Counselor relevant socializing
At a 4th of July party last year, I had a conversation with someone who recently moved to the area who was connected to a mutual friend. I asked the pretty standard questions of where they’re from and what brought them here. I don’t know if anyone else has encountered push back from asking what someone does for work, but I caught some indirect flack for asking someone what they do for work. I later overheard him expressing to a few of our friends that it’s so weird that one of the first questions to ask someone is what they do for work, and someone else agreed with the fact by making a comment that what we do isn’t tied to what we’re worth. Agree with the last part, not the first.
I ask because I’m genuinely curious to find out what jobs are out there and how they discovered or fell into the position. Whether you’re a work to live or live to work kind of a person, however you answer the question tells me so much more about you and it’s a great place for follow-ups. For a portion of people, what they do is an intrinsic extension of who they are, what they like to do, or what their strengths are. I completely understand the work to live perspective, tell me about what you work for or what you have been into lately.
I realized living in a highly competitive, high cost of living area that this question carries contextual implications, but at the time I didn’t have the words to articulate the confusion, frustration, and embarrassment I experienced. Does he have a point, and from your experience, is this an indication of a larger cultural shift in attitudes on the subject I’m out of the loop on?