Hi, I'm Hannah. What do you do?

In DC, when you meet someone new, the conversation inevitably begins with, "what do you do?'  Its a DC thing, I'm told.  Some people say its a bad thing, that we're defined by our jobs.  Other say its such a DC insider thing, wanting to know if the other person will be useful to you in some way.  I've even heard people describe this interaction with derision and condescension.   I often wondered, and would ask, okay, what do people talk about in other cities.  Never got a really good answer to that one.

So here I am in a new city.  I am actively trying to pay attention to this interaction.  I went to a party last night and tried to use it as my experimental grounds. Now first thing I needed to do was get over the fact that I was the oldest person in the room by more than a few years.  Most were in their early to mid thirties though I did hear one woman say she was forty.  When did that happen to me?

Okay, so here I was chatting away with a few women.  After the initial, "so how do you know the host" kind of talk I was a bit lost.  All the others seemed to know each other or at least one or two folks.  I knew only the host. Wait, not true.  I knew one other woman.  I know these two from my book club.  We're buds of a kind, though this was our first social occasion.

I brought a fancy dip with me which was a big hit.  That was good for some chatting and then t happened.  It was time to make more meaningful conversation and I was determined NOT to ask about work.  One woman starting telling tales about her new job and that was a relief.  How could I not ask what she did, so that one didn't count.  Then the conversation devolved into common people they knew or things that had been done.  Awkward silence.  A guy came and sat by me and somehow we were chatting about Miami and that was cool.  But then it happened,  He had been to a swanky reception on a yacht the night before.  "Cool, how did that come to happen?"  "Oh, it was with a client."

C'mon, they're killing me here.  They're dangling it right in front of me and just daring me to ask where they work, what they do.  And then it occurred to me.  Why was I fighting this?  We spend more time at work than at home.  I love what I do and I actually think its interesting.  I feel sorry for those who drudge through their days, hating what they do.  So define me - strong language.  A huge part of who I am and what I do.  Oh yeah.  Just try changing careers and cities to realize just how much of you a job really is.  But a problem as an ice breaker... nah.  I'm not buying it.  So until I get more comfortable making chit chat about fashion or hair.  We did chat about TV a bit... but until I get better at those, or find my perfect peeps wanting to review the week's political happenings, I'll stick with the work question.  Its working for me.

So what do you do?  Come visit and you can share all the gory details!  Its actually nice weather so come on down!