It's time to come up with a new opening question
I do a fairly good job of covering up my antisocial tendencies, but I always get caught with my pants down when everyone’s favorite question gets put on the table.
“What do you do for a living?”
If you know me you are probably laughing right now because you know how much I hate that question.
It’s not that I’m trying to be difficult, it’s just that I do a lot, and what I do doesn’t fit neatly into a one sentence pitch statement. Furthermore the people who ask this aren’t really looking for that typical networking “I help you blah blah” statement.
Added to that is the fact that any answer I give usually leads to a series of questions and answers that I’d rather not particpate in.
One time I decided to just be upfront and answer the question, and I spent about 30 minutes basically teaching a Business 101 course. The questions just kept coming.
“How did you learn how to do that?”
“But how did you know how to hire people to do that?”
“How do you get paid?”
“How do you know how to contact the people to pay you”
After that I made a vow to keep my answers as unspecific as possible.
Sometimes I like to mess with people and tell them that I do something that is sure to raise eyebrows, or other times I like to play a little game. I found that people can’t function if you give them a non standard answer and it’s fun for me to watch.
Case in point, this is a real conversation that I had.
Q: So you moved to D.C., what do you do out there?
A: I do a lot of things. I just learned how to crochet.
Q: But what do you do?
A: I read, I write, oh and I love going for walks.
At this point the lady is very confused and somewhat miffed. She just couldn’t wrap her mind over the fact that I wasn’t going to answer with a job title.
Q: No, no, no…what do you DO?
A: *Laughs*
It’s hard for people to understand that everyone doesn’t define themselves by a job. There’s much more to me than how I earn a living. I look forward to the day when I can meet someone new and have a conversation that doesn't revolve around work; but until then, I’ll just settle for responding with my own creative answers.
Recommended Reading: Making a Living Without a Job: Winning Ways For Creating Work That You Love
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