Maybe it's because I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but I really dislike being labeled by my job. I've held some very different positions, but I've never been comfortable saying "I am a [fill-in-the-blank]." I'm much more comfortable with phrasing such as "I work at . . ." instead of boxing myself in.
Not that people make it easy to distance myself from labels. Often the first questioned people ask after we're introduced is, "What do you do for a living?" To me, that is a personal question, akin to asking how much money I have or how much I weigh. A job or profession should be a topic that arises only after extensive conversation, not as an immediate label of status.
Having to wear a uniform to my current workplace doesn't help. People stop me in parking lots to comment on my outfit, or feel the need to grill me on my job simply because I'm in work clothes. Yes, I'm wearing scrubs, but that doesn't mean I want to discuss my employment with total strangers. Worse, some of my scrubs are embroidered with the name of the vet clinic that provides my paycheck. "Oh, you work in a vet hospital? How cute! That must be SO interesting." It makes me want to respond, "I see you're wearing an ugly shirt. You must be an accountant."
Maybe I'm too private, but I appreciate cultures in which jobs don't define a person. I think it's refreshing to have numerous meetings with people and realize later that I have no idea what kind of work they do. Perhaps I just feel this way because I have no job-related status in this society. Maybe I would love to brag about my career if I were a best-selling novelist or successful stockbroker. I could then show off my importance with a Lexus SUV, designer clothes and a McMansion in a lovely suburb.
See, I can be judgmental, too.
Discoveries in nature and other random thoughts from 2006 to March 2012. Fizzies have not ended...
The hours when the mind is absorbed by beauty are the only hours when we really live, so that the longer we can stay among these things, so much the more is snatched from inevitable Time. --Richard Jefferies
Excellent links
The investigation of the life and conversation of animals is a concern of much trouble and difficulty, and is not to be attained but by the active and inquisitive. --Gilbert White
1 comment:
Point one: I am an accountant and I never wear ugly shirts. I only wear pure silk shirts which I buy in Italy when I travel there. I shop at a charming silk shirt place in Milan. I really know how to drive a hard bargain since I am an accountant. I know all about deferred depreciation, income expense reports, deductable semi-annual estimated tax returns, and ladies underpants.
Point two: I live in a so-called McMansion. But before you judge too harshly, you should know that my commute is only 25 miles and that I can make it in one hour and five minutes even in rush hour. Fortunately I have incorporated myself and I bill myself for the time on the road so that all of my commuting time and expenses are FULLY DEDUCTABLE. I then lease out the car and the silk shirts to a third-party shell company located in Barbados (for tax purposes) and I reroute all of my invoices through them. Since I drive a stretch hummer, I am allowed to take the extra deduction on my yearly federal taxes. The form you need in 4568 IP.
Point three: my first question to everybody is what they do for a living. That way I can determine if I want them to be my friend or not. I have a list of occupations that I refuse to associate with. I have enough indigestion as it is. I mean just this afternoon I had to go to the pharmacy to buy some Gas-X. You can better believe that I saved the receipt.
Post a Comment