What Do You Do?

“So, what do you do?”   …You’ve heard it.  You may have, on occasion, asked others that very question.  I have learned to dread that question.  The reason is that most of the time the person asking is seeking a short and concise answer that fits into a neat and tidy box.  Lawyer, janitor, engineer, photographer, writer, etc.  All perfectly good responses that convey the concept of your work with just a word or two.  We are, of course, not defined by our job titles.  Nor should we be.  But society likes neat boxes with tidy labels upon them.  If your choice of work activity does not fit the neat and tidy expectations of people, then you may find the question a bit discomforting.

Discomfort caused, not by a lack of enthusiasm for what you do….but caused by the burden you know will come as you try to condense it into a digestible form for the person who asked but really does not want to know all of it and really was only trying to make small talk and expects nothing more than the one or two word answer.  Maybe you secretly have practiced a canned response.  Maybe you have chosen to just give an answer that covers one aspect only, or maybe even a total BS answer just for the sake of a reaction and further discussion.  I’ve tried all of that over the years and while perfectly viable (or even fun) in certain situations it is not perfectly suitable.  And it may well cause a missed opportunity…….after all….maybe on that particular day you omitted the one item that the person, or someone they know, is looking for and needs the services of.  An unsuitable situation.

In my case, I’ve worn a several hats and several job titles over the years…after leaving the company I’d been with before, I eventually set about doing a variety of tasks…generally related but not easily assigned a simple title to.   There are many facets to what I do.  Electrical/Electronics, Mechanical, Design, Survey, Neon artwork, Antique restoration, Research, Photography…….and, if you are reading this, obviously a little writing too.    All of these and a few others come into play in dealing with many of the projects I would choose to find myself involved in.  Many hats to wear.  Anyone who has ever run a business, no matter how small, will have experienced the same problem….it does become easier if there is a primary service provided as then you get closer to that simple answer to the question asked.  But what does it matter?….after all, if you created the job for yourself you should be able to call it whatever you want to.

To that end–For now at least, my job title is simply going to be “Neon Archaeologist”   (special thanks to Jack Hasley for bestowing the title upon me in an unrelated discussion…it kinda stuck, is meldable to cover a variety of aspects, and seems reasonable to use it for now as it ties in nicely with an upcoming project)  …..if that answer satisfies someone’s query the next time they ask what I do, fine….if not…then they can ask for the longer explanation of what exactly that is and I will be happy to explain in more detail than the person likely wants, because that too, is something else that I do.