While in the check out line yesterday, the clerk somehow thought it appropriate to ask me what I do for a living.


Does anyone else find that question rude?

I’ve heard it’s an American thing – asking what you do for a living. It’s the first question we ask when we meet you because we think we’ll get to know more about you if we know what you do all day. With your answer, we’ll immediately know what type of person you are, what makes you tick and what you’re most passionate about. We can also tell how smart you are and get an idea of how much money you make. We’ll have you all figured out based on your answer to one simple question.

If it’s the perfect getting-to-know-you question, why is it just an American thing? Easy – unlike many other countries, we tend to define ourselves (and others) by our jobs.

Even when I had a tidy answer – ‘teacher’, I hated this question because of the way I was summed up.
Oh, you’re a teacher? That’s so cute! That means you’re patient and kind and live a very simple life and are not incredibly smart or else you would have become a pediatrician or a child advocacy lawyer or anything else really…let me tell you about my favorite teacher when I was growing up.
Totally defined by my job. Just one of the reasons I left teaching. But, that’s another topic.

Now that I don’t have a tidy answer, it’s even more frustrating.


I’ve tried different tacts:
‘I’m a retired teacher.’
Oh…were you one of the ones who got laid off last year?
‘No.’


‘I run a small, one-woman media company.’
Oh…so you’re unemployed?
‘Not exactly.’


‘I’m between things right now.’
This one usually works. It’s the one I’ve been using most often lately because most people can connect with it – they’ve either been in the same boat or know someone who has. It also usually shuts people right up.

Except for Mr. Check Out Clerk. His response?
Oh…so that’s your full time job?
Huh? Being between things?
Did you misunderstand me?
I don’t know why I engaged. My face was beet red…I felt this ridiculous need to defend myself.
So I said, ‘No – soul searching. Soul searching is my full-time job right now.’
His response?
Without missing a beat – Have you found any lately? Any souls?


Ha. Clever.


From the eavesdropping bagger, badum-ching…he’ll be here all night, folks.

Obviously, it’s time for a new answer. Maybe I should just start answering with my goals for the day…
What do you do?
‘Today? Well today, I’m running a few miles, I’m reading a great book, I’m considering the merits of being a vegetarian vs. eating meat from family farms vs. total denial, I’m researching a meal plan for the next ten days, I’m grocery shopping, I’m tidying my house, I’m writing, I’m designing a house addition, I’m preparing for a friend’s baby shower, I’m listening to my husband’s day, I’m worrying about my family, and I’m making Spanish rice. How about you? What do you do?’


This rice recipe is a request from my friend Hayley, but it comes from my food buddy, Renee. She gave me this recipe so long ago, she actually wrote it on one of those recipe cards instead of just emailing. What’s perhaps more impressive is that I still have it. It’s a keeper…

Renee’s Spanish Rice

1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
1 stick of butter
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 can rotel
1 T cumin
salt, pepper
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute onion and bell pepper in butter.
Combine rice and chicken broth in a 9×13 baking dish. Add onion mixture, seasonings and rotel. Mix well. Bake for 45 minutes.