"What do you do?"

I really don't like this question. It seems like the goto introductory question when there is ice to break with a new acquaintance. I try to put this question off as long as possible. I might start with “Nice to meet you. How do you know so-and-so?” or maybe, “Where are you from/where's home?” This is because I, myself, hate being asked the question “What do you do?”

Like it or not, work is like the caste system in this country, and your occupation puts you in a category in people's minds. Thankfully this is not always the case, but most of the time we link our identity and the identities of others to a job. Never mind that Larry the bank teller may be a fantastic tango dancer, a poet, a tenor, a father. He is a bank teller.

So I often want to reply to “what do you do?” with “I am a direct sales representative for a major international narcotics supplier,” and as they pause to process this, I would reaffirm boldly, “I'm a drug dealer.”

Usually, I simply reply with “you mean, for money?” making the inquisitor feel embarrassed for asking such a rude question. “Pardon me sir, what do you do for money?” Why not be a little more obvious with the query, “Would you consider yourself more bourgeois or bohemian? Are you a 'white collar professional,' intellectual, floating hippie, or simply a working class layman?”

Naturally I have thought about the question more—and it has bothered me more—because I currently work a service industry job that requires little education and training. I also embody a cliché – the liberal arts student who delivers pizza. But most of the time I really just don't care what people think. This is the perfect job for where I am in life right now. I am raising money to go overseas and do mission work with a non-profit organization. I'm only on the States for another year or so, and the job market is pretty lousy right now too. Honestly, right now I am just thankful to have a job.

I do notice a significant difference in tone, however, between conversations where I answer with “I deliver pizza” early on and conversations where what I “do” comes up later, after someone has gotten an idea of who I am and what I am about.