Do you wear lots of flannel, own several pairs of Doc Martins, and have short hair? 
Like you. One would think you’d have tumbled to that by now.
Yeah, I shocked the pants off my coworkers by commenting I really wanted a motorcycle. 
People are often surprised that I’m Jewish. I don’t “look Jewish” at all.
Guys often seem surprised that I’m a big baseball fan. I guess girls aren’t supposed to be able to understand sports. I’ve been asked incredibly condescending “test” questions on a number of occasions, like “Yeah? How many innings are in a baseball game?”
Of course, that’s a bit of a trick question…
Some have expressed surprise at the fact that I like loud rock music, heavy on the guitar. I’m a pretty conservative looking early-middle aged suburban mom and I could totally see where someone might think I like, I dunno, Celine Dion or some such nonsense.
I’m not American, and I have no interest in sports, but I’m going to say… nine?
People are often surprised by my tastes in music as I listen to hard-core heavy metal. I am 35 years old and keep my hair neatly groomed. I dress conservatively and I wear glasses. Most people would probably think I am a “family man” just by looking at me. I certainly don’t have the demeanor of a heavy metal enthusiast.
People at work have also expressed surprise when they hear me swear. I curse like a sailor and have little patience and a short temper, so it surprises me that they’ve never heard me let out a blue streak before when something has gone wrong.
In real life, people are surprised to find out I’m a big showtunes fan, was a relatively frequent Broadway goer and can do things like name the orginal cast of The Pajama Game.
On-line, I once participated on a message board that had heavy discussion of Broadway shows, and there, people were surprised to discover that I wasn’t gay.
So… take your pick. 
I’ve never understood that assumption - why does “liking showtunes” have such a correlation with being gay - at least for guys?
Are you…gay, by any chance?
What is the Pajama Game? A TV show?
Anyway, you surprised me right on these boards, and you know how.
I can identify with some of the above - I’ve had lots of people freak out the first time they see me in shorts - “you have a tattoo”?! Yes, more than one actually.
And power tools - I converted the double garage into a cat suite mostly by myself. I know how to use and care for power tools. I even worked construction for a little while, but quit because the assistant super on the job wasn’t happy unless I had a broom in my hand, despite the fact that I had been hired as a helper/apprentice to a master carpenter.
Hey Bricker, a kindred spirit!
I’m a 34 y.o. straight male with a pretty gruff exterior, a wife, and two kids. I like hiking, camping, fishing, working on old cars, building stuff, sports, etc. But, boy I loves me some old showtunes (especially Rodgers and Hammerstein).
But the biggest shock people generally get is when I tell that that I used to be a…
…nanny.
How unflappable I am.
I work in a fairly stressful job, that encompasses hours of tedium, interspersed with occasional moments of terror, all in an environment of odd characters that always leave people scratching their heads saying “he did what? what was he thinking?”
And I’m the boss, or ringmaster, or asylum director depending on the day.
All of the principals, most of the administrators and a lot of parents I work with have all said at one time or another variations on: “Man, I would not want to do your job, I do not know how you do it and stay sane!”
(Who said I was sane?)
Ack! No, no - it’s a Broadway musical from the fifties, which originally starred John Raitt, Janis Paige, and Eddie Foy, Jr. It’s a musical comedy about the hijinks associated with an impending labor strike at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory. Classic stuff.
Yes, well, I don’t do that often; the OP asked for what often surprises people.
Just wait for the next fifth Tuesday, and see what I do. 
I don’t have a discernable personality, so everything I do that seems to reveal one shocks people.
I hate peanut butter. That always seems to shock people.
My passion for baseball and opera are apparently surprising.
Someone upthread mentioned her crush on Peter Lorre. One of my crushes is way more shocking than that, but I’m not mentioning him again because I got teased for it last time!
Really! I never would have guessed. You don’t “write” Jewish… :rolleyes:
Darn, you took my response. My name isn’t typically Jewish, and I don’t “look” Jewish (unless you know lots of Jewish people who shave their heads, have a goatee, and wear two earrings). But yesterday, another Jewish guy I know expressed surprise: “You’re in the tribe?!” (ie MOT).
“Sure.”
“Well, I kinda wondered. But there aren’t many Jewish motorcyclists out there.”
There’s at least one.
One of my role models is the hero of Leon Uris’ QB VII, Abe Cady. Cady, of course, is a thinly disguised Uris. In the novel, Cady is Jewish, an English professor, veteran of the Spanish Civil War and WWII, rides a motorcycle, and offers to donate scholarships for American Jewish boys as long as the scholarships are for athletes. I was always deeply interested in my religion and in spirituality, but I also wanted to be the stereotypical Israeli, not the stereotypical “American Jew”.
So now my secret is out. ;j
People who don’t know me well are always surprised that I’m a decent shade tree mechanic & home repair person.
I apparently give the impression of being a helpless little bit of fluff. :rolleyes:
Yup, in a standard game…a game can go to whatever inning is necessary if it’s tied at the end of nine, and after the fifth inning the game can be called on account of rain and be considered a complete game (before the fifth inning and it must be replayed).
633squadron, I’m 3/8 of Irish descent and that’s what I take after. My dad probably couldn’t pass for anything but Jewish, but I look nothing like him. Except for my eyebrows. I have these insane eyebrows. 99% of my body is perfectly adapted for life on a small island in the North Atlantic. My eyebrows, on the other hand, are prepared to protect my eyes from any sandstorms that may come along. I have to get them threaded every two weeks or they begin to take over my face.
Things about me that often surprise others:[ul][li]How eclectic my taste in music is. I’ve gotten as much shock in response to playing Iron Maiden as I have to playing the Bach cello suites.[/li][li]That I have tattoos.[/li][li]That I’m not 25 (I’m 34).[/li][li]That I don’t like raw tomatoes. But it’s nothing compared to the reactions I get when people find out…[/li][li]That I don’t like seafood. I like canned tuna and New England clam chowder, but that’s about it.[/li][li]That I’m a damn good singer. There’s the initial surprise upon learning that I’m a musician, but then I’ve also heard a lot of “well, I knew you were a singer, but I didn’t know you were good.”[/li][li]That I have a gay parent.[/li][li]That I lived in England for 2 years (20 years ago), and am almost well-traveled.[/li][li]That I’m an awesome girlfriend: I don’t play games, I’m not jealous or possessive, I have a high sex drive, I’m low-maintenance with minimal baggage, etc. It’s kind of sad that some of those things are surprising, but it works in my favor. ;)[/li]That I own a real toolbox. Nice, big, metal Craftsman toolbox, with hammers and screwdrivers and pliers and all kinds of crap in it. I have a cordless drill, too. And a level. [/ul]
I hear** Anastasaeon** on the computer game thing. I’m a roleplayer, and a survival horror fan. I’m mad keen on Resident Evil and Silent Hill, to be specific. I’m also very fond of the Burnout series of games, and various shooty/fighty games. But every time I go into EB, there’s usually some comment made about how my husband/boyfriend/brother will love the game I’m buying. When purchasing Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, my correction of their assumption was met with “Really? I didn’t think girls would like this game much”
People often seem rather surprised that I’m 21.
And for some reason, people seem really surprised that I like Franz Ferdinand and REM. I get questioned on that all the time.