A blog and nothing but since 2003. Some tech, lots of music, and if rambling was money, drinks are on me.
A question that’s still relevant today
One of the common gripes about DC is that one of the first questions you get asked in almost every conversation is “So what do you do?” I’ve heard claims that this is unique to DC, but I think that’s ridiculous. It get asked everywhere. But I will admit that it’s a question that gets asked more often in DC, with the subtext of the complaint being that DC is a place where people are obsessed about their jobs. That’s putting it nicely. Other people would point it out as a sure sign that DC is filled with careerist douchebags.
But there’s actually a much more insightful take on that was offered up by my friend (and frequent reader) Scott: it gets asked more in DC because you’re a lot more likely to get an interesting answer. Even the people who have jobs that are boring still work for fascinating organizations, but you’re even more likely to meet people working for embassies, people who spend their time finding rare and endagered species in jungles and deserts, people who are actual rocket scientists. Ask “what do you do” in DC and you’re likely to learn something really good.
All this is a way of saying that I’m glad I have friends who work at the Census, because I just found out from one of them that there was a question on the 1850 US census that asked, “How many insane or idiotic whites are there in the household?” Note that it doesn’t ask if there are any, but rather how many. Amazing.
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September 18th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
My friend Kelly in New York decided that she would never ask that question when she met people at bars or parties. The result was that in forcing herself into other topics of conversation, she felt like she found out much more interesting things about people, things that made them stand out in her mind as unique individuals more than just their professions.
September 18th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I thought of this in the 1st paragraph, then briefly worried in the 3rd that you’d pre-empted it, but no:
Another great thing about working for the Census in DC would be that when people ask, “What do you do?”, you could answer “I ask people what they do.”
Regarding that 1850 question, I’d like to challenge whatever logic subsequently led to its removal. I know I’d be curious about modern-day totals and distribution. Can I lodge a request with your Census friends?
September 18th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
If you look at the historical context it all makes perfectly good sense. It’s widely believed Zachary Taylor won the 1848 presidential election because of his campaign promise to increase the tax credit given for taking care of crazy white relatives. Unfortunately Taylor died in office before he could get it enacted, and Millard Fillmore rejected the idea because the wealthiest 2% of Americans had the most crazy white relatives in their households and would have therefore received most of the tax breaks.
September 18th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
I’m just curious when “insane” and “idiotic” ceased being interchangeable! Those wacky 19th century funsters!
September 19th, 2008 at 11:03 am
H: Yeah, the complaint is something that a lot of New Yorkers level at DCers. But the difference is in the answers you get back. “I work on Wall Street” isn’t much of a conversation starter, but “I’m an amphibian expert” or “I work for an organization that campaigns for reproductive rights”? Now THOSE are conversation starters.
Parenthetical: I resisted a few obvious jokes about how we know how many idiotic or insane whites there are these days, but feel free to make your own.
Scott: I think that they really stopped asking that question because most of the insane and idiotic whites were killed thirteen years later in Pickett’s charge.
Xtian: I think that, back then, “idiotic” meant what we mean today by “mentally retarded”. Now, “idiotic” just means the morons you have to deal with getting to work…and the ones at work as well.
September 19th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Yeah, I figured as much (hence The Village Idiot). But it’s funnier to take it out of context, isn’t it?
Now I can’t stop thinking of Adrien Brody’s character from The Village!
September 19th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Yeah, I don’t think Kelly’s point was that it was a boring question to ask, just that she found herself making all sorts of immediate assumptions about a person based on what they did for a living, but often those assumptions would be challenged if she got to know the person a little more.
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:29 am
It seems like in New York people have interesting short answers, but then when you find out more, their jobs tend to be pretty boring. Or maybe it’s just me.
I’ve changed my standard answer from “I’m a magazine editor” to “I’m an editor at a trade publication” because people go, “Oh cool! What magazine??” and it started bumming me out to say, “Oh – no, it’s not a magazine anyone’s heard of. It’s just a business magazine.” And then they say, “Like Fast Company or something?” and I say, “Uh, no … it’s about logistics…” and they say “Huh?” and I say “Stuff like supply chain management, global sourcing, and transportation…” and then their eyes glaze over and they turn to the person on the other side of them and say, “So, what do YOU do?”