Top 34+ now-useless skills every person over 40 developed that no one even uses anymore

Recently, I wrote an article sharing some great answers to the question, "People born before 1990, what handy skill do you have that no one uses anymore?" In response, people shared even more "handy skills" that have gone the way of the Dodo, and the answers are nostalgic as well as pretty funny (because they seem so obvious!). So, if you're down for a mini-dose of nostalgia, look no further than these people's answers:

2."Preserve fruits, veggies, homemade soups, stews, etc. by canning, both water bath and pressure canning. Tomato soup made with heirloom tomatoes is the best."

3."I worked in an Apple Store. A customer paid with cash, and I counted back his change. Two advantages…it's correct, and the coins are in the palm with bills on top. Nothing falling on the floor."

6."I know how to iron a shirt, and a pleated skirt."

7."I can play the piano accordion!"

8."I can adjust F-stop, shutter speed, and focus on a SLR camera, and process film and prints in a darkroom. So fun!"

9."I've realized that a surprisingly large amount of people can't fix a flat tire on a bicycle. So I guess that's one skill I have that many others seem to lack."

10."I can use software with keystroke shortcuts instead of pull-down menus. Compose written communication in complete sentences with correct punctuation, no abbreviations or conjunctions, in the correct format for business or personal correspondence."

12."I know how to drive farm tractors with hand clutches, start old crank-style engines without dislocating my shoulder, shock corn and wheat, and efficiently use a grain cradle."

13."My kids save up their mending for when I come to visit. I can actually darn torn sweaters and socks. I’ve always done this, but they’re still amazed I can."

"And I’ve been wondering what people are going to do when a document requires an actual signature if they can’t sign their name in cursive. Maybe they plan to not have paper documents at all 10 years from now? That’s what we all thought 10 years ago, and paper documents are still around. I signed a form at the doctor’s office yesterday." — grumpytruck292 Leila Kitlaeva / Getty Images

15."Bake an apple pie or any kind of pie from scratch. Crust, filling, the whole ball of wax."

16."I can tune up a car that has plugs, points, and a condenser, and check the timing with a timing light."

—Anonymous, 72, Male, Austin, Texas

17."I’m a quilter, knitter, and crocheter. I taught myself, with a little help from my grandmother and my mother. I'm now disabled, but I can still knit; my favorite pastime!"

18."I can type on a computer keyboard without looking at the keys because I learned how to type on a typewriter in junior high school in the early 1970s."

19."I learned stenography back in the 1970s and still remember it. My office mates are dazzled when I take meeting notes."

20."I can open a coconut with a machete, and I know the difference between the stages of a coconut: first, it is a water coconut, then it is a jelly coconut, and then it becomes a dry coconut."

21."Type fast, using all my fingers and without looking at the keyboard. I had typewriting lessons in middle school and hated them, but they ended up being super useful."

—Anonymous, 54, Male, North Carolina

23."I can drive a stick, and I can pop the clutch to jumpstart it. "

—Anonymous, 61, Female, Richmond, California "I can start a stick shift car with a dead battery by rolling the car and popping the clutch. Both in forward and reverse." —Anonymous, 77, Male, Torrance, California Nguyenducquang / Getty Images

24."I remember the year my cursive writing became 'this beautiful aulde script.' I can also use ten-key, which was already a dated skill when I learned it. An old skill I want to learn? Shorthand. I scribe for a person with cerebral palsy who has an IQ of 120-plus, so learning it would help me keep up."

25."Shorthand. I still use it when I’m in a hurry to write something down. When my grandchildren were here for Christmas, I wrote each of their names in shorthand, and they thought it looked like hieroglyphics."

26."Tying knots and knowing when to use which type. Nothing wild, but the basic square knot, overhand, loop, half-hitch, clove hitch, etc. Actually, the knot used to tie a tie is very similar to the one for saddling a horse."

"Altering and drafting patterns. It's niche now, but very useful.Calculating a tip with mental math. 20% is super easy. Move the decimal left and double it.Taking Stanford notes and writing source citations without using citation generators.Memorization and recitation of a text. I was probably in the last groups to have to do this regularly. I can still do the Gettysburg Address, the preamble to the Constitution, 'The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,' 'A Visit from St. Nicholas,' Juliet's balcony monologue, and a few more assorted poems and skits." —Anonymous Hulton Archive / Getty Images

27."During COVID, for something to do, I built and installed an engine into my Cessna 182 airplane."

28."I know how to thread a sewing machine and how to do blind stitches by hand."

30."I can repair a skipping audio cassette tape by splicing with a tiny bit of scotch tape."

31."Read a map."

32."I can develop black and white film and print the photographs. At my old house, I converted a space for the darkroom."

33."I can back up any trailer precisely with only mirrors, no cameras."

So, what do you think? If you have any "trivial skills" of your own you'd like to share, tell me all about it down in the comments! Or, feel free to write in to this anonymous form. Who knows — your answer could be included in a future BuzzFeed article.

Please note: some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.

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