When I was in Thailand on business I met a guy called Paul at an Irish pub. We enjoyed each other’s company and I learned about his family and other personal details. When I got back to the US an acquaintance here asked me that this Paul fella did for a living. I din’t know because I didn’t ask. The American was astounded.
Now I see herethat the thread about what we do for a living has gone into multiple pages. (BTW, I operate a computer keyboard and a phone, and travel now and then.)
People define their whole identity by their job. When they come to the point where they can no longer do that job they have a major identity crisis. Many commit suicide, others die of depression-related ilnesses. It’s sad.
On 2002-09-15 00:46, Walden wrote:
People define their whole identity by their job. When they come to the point where they can no longer do that job they have a major identity crisis. Many commit suicide, others die of depression-related ilnesses. It’s sad.
Not everyone. I’m retired, partly for medical reasons, and don’t seem to having any great difficulty with being non-productive. Gives me more time to waste on the internet.
On 2002-09-15 01:10, Chuck_Clark wrote:
Not everyone.
Of course not everybody, but it’s all too common. Most of my great-grandparents adjusted well, and lived relatively contentedly for decades as retirees. But their children, my grandparents, have taken it far worse, having defined themselves so by their jobs.
I don’t remember
Oh, boy, is this me or what! When I left teaching I didn’t know what to call myself…like what would I put on a form that asked for ‘occupation’? I worked for a publishing company as writer, but ‘writer’ sounded too pretentious..now I have an Internet business…‘entreprenour’? also sounds too pretentious…maybe just ‘self-employed’ now. Sounds vague…
On 2002-09-15 00:46, Walden wrote:
People define their whole identity by their job. When they come to the point where they can no longer do that job they have a major identity crisis. Many commit suicide, others die of depression-related ilnesses. It’s sad.
Wow, if that’s true, I must be the ultimate in multiple-personalities.
I’ve been: cook, combat medic, police officer, printer operator, system administrator, computer programmer, graphic designer, vice-president of a printing company, leatherworker and actor/entertainer.
I still do programming, sysadmin, leatherworking and acting.
And these are just the things I get contracted and/or paid to do. My hobby list is nearly twice that long. If I actually tried to define myself by what I do, I’d end up more confused than I already am. 
However…many of us (if not most) do for a living something that is not our dream job - I mean, it’s not US. It is a job we do for a paycheck to get through life financially. For instance, I am a medical transcriptionist, but only because of circumstances, chance choices, needing a job NOW, etc., not because it’s what I would do if I could really be me. I’d be a wildlife biologist - now THAT’S me!
Susan
heh…I’d be a multilingual photojournalist!
Beth - you’re still young - GO FOR IT!
Susan
Nah I’m already getting roots but I am still working on the lingual aspect.
There are lots of careers I would have liked to pursue but they wouldn’t have given me much of a means of survival unless if I tuedn out to be one of the TOP TOP people in the field…and I’m not motiviated enough to be THAT good! I almost went to school in Boston (hink it was Brown Univ?) for linguistics/egyptology. Good thing I didn’t, as I don’t like hot weather.
Edited to remove foot from mouth. 
[ This Message was edited by: avanutria on 2002-09-15 12:58 ]
This “what do you do” question bugs me. It’s really about status. My status has nothing to do with what I work at. (BTW I enjoy my job and make decent money doing it). Next time someone asks me what I do, I think I’ll answer: “I scratch a lot”.
I should have been a cowboy.
Well, I should have been a princess
Edited to fix smiley.
~Live Well, Love Much, Laugh Often~
[ This Message was edited by: chattiekathy on 2002-09-15 16:36 ]
On 2002-09-15 15:07, Whitmores75087 wrote:
This “what do you do” question bugs me. It’s really about status. My status has nothing to do with what I work at. (BTW I enjoy my job and make decent money doing it). Next time someone asks me what I do, I think I’ll answer: “I scratch a lot”.
I’m afraid that in many cases, you’re right. Sometimes, though, it’s just a polite question, meant to keep a conversation moving along.
I grew up in a very nice NYC suburb. When people ask where I’m from, they sometimes ask me what my father does! Now there’s a really blatant status check! I’m 41 years old. Who should really give a rat’s patoot what my father did? I’ve taken to telling people that he was the town drunk.
Who should really give a rat’s patoot what my father did? I’ve taken to telling people that he was the town drunk.
That’s a good one!
The SECOND I gave birth to the first of my 4 sons, I knew my place in the Universe ~ I ALWAYS define myself as “a Mom”
Never mind that I’m a PA for the finest Neurosurgeons in the Houston area…
Mary
I did a lot of stuff. I still do. 'Cept now they pay me for what I used to do rather than what I do now. Does that mean someday someone’ll pay me for what I do now?
Lizzie,
Most forms that ask for your occupation only do so to categorize or compartmentalize you so they can sell your information to some mailing list. Do what I do. List yourself as a raconteur or a bon vivant and watch their jaw drop. If they’re really pompous (think bank assistant managers or bureaucrats) put down NOYB. I have European friends that never discuss their jobs in a social setting whereas my American friends will. It’s just a cultural difference.
Well, I have a degree in entomology, but havent “worked” for about 5 years. Being married to a guy who has a decent paycheck is a blessing, so I volunteer, work on my art, I paint, play whistle, try to learn bagpipes, etc. Also am blessed with two truly great sons, 18 and 21. I guess being a woman, I don’t define myself as ONE thing, since I’m not “working”. Hey, I’m just a HUMAN BEING! Aren’t we all, with the same struggles and passions? I’ve heard too, of men who retire and end up sick and dying because thats the only thing that defined them, so they feel their life is over. So sad, when there is so much need out there, and so much help they could give to others, and fulfil both who they help and themselves.