there's so much more to me than that

I learned something last night. I learned that there are several people that don't like to be asked, "So what do you do?" by a stranger. I thought maybe there was something wrong with me. There's something about that question that just seems phony like I want to say to them, "Why are you asking me that? Are you trying to validate yourself by asking what I do? Are you sizing me up? Are you setting yourself up to judge me by my 'title'?" I almost feel like they are saying, in one way or another, "So who are you?" as if my title somehow defines who I am and that that's all there is to me - just my title. I hate labels and the judgments that come with them. It seems to me that there are lots of other questions to ask when trying to get to know someone that you have only just met:

What is your favorite season? (fall)Do you prefer mountains or ocean or both? (mountains)What is your biggest dream or your wildest adventure? (biggest dream - living in the mountains somewhere; biggest adventure - taking several months off to hike and camp)What was good about your week or what was bad about it? (of course, this varies from week to week)What is your greatest accomplishment in life this far? (realizing at 27 that there were some things that weren't working for me and learning how to get beyond them to live the life that I was meant to and be the best version of me that I was created to be.)Football or baseball? (definitely football)What is your favorite movie? (all time top favorite - Life as a House)What kind of music do you listen to? What's the best concert you've ever been to? (I love all kinds of music; it all means something to me for different reasons. Mercy Me is probably the best concert.)What's your biggest pet peeve? (someone asking, "how are you?" and then not sticking around for a response.)Which one is your favorite punctuation mark and why? (mine is the question mark because it indicates a question has been posed, requests a response from the listener, and therefore promotes conversation.) ;-)

There are so many others that I could list. These are questions people don't think to ask because people are afraid to go a little bit deeper and it's become habit to have that be the first thing that pops into your head to ask. I can't say I have never asked that because I have. It's been a while since I have done that; I rarely make that the first question I ask people. I wait until I have known THEM for a while, who they really are, and it usually comes up in conversation so I don't have to ask.

I have a respectable job as an Office Manager for a consulting firm in a trendy area of the city but that's not who I am; it's just one of the things I do. It's not the reason for my existence. There's so much more to me than that, so much more I would rather talk with you about than that crap. What if I said I was a trash collector? It still wouldn't make me any different than I am inside right now as an Office Manager. I would still like the same things, do the same things in my spare time, believe the same things, have the same friends. I would still be me.