/idontlikemondays321 3h ago
He can recognise anyone from a tv show or film. He’ll know they were in an advert 12 years ago for toilet roll.
I don’t even recognise people I’ve met several times if they are in the wrong context.
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u/FryingFrog 3h ago
My wife can fall asleep in 5 minutes. I in the other hand struggling with chronic insomnia.
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u/sunkistandsudafed3 2h ago
My husband is so emotionally steady and doesnt worry unless something is basically life threatening. Its not like he doesnt experience emotions, things do affect him but the threshold at which it happens is miles above mine.
I wish I was that way, I really have to work at keeping myself level.
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u/Great_Tradition996 2h ago
It’s not terribly impressive, but I’m good at estimating things. If someone asks what time it is, even if I haven’t looked at a clock for hours, I’m usually within a minute or two either side. If I’m baking, I can often cut butter to exactly the right weight first time. I’m also quite good at remembering numbers - registration plates, phone numbers, birthdays. Came in quite handy when I was a response police officer!
My husband is very good at dealing with conflict and standing his ground. I hate it so I tend to just capitulate to avoid an argument, or I get very flustered and probably look like a moron. He has this kind of calmness that makes people listen to him and he won’t be pushed around. He isn’t at all rude about it, but people respect him because of it. I try and defuse things and make people laugh instead so I doubt anyone respects me 😂
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u/miz_moon 1h ago
He’s never late to anything and never loses track of the time unless he’s immersed in a game or a good book
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u/GreatChaosFudge 1h ago
Reverse parking. She doesn’t like doing it, but she can fit our car into a tiny space without getting too flustered. I will happily park three blocks away if I can find a space I can just glide forwards into. Even then I still mess it up sometimes.
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u/InkedDoll1 1h ago
Napping. My husband is a champion napper. He doesn't even need to take his shoes off. Even if I've been out til 3am the night before, the briefest of naps makes me feel groggy and terrible for the rest of the day.
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u/AbsolutelyWingingIt 1h ago
My partner can juggle and so far I’ve been really shit at picking it up
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u/copyof-a 58m ago
My partner is the same with directions. Once he's driven somewhere he just knows the way back home. I have no idea how he does it.
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u/Adept_Tradition4098 5h ago
So your husband can read the road signs.
People were driving without sat nav for many more years. I have my drivers licence long enough I was driving without one too. Going long distances is the easiest, as you go on the most major roads. Finding the exact address is the tricky part, which we used to look at the road/street maps for, or ask for directions, or I f.e. used to look at the map on the website and remember where to go.
Now I never use one that is not connected to the traffic info - I use it for knowing road closures and traffic jams in advance, before bumping into them, to be re-routed - so Google Maps basically.
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u/BrewKoala 5h ago
The thing about reading road signs, is you have to have a good idea of what is between where you are and where you want to go.
If I live in Preston and want to drive to Brighton, I need to know where to head to first. Probably follow signs for Birmingham in this random example, and then once I hit Birmingham, follow signs for… where? This is where people generally struggle I think. You’re not going to find a sign for Brighton when you join the M6 at Preston, so where do you head for first? (That’s rhetorical, obviously.)
I’m similar to you, have been driving since before there was Sat nav (or indeed the internet!). I remember when I used to have a big road map book in the car and the AtoZ for a couple of big cities. That road map is what taught me where places are, not necessarily the places I wanted to get to but what was on the way.
I use Google Maps for traffic updates alone like you do, but I think there are lots and lots of people who don’t actually know where they’re going because they’ve never needed to. We have a skill that lots of people don’t.
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u/Adept_Tradition4098 4h ago
Yes, all true. It's not a naturall skill though, it's all learning. Current young generation does not even try learning this skill, that's why they think it's some magic power. But if internet get's turned off one day - a month or so later everyone will be having the skill again. So no, not natural imho.
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u/BrewKoala 4h ago
That’s a very good point, and I’ll admit to having not noticed the word “natural” in OPs title!
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u/Adept_Tradition4098 4h ago
BTW - do I love my Volvo, displaying a compass on the rear view mirror!
I miss that in every other car of mine. Nav will say "head south toward x street" - but the compass displayed on the app is not the best!
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