Things I'm Good At
By M.-L.
@MALUSE (69416)
Germany
January 11, 2019 12:25pm CST
1. I'm retired but haven't given up on learning new things. I prefer being together with young people to being together with people my age. I've learnt this from my mother who always said, "I'm old myself. Why would I want to be together with other old people?"
2. I can think clearly and can express my thoughts clearly. This is a useful quality for everybody but especially for a teacher. A teacher who's full of knowledge but who can't get it across to their pupils isn't worth their salt.
3. When I have health problems, I confide only in close relatives and a few good friends. When the crisis is over, I don't talk about my problems anymore. I never bore people I don't know well with details.
4. I'm funny and a good story-teller or so people tell me. Such a remark doesn't flatter me. It doesn't offend me, either. It silences me. I refuse to make the clown for people who aren't funny, witty or quick at repartee. My problem is that I live in a part of the country where people are rarely one of the above. It's an ethnic thing. In other parts of the country I wouldn't stand out at all. My dream is to have people around me who're like me and respond on the same level. But it's not to be. I have to stay where I am.
5. I'm good with my hands. I can sew, knit, crochet, embroider, make nice things with paper. I don't produce anything anymore, though. One needs only so and so many pullovers, doesn't one? I've made enough in my life and besides, my fingers aren't as flexible as before.
6. I'm a good photographer. I'm not an artist but consider myself an advanced amateur operating in the forecourt of art so-to-speak. I've had six exhibitions of landscape photos of the region where I live in Germany and of Sardinia, the Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea which I've visited many times. I've sold thousands of picture postcards (photos glued on folded cardboard cards) in pre-mobile phone days. As the majority of people who take photos makes horrible ones, it's easy to stand out in this field according to the motto 'Among the blind the one-eyed man is King'.
7. I have a healthy self-confidence. Yet, I don't show off. I dislike people who do and am good at pricking a needle into their inflated egos. I'm cheeky which I consider a positive quality. Unfortunately, I've had to learn over the years that not everybody shares my opinion. I've learnt to live with this. Not everybody has to love me.
8. I'm good at languages. When I visit a country whose language I don't know, I learn enough to make a good impression on the locals. This can backfire, though. I can say 'Je ne parle pas français' (I don't speak French) so perfectly that once a French woman felt her leg pulled. She didn't believe me that that was all I had on offer. My proudest moment was when I made a joke in Turkish with the handful of words I know and was able to make fun of a man.
You may now expect a post with the title 'What I'm Bad At'. There won't be any! Why should I tell you?
-----
Over to you!
10 people like this
9 responses
@xFiacre (12607)
• Ireland
11 Jan 19
@maluse Thanks for not discussing any health problems you may suffer. It's not that I'm unsympathetic, but I seem to be the kind of person who people like to discuss all sorts of intimacies with even though I'm not a doctor. With regards to teachers who cannot communicate, I have interviewed many candidates for teaching posts who obviously were very intelligent and were on top of their subject but it was obvious that they could never enthuse their students or communicate their knowledge of their subject. Such like did not get the job.
3 people like this
@MALUSE (69416)
• Germany
11 Jan 19
I have an ex-colleague (a man) who loves talking about his ailments in greatest detail. If I spot him in time before he sees me, I cross the street and walk on the opposite pavement looking at my feet until he's gone. If there were a challenge on who had had the more severe diseases, I'd win without doubt. But I keep schtumm.
4 people like this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
12 Jan 19
I have to say, with all the years we have known each other, there are not many surprises here for me but I will tell you, it is a pleasure to know and interact with you.
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
12 Jan 19
@MALUSE I started at IGOUGO and then on to Helium where I was in charge of the Travel Channel. Yes it has been quite a bumpy road, now I just write on my own blogs and for pay.
@MALUSE (69416)
• Germany
12 Jan 19
@BelleStarr I also wrote for IGOUGO and Helium for a while. Weren't you also a member of ciao and dooyoo?
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (457195)
• Switzerland
12 Jan 19
I never discuss my health problems once they are over. Too many people go on and on giving details that nobody is interested to know. I am also good with my hands, I am good at baking and cooking, I am pretty good at gardening. I have not a healthy self-confidence.
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69416)
• Germany
12 Jan 19
Oh, that's a pity. With the qualities you have you have no reasons to be self-conscious.
You've forgotten to mention that you know more than one language - Italian, French and English - , a quality not many English speaking people can mention for themselves.
1 person likes this
@BloggerDi (3113)
• United States
21 Jan 19
I enjoyed learning more about you by reading your honest, matter-of-fact list!
I think it's a healthy thing indeed for us to know what our talents are without being arrogant about them.
That's exactly what you've demonstrated here.
@Kasjnak (4492)
• Romania
11 Jan 19
Judging from your previous posts and comments, I must say that I agree with you on the things you're good at. And I was about to ask if you have a "bad" list, but you already answered .