@Aedes,
Aedes;103328 wrote:No single variable, including one's job, can define someone, and the problem is that people make assumptions based on occupation.
This is an excellent point and I want to thank you for making it.
Asking people what they do for a living is a very
American thing and it doesn't happen in many other countries. For example, in the former USSR it's considered extremely rude to ask someone what they do for a living. Same thing in Japan.
I think that most Americans lack any sense of personal identity and, therefore, take their identity from their occupation.
It's a question I get asked a lot at formal dinner parties and I usually respond, "I clean toilets for a living" and watch the reaction of the person who asked the question. If they are instantly repulsed - based on this alone - I know that I'm dealing with a very shallow person and don't waste any more time with them. If they shrug it off, then I give them another chance.
-ITL-