I did not have a problem with the "what do you do" question as long as i was doing what i loved, which was being a journalist and writer. These last 5 years, I've worked for Apple and I realised when people asked what I did, I'd say, "I used to be a journalist but now I work for Apple". I am extrapolating from a base of one, but I think the aversion to the "what do you do" question partly comes from the fact that what people do for work is not directly linked to something they are passionate about or interested in. While I understand the reluctance to be reduced to one identity, I think what do you do is a pretty good way of figuring out what I'd likely have in common with the person I am speaking with.
The question I hate, which the author of the link Udhay posted writes about, is where I am from. I am from Kerala, but i neither speak the language well nor do I know much about the history or contemporary issues of the State, and I am very much a tourist when I visit. I have lived in Delhi-NCR for the longest stretch and yet i can't say i am from there as well. My response to hat question is usually "all over" and an awkward laugh. V On Tue, Oct 8, 2024 at 1:49 PM Udhay Shankar N via Silklist < [email protected]> wrote: > This, the most banal of all conversational opening lines, is something I > discourage at the meetups I organise. So it was interesting to see > silklister CY Gopinath's take. > > > https://www.mid-day.com/news/opinion/article/and-you-do-exactly-what-sir-23407241 > > Udhay > -- > Silklist mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist >
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