This brings me to the question, what makes us so judgemental about this
question? Why is it "banal", when it can be (and often is) prompted by a
genuine interest on the part of the person asking?

Deepa.

On Wed, Oct 9, 2024 at 3:39 PM Sumant Srivathsan via Silklist <
[email protected]> wrote:

> 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
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>
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