"What do you do for a living?"
I don't particularly like this question as a means of getting to know someone. Is that who we are?
If we lose our job, are unable to work or are retired.. are we are still the same person?
When we take some of our work roles out of the mix, we may be freed to find out, or be more, who we are.
What's best? Personally, I'm always discomfited by "Where are you from?" I'm a military brat. We're not "from" anywhere.
A friend who was obsessed with his life as a musician once introduced me to one of his friends, who asked me, "What do you play?" I said, "Computers." He was remarkably entertained by that answer, and we had a great first conversation.
I guess maybe the first question is less important than the kind of person asking it.
@stevensrmiller Same! Which branch, maybe we can compare bases.
Dad was Navy. I lived on the Alameda NAS, 1966-68. Norfolk NAS 1971. You?
@stevensrmiller Air Force for me. Started out (born) at Walter Reed, went to Ruislip England, Montgomery AL, Fayetteville NC, Cheyenne WY, Taichung Taiwan, and ended in Plattsburgh NY. Dad was a lifer.
Oh, you did it big. Mine was a lifer too, but almost all of his duty was stateside (and ashore, which is unusual for a Navy man, I suppose). Only lived on two bases, but made homes in Japan (born), Alexandria VA, Pomona CA, Alameda CA, Virginia Beach VA, Norfolk VA, Falls Church VA, and McLean VA. We moved 7 times in 13 years. Usual tour is 3 years, of course, but a few screwy things messed that up a couple of times.
@stevensrmiller And no one did it like my brat cousins. Their dad (my uncle) was in logistics, so he was stationed at Wright Pat in Ohio for all but 3 of his 20 years. Two years before the kids were born, and one 1-year remote when they were little. They lived in the same neighborhood their entire lives. Unfathomable to me.
Heh. Logistics ain't always in one place. When my dad retired after 33 years, he was the asst cmdr for logistics and fleet support, NavAirSysCom.
I dunno. I think I gained quite a bit by being a brat. But I also changed schools twice during 8th grade. That didn't do me any good.
Well, we can't change it now, can we?
@stevensrmiller In the AF, Logistics Command is at Wright Pat, so you can be in Logistics in many places, but only one place for training.
I was lucky, only changed schools in the middle of the year once, and that was in 4th grade when we went from NC to WY. Being a brat is the best!
@stevensrmiller And we’ve never met a stranger.
Oh, I like that one, Doc. Never heard it said before, but I know exactly what you mean. All us brats would.
@stevensrmiller We walk into a room full of people we’ve never seen before, but don’t feel at all ill at ease.
@AlliFlowers
Glad you liked it! I got a lot from it. There are things I wish had gone differently. I suppose that's true for everyone, though.
I do remember my first day in college after everyone's parents had gone home. Most of my classmates looked kind of dazed. For me, it was just another change of address. That's our superpower: we don't get rattled by new places.