I don't think it's invasive to discuss my job, I just don't want it to be defining.

Poor people who got ahead worked hard. Therefore, hard work is what gets one ahead. Double therefore, non-hard work is what causes a lack of getting ahead.

Also that people who are ahead must've deserved it/have knowhow etc. Wasn't there a line in "If I were a Rich Man" that said something about it not mattering if his answers to the people who came seeking advice were right or wrong because people assume that when you have money you must know something?

There's a scene in the doc Born Rich where some obnoxious titled adolescent objects to Americans asking people what they do within moments of meeting. He acts as if it's an invasion of the deepeset privacy. Moreover, one apparently should be able to tell what a person "does" (i.e., does he or she have money) by their accents, their interests, their topics of conversation, etc.

I saw that. That guy is a great, big asshole. I'll bet his tailor is the only person who can remotely tolerate him.

Kristin, I saw that about a month ago. It was very interesting.

Well, because his tailor gets to stick pins into him with impunity. I would be able to tolerate a lot of verbal abuse for that kind of opportunity.

You and juliana now must come to DC. Socialising can be fun if you don't take it too seriously.

True, true. But not taking it seriously is much like being a fly on the wall, yes?

True, true. But not taking it seriously is much like being a fly on the wall, yes?

Exactly. But I've got just enough capital to get us into the places and events where it would be worth our while.

Those games are fun. I come out all class mixy on all of them. It seemed pretty obvious to me which answers/items equated with various class labels.

I have a mix of Nouveau Riche and "downmarket" tastes, according to Chintz vs Shag. I don't have shockwave for the other two. (edited because my ts and hs hate each other. It's very sad. They're practically side by side on keyboard...)

When I've been unemployed for long stretches of time, one of the most depressing aspects of it was dreading going to parties or anywhere social because I had no answer to "What do you do?"

I eventually started using "I'm job-free at the moment" and then explaining that I was looking for work in X or whatever it was at the time. One thing that happened to me with working as a programming contractor, with stretches of unemployment is that I got a bit more at home with not pegging my sense of identity to any one job, but to my career in general, and to my (non-paid) avocations. It was freeing in some very basic ways.