Rowland Ramble -

Interesting question isn’t it?  Not who are you or how are you but “What do you do?” 
It’s often a question that car salesman will ask you in an effort to sum up what price range of car they can sell you or sometimes the opposite sex and mostly women will ask that same question in an effort to sum up what you are worth monetarily.  Don’t deny it ladies, some of you do this and we know it.  It’s no surprise and definitely not a secret.  I had a close friend who was engaged to a young lady that was overheard speaking about my friend with these words.  “He will be worth something someday”.  When confronted, she said I mean to his employers.

 It’s cuts right to the quick and is often used to determine a person’s value in a manner that we can quantify.  While a person’s worth in life should not be tied to a dollar figure or a monetary value it happens all to often.  I think we miss out on opportunities to connect with people when we use the “What do you do” question with the intent of figuring out how much a person earns or is worth. 

This same question is applied to those around us when we look at the outward appearance of someone and see indications of what they do without ever getting to know them or even ask the question “What do you do?”.  We pass judgment and make decisions on if we will even interact with because of the monetary value we assume they hold.  Sometimes people get caught up in applying a bit too much self worth and looking down thier nose at someone who merely looks as if they have less monetary value backing them up.  I worked in the business district of the nearby big city.  I have on a few occasions worn a warm field jacket to work along with my bluejeans and sneakers…because I can.  There have been a few times when I have been crossing the street or walking down the sidewalk dressed in this manner and come face to face with people dressed in nicer more expensive clothing and they acted as if I was supposed to give them the right of way when clearly that wasn’t the case.  I’m sure that to them, I looked like someone that if they were to ask me “What do you do?” I might answer with, “I work in the mailroom”…but I don’t.  

Just remember that before you make a determination about a person and who they are you don’t get caught up in the monetary value of a person as the deciding factor on your level of responsiveness to them. 

More to come on this later.

– C.R.