# Questions people always ask you **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 26, 2018, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609 "2018-07-26T11:36:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/42 "2018-07-27T13:16:22Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > No offense, but I think that’s a fair question. I don’t know what a technical writer does, and I’m not some hayseed. > \ In the simplest sense, it’s exactly what it sounds like. I write about technical things. There are different industries that employ technical writers; I’m fairly confident there are some working for your telecom company. Some write training manuals for new software. Some FAQs and troubleshooting documents. Some, like me, write user manuals for large machines. **Katriona** , what specialty do you have? As mentioned above, I write end user/operator manuals for large manufacturing equipment. You? ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/43 "2018-07-27T13:39:40Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > My job is kind of specialized in the telecom industry, and I’ve learned that many people not only don’t know what the telecom industry is but don’t have any idea what my job title translates to. So I usually just say I’m a lawyer in the cell tower industry. Every now and then someone responds with “what’s the cell tower industry?”, and I have to explain “you know those towers you see along the highway with antennas on them, that allow your cell phone to make a call? That’s what I do”. Wow, that is surprising. Not know what the telecom industry is? Or Cell towers? My 4 year old and 7 year old know what cell towers are. When they see them by the side of the road they say “Daddy, your phone is talking to that tower! Beep boop beep!” ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/44 "2018-07-27T13:47:49Z")
I’m from St. Louis, and anyone else from St. Louis will ask upon meeting “where did you go to high school?”. Usually followed by “oh, do you know [random person]?” I got asked that once while in the elevator at the Empire State building. And, as it turns out, I _did_ know [random person]. I’m also a chemical engineer, and when people find that out they usually ask me _mechanical_ engineering questions – car running rough, dishwasher making grinding noises, etc. I usually offer to find something they can use to dissolve whatever is having the problem. Because… _chemical_ engineer, dude. ---
**Author:** ![senoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/45 "2018-07-27T13:57:56Z")
> [@blob](#): > > You’re lucky you never came across me. I’d just start wailing that John Denver song blue ridge mountains, west virginia, shenandoah river, something something 😃 I always thought West Virginia was a nice place, I never knew we were meant to be mean to you. It always sounded nice in that song… I don’t know that you’re meant to be mean to us. It just happens. West Virginia is a very beautiful place, but it’s plagued by rural poverty. It also ‘enjoys’ the reputation of being ignorant, backward and ‘hillbilly.’ I guess maybe a good comparison might be how Aussie’s stereotypically think of Tasmanians if they were all rednecks. Isolated and inbred, only more conservative than Tassies, sucking off the government teat. Some people like that we’re a pretty place and there are little mountain oases of art galleries and folk music that attract tourism, but for the most part we’re stereotyped as poor, inbred and uneducated bigots. Fun times. You can be nice to us if you want though. If you start singing ‘Country Roads,’ you’ll get the whole place to sing with you. It’s not an uncommon occurrence to walk in a bar or restaurant and someone starts singing it and everyone else joins in. Especially in the northern part of the state where it’s an unofficial theme song for West Virginia University. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/46 "2018-07-27T16:08:34Z")
I imagine folks in the medical, legal, or computer fields get more than their share of requests for free help and advice. That’s got to be a pain. ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/47 "2018-07-27T16:31:11Z")
So you’re an ER doc? Q: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen? A: That depends greatly on what kind of weird you’re interested in. Q: What’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen? A: Really? The worst things I’ve seen do not make for good small talk stories. Unless you’re in medicine, law enforcement, active duty military or possibly social work and inured to the kind of scenarios I encounter on a bad day my “worst of” stories are enough to ruin your evening. Q: What should I do about (insert symptom/medical problem here)? A: You should probably ask your doctor about that. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/48 "2018-07-27T16:43:44Z")
