Whenever I'm asked this question, I'm tempted to invent a witty answer (I
usually fail, because my comic timing is terrible), but inevitably I just
tell them what they want to know - my profession. It is a banal question
which I avoid to the best of my ability, but I find that there is no answer
other than professional identity that does not come off as rude,
condescending, or unfriendly - or maybe that's just me, I don't know. It's
like one of those pet peeves in language, an obviously incorrect use of a
word or phrase that nevertheless conveys an intended idea. Regardless of
how one views one's own personality and life, there's an intent to the
question that needs to be addressed, preferably politely.

The response from them that I'm trying to avoid is this: "You know what I
mean, so just respond to that instead of being a dick about how I phrased
it."

On Tue, Oct 8, 2024 at 1:44 PM Udhay Shankar N via Silklist <
[email protected]> wrote:

> This, the most banal of all conversational opening lines, is something I
> discourage at the meetups I organise. So it was interesting to see
> silklister CY Gopinath's take.
>
>
> https://www.mid-day.com/news/opinion/article/and-you-do-exactly-what-sir-23407241
>
> Udhay
> --
> Silklist mailing list
> [email protected]
> https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist
>


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Sumant Srivathsan
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