Usually when people ask what I do, I first give the very simplistic reply of "Computer Stuff". Those who actually do not care what I do (they were just making small talk) or do not want more granular details will just say "ah, okay..cool". Those who are more inquisitive will say "what kind of computer stuff", to which I will say that I am a Senior Systems Engineer or Administrator. If their eyes don't glaze over and they inquire further, I will go into however much detail they want.
The real fun comes in explaining my license plate, which is "IM ROOT". Other sysadmins usually just say "nice plate", whereas non-technical people ask what it means, and my response is usually something like, "It's about my job. I am a systems administrator, which is one of the guys who takes care of computer systems and networks. The administrator user name on Unix computers is called 'root'". Usually the light bulb goes off and they say "Ah, so 'you are root', meaning you are a computer adminsitrator" - bingo! Also fun is explaining to people who are unaware of who "Cisco" is. They usually think it is "Sysco", which is a food service distributor :)
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