I used to train dolphins, sea lions and orcas (see username) for a marine park back in they day, and when people find out they invariably ask me “Did you like your job?”. I never know how to answer that. If I didn’t like it I wouldn’t have spent years trying to get into that field. Sometimes I say, “no, I hated it” and just walk away leaving the person perplexed… ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/49 "2018-07-27T17:00:27Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > In my former life as a graphic artist, I would often get “Oh, the 10-yo next door does that. He’s pretty good too.” > > Now, when I’m an artist, I of course get “What kind of art do you do?” I honestly cannot describe my art in words, so I just say “Mixed Media.” … Isn’t part of being a successful artist _selling_ and _marketing_ what you do? I guess I am surprised that more artists have not developed better schticks condensed into elevator pitches … (FWIW my mother was an artist and was horrible at that. I think she thought the quality of her work would sell itself.) ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/50 "2018-07-27T17:14:41Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > … One was “Why isn’t sign language universal? I think it should be universal.” Yes, I am personally the arbiter of sign languages. … Yes, but as a person intellectually curious and immersed in the culture you probably did know about the historic (dating from the 1950s) movement to create one, Gestundo, and could answer that it fizzled likely for the same reasons that Esperanto did. Aren’t there still efforts to create some agreed upon international signs for use in international deaf community meetings? ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/51 "2018-07-27T18:05:27Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > I’m from St. Louis, and anyone else from St. Louis will ask upon meeting “where did you go to high school?”. Usually followed by “oh, do you know [random person]?” > > I got asked that once while in the elevator at the Empire State building. And, as it turns out, I _did_ know [random person]. > > I’m also a chemical engineer, and when people find that out they usually ask me _mechanical_ engineering questions – car running rough, dishwasher making grinding noises, etc. I usually offer to find something they can use to dissolve whatever is having the problem. Because… _chemical_ engineer, dude. Yep, and depending on your age you may get a few questions about where you hung out. Admiral, Ballpark, Ted Drewes etc. oh, and…Bayless ---
**Author:** ![Arabella\_Flynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Arabella\_Flynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arabella_Flynn)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/52 "2018-07-28T01:07:24Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > The oddest one I get asked regularly is ‘How did you grow your hair so long?’ > > I’ve yet to figure out an appropriate answer, aside from the mindbogglingly obvious ‘By not cutting it short’. I did consider memorising some of the chemical processes involved in the formation of keratin, but I suspect I’d get bored of that pretty fast. I get that one a lot, too. I think they’re hoping we’ll tell them about the esoteric rituals we go through in order to keep the hair monster appeased. They are always disappointed when they ask what shampoo I use, and I say, “The kind that was on sale when I went to CVS.” (The truth is, it’s probably about 75% genetic, and 25% that I can’t be bothered to do anything to it unless I am going to be on stage, in front of a camera, or at a gala. No curling, no straightening, no gel, no hairspray. I ball it up and wrap some elastics around it if it needs to be out of the way. This is unglamorous, and no one wants to hear it, but it’s the truth. LAZINESS IS KEY.) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/53 "2018-07-28T03:39:48Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > I’m from St. Louis, and anyone else from St. Louis will ask upon meeting “where did you go to high school?”. > [@BubbaDog](#): > > Yep, and depending on your age you may get a few questions about where you hung out. Admiral, Ballpark, Ted Drewes etc. Mercy. And if you recognize it, then you just gave away your age, as well. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/54 "2018-07-28T06:44:58Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > I got asked that once while in the elevator at the Empire State building. And, as it turns out, I _did_ know [random person]. I used to work in the telephone exchange a LONG time ago. One day I got a caller wanting the home number of a person, but they couldn’t remember their name. They had a business in a different name, but he wanted the home number and he couldn’t remember the name. “Oh, I said, you mean Mr \”. He’d just happened to get me and I went to school with his daughter. I should have let him just wonder how I knew, but I filled him in on his luck. > [@senoy](#): > > If you start singing ‘Country Roads,’ you’ll get the whole place to sing with you. They’ll just be trying to drown me out… 😃 It’s a very catchy song. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/55 "2018-07-28T19:30:37Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > IF people ask what I do for a living, I say “Technical writer.” They inevitably follow up with, “so what does that mean?” > > If people ask where I’m from, I say, “Green Bay, WI.” And they ALWAYS follow up with, “So, are you a Packers fan?” Yes. I am. And I love cheese and beer. But not brats. I, in contrast, LOVE brats. But not cheese and beer. In answer to the OP, I have two “jobs” at least for now…one of them is freelance writing. When people hear about that, the usual response is “What KIND of writing?” My standard reply is “Anything anybody will pay me for,” which is flippant but also true. (Those who persist beyond that will usually get a “real” answer.) ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/56 "2018-07-29T04:14:01Z")
Are you a nurse? Are you a librarian? Are you a teacher? I guess I just have the vibe. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/57 "2018-07-29T06:10:41Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > I guess I just have the vibe. I was approached by a woman in the street who thought I was a NUN. I have no clue what she was thinking, she told me she thought I looked so “serene”. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/58 "2018-07-29T09:35:13Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Are you a nurse? > Are you a librarian? > Are you a teacher? > > I guess I just have the vibe. For the last decade or so, I keep getting “Are you ex-military?” The annoying bit is that several people have decided my “No” is a lie, and either keep probing or give a sort of nudge/wink when something relating to various branches comes up. And since college I’ve always gotten “what are you doing _here_?” about work (even now, and I’m almost 60). No matter what job I’m doing, people seem to think I should be doing something else, though they’re never clear what that is. Yeah, I’m a bit smarter than average, but you _want_ a few people smarter than average in the rank and file - we’re handy. Lemme be. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/59 "2018-07-29T09:59:57Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > I’m from St. Louis, and anyone else from St. Louis will ask upon meeting “where did you go to high school?”. Usually followed by “oh, do you know [random person]?” When I tell people I’m Jewish, they often say “Oh, I know [random Jewish person]. Do you know him?” If it’s a local person, maybe, but usually it’s not. It might be someone from their hometown four states away. > [@DSeid](#): > > Yes, but as a person intellectually curious and immersed in the culture you probably did know about the historic (dating from the 1950s) movement to create one, Gestundo, and could answer that it fizzled likely for the same reasons that Esperanto did. Aren’t there still efforts to create some agreed upon international signs for use in international deaf community meetings? Of course I do. But people are so _aggressive_ with this question, and I guess I didn’t communicate that well enough. They seem to be accusing me of something, as though I have personally and actively prevented their great idea of universal sign language from being realized, and thereby am responsible for most of the discord in the world. It’s really weird. I don’t feel like telling them about Gestuno. I just want to catch the next bus out of the conversation. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/60 "2018-07-29T10:36:04Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > The annoying bit is that several people have decided my “No” is a lie, What is with that? I remember another time I was walking past a theatre where there was this person trying to get cast autographs on his program. He held it out to me saying he remembered me from the show and when I said that I wasn’t in the cast of “South Pacific” he said “yes! You were a nurse!” No, I really wasn’t in the show, and if you could see me, you’d realise how ridiculous it was, I’m as plain as a pikestaff with terrible posture. There’s no way they’d ever let me in a singing/dancing show. I don’t know why I encounter people who insist I’m something strange. ---
**Author:** ![betterlifethroughchemistry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/betterlifethroughchemistry/32/3094_2.png) [@betterlifethroughchemistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betterlifethroughchemistry)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609/61 "2018-07-29T16:03:40Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > It hasn’t happened in a long time. > > It used to happen frequently. I attribute it to the probability that the askers are kinda dumb (unsophisticated, poor at filtering). In my current life I don’t have the opportunity to interact with all strata of humanity (fewer dumb people), so I don’t get the question. > > Without giving away details, my first name is rare-ish and matches a name of a well known fictional character. When I would introduce myself, the other person would ask, “Oh, like (fictional character)?” To which I would reply, “Yes, I am often mistaken for (fictional character).” Which is oh so funny because I do not resemble the fictional character. Ha ha, ha ha. > > See? - kinda dumb. I share the same name with a famous actor - same spelling, everything…think the poor Michael Bolton character in ‘