Would I be happy as a carpenter than a bookstore salesman ?

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I do sometimes look at the work I do now as a sales assistant in a retail book store and then look at what my dad does carpentry and joinery and think ''yeah maybe it is a better job but I chose not to follow him because I didn't want to do work that he does.'' I seem to think that doing a job like that would make you happier as though it land with a nice house to live on your own, attract a girl and so on. It does sound absurd and untrue but that's what I think. My dad has done that work because my grandad did as well, he was carpenter and joiner but he was in the army and worked in the docks as did my other grandad and even an uncle who now lives in Australia, who did an apprenticeship in the Docks as a shipwright from 1948 to 1952. I feel there were few jobs around in those days apart from those jobs and work in the docks stopped in the 1980s because maybe a lot of men were choosing not to do those jobs. I seem to feel like I envy them but I don't really because as I said I just chose not to, instead I went to college and uni doing, I suppose a similar creative form of work, doing art and design but it didn't land me a job in that field apart from when I was suggested a graphic design job of which I had no qualifications for and didn't do it and so I was in a state of limbo going to employment courses and job interviews for a few years until I got the job I am doing now and still don't own a house or is in a relationship with someone and I seem to feel at times like I'm the only one.

Carpenter can open up all sorts of opportunities. Jesus was a carpenter and look where it got him. <cue cutaway gag>

My Dad was one. He was a carpenter machinist which is a step up from a joiner as they had to learn the trade as a carpenter joiner first and then progress up to be a carpenter machinist. When he met other carpenter machinists they always used to show each orher their fingefs, as many had lost a finger or two and my Dad was one of the few carpenter machinists to do his trade and still retain all his fingers!
The reason why I did not go into the trade was that I don't like heights. My Dad often went up real high as part of his job. Not for me!

I suggest that you explore what you like and dislike in great depth. Explore what you're talented at. I found the book "First, Break All the Rules," a fantastic book for opening my eyes to world of employment opportunities and assessing your own talents and what sort of job would be excellent for you.

I also have benefited immensely from all of Teal Swan's videos about how to figure out what you want. Her entire "Ask Teal" series is great, and she has a lot of content about following your inner compass and figuring out what you really enjoy.

Limiting yourself to this one job-versus-job comparison probably will prevent you from thinking about what's really important about your skills and your desires.

If I were a carpenter....and you were a lady....

I would rather be a hammer than a nail...

Don't be so hard on yourself just because you work in a bookstore. In fact I think that's a pretty cool job.
I've always been in cleaning jobs, but the cleaning job I'm in now is at a bus warehouse and I like it.
For some weird reason saying to people that I am a cleaner at a bus warehouse/depot sounds more ambitious than saying that I'm, say, a cleaner at a hospital (I'm not running people down who clean at hospitals, I'm just speaking in context).
Same with a bookstore. Saying "I work at Waterstones/WHSmiths/some other bookstore" sounds more interesting than saying "I work in a supermarket". Maybe because cleaning at a hospital or being a shop assistant in a supermarket sound quite standard and mundane, whilst cleaning in a bus depot or being a shop assistant at a bookstore sounds more interesting and different. Do you see what I mean?

I knew a doctor whose hobby was building fine furniture. Not only was he making good money as a doctor, but he'd get offered $10 000 for items of furniture.

With your art background and access to carpentry expertise and possibly tools and books, maybe learn to build furniture with old hand tools (an extra sales point). Quiet, less messy than power tools, more aesthetically pleasing, and endless hours of exploring old wood working techniques or cultural variations (Japanese techniques and tools look interesting).

with all my allergies and below average motor skills, I never considered carpentry.

It's usually easier for autistic people to work independently. I've always ran into trouble when I had to deal with complex social situations. You have to understand what is expected of you in the situation. Different jobs require different behaviors, and people expect you to act accordingly. Autism is not understood well enough yet for the world to just acknowledge and deal with it. I got some wonderful jobs and lost them because I'm autistic.

I was able to substitute teach for years, with few issues. But I wanted more. And when I tried to work as a full-time teacher, the I had the same challenges I had in office work. People expected me to understand certain social stuff, like letting other people lead, and I was adamant about just getting the job done the way I was trained to do it. Success in the workplace is based on conformity, and that's the bottom line.

Are you excellent with your hands?

Do you fix things around the house?

Do you enjoy watching DIY shows?