When Asked " What do you do for a living?"..What do you say?

"So... what do you do for a living (or 'crust' as it's sometimes said in Australia)"?

Brain fires up to give possible responses...

As little as possible.
I make deals.
I sell stuff.
Alligator Wrestler.
I'm in the "insert industry here" industry.
I'm in the business of "insert jargon filled sentence which leaves them baffled here".
Create fancifull word for menial task.
I'm a Life Scientist.

For me, this question is hard to answer. Simply because, what I DO is what's been asked and not what type of business I'm in.

To answer the question correctly would never provide any real answers.

A car salesman doesn't sell cars. They walk around talking to people. That's what they DO.

Stephen King doesn't write spooky stories... he types.

The owner of a MacDonald's franchise doesn't sell burgers, fries, softdrink or actually make any to be sold - others do all that. What they DO is... well, that's anyone's guess.

The telephone directory assistance people help you make contact with others. And even that is not entirely accurate. They help you in your time of need. That's what they DO. How you, as the asker of the question which gets you this answer, take that is up to you.

Consider the sole business owner who owns a lawn mowing business. How could he answer the question of what do you do?

Mow lawns?

Nah, he doesn't mow lawns. The mower does that, he just pushes it.

He could say...

I'm in the lawn maintenance business.
I'm a horticultural engineer.
I make deals - after all, a deal was made for him to mow someone's lawn at a set price.
I sell stuff - after all, he sold his lawn mowing service.
I solve problems - after all, those who hire his service have a problem of needing their lawn mowed maybe because they don't have a mower or the time or desire to do it themselves.
I remove people's headaches - see above.
I create strategic alliances for the mutual benefit of all involved - customer is happy cause his lawn problem is gone, mowing man is happy cause he gets money.

How would Bill Gates answer this question?

Sell software? Nah, others do that.
Write software? Nah, others do that.
Make wise investments? Possible. He wisely invested his time and money in the creation of Microsoft.

What do you DO is a vague question and one that's open to interpretation or matters of opinion.

It's like if you've ever sold a car privately and people call up and want to know if there's much rust.

That's a questions whose answer requires an opinion. And their opinion and my opinion might be different.

Does it have rust?

Yes or no.

Much?

That DEPENDS on what you call much.

To some people, one spot of rust is too much, to others, a car that's half rust can be bogged up and resold or represents a great project for them to work on cause that's their hobby.

Personally, I react like a politician to the "What do you do" question. Sometimes I couldn't be bothered answering so give them a baffling jargon filled blurb. Other times I change the question and answer the new question (if you're asking "insert changed question here" then "insert answer here").

So Mr Politician, why did you raise the taxes even though you said you wouldn't.

"The question isn't about raising taxes. We have to be mindful of the state of the economy so as to make as many people as properous as we can, while at the same time providing the much needed services we do to the aged and infirm who've spent their lifetime contributing to society and who were struggling under the present system. What's we've done is made it easier for those in need to get by while at the same time encouraging the economy to growth."

So what do I DO?

I type. I talk. I sell. I solve. I think. I write with pens and paper. And so on and so forth ad-infinitum.

Does that answer your question? :o)

Michael Ross.