Wednesday, June 15, 2011

What Do You Do?

"What do you do?" It's probably the most common question to ask someone when you're making small talk or trying to get to know them. I ask new people at church that question a lot. I don't actually like the question but after I ask,  "How'd you find out about GrassRoots?," it seems like the only thing left to ask someone I don't know. 

I don't like the question because it indicates that what you do is who you are or is how you find value or something like that. You know what I mean? And that's been confirmed for me by how people answer the question. In this economy a lot of people are going back to school or working jobs they don't like or unemployed or underemployed. So when they answer the question they answer in a tone that says they're not very proud of what they do. And then I feel bad for asking. 

So my question for you is, what's a better question to ask? Is there a way to get to know someone better without asking what they do? Or just a better way to ask the question.