What do you do?

You know how the first exchange when two people meet is ‘How do you do?’ That may sound formal, but it is still used when people are introduced to each other, although ‘Hi’ and variations of it may be more common in less formal situations. Do you know what the next question usually is?

It’s ‘what do you do?’ We are so grounded in life by the work we do that we want to quickly assess the other person and place him or her in the giant ladder of progress by trying to know which rung on that ladder he occupies. When the reply clearly states the rank and organization, it brings much satisfaction all around. So when you hear ‘I’m the Senior Asst. Warehouse Manager in charge of the 1st. floor at the National Nuts and Bolts Company Ltd. in Azerbaijan,’ you know exactly where to place him in the great big order of things.

When you try to describe what you really do, it is seen as obfuscation. So, when I say in response to that question, ‘I teach’, it is quickly countered with, but what do you teach, where, and so on. What if we instead say what we do most of the time in a day or in our life? Like when somebody wants to know what you do, and you say, ‘I watch TV,’ I doubt if the next questions will be ‘what program’ or ‘what channel.’ After a few humming and hawing, the question will be back to, ‘No, what I meant was where do you work?’

I think the best way to break this cycle is with the first question. Instead of ‘How do you do’ we should be able to shake a person’s hand and say, ’Don’t you think Bush was an ass.’ That way, we can directly get into the important things in life, and by the end of the conversation, if we had found the other person interesting and worth knowing, we can always say, ‘Oh, by the way, my name is xx and I am the Senior Asst. Warehouse Manager in charge of the 1st floor but in a few years time, there are strong chances I will get to the 2nd. floor. Give me a call when you are next in Azerbaijan.’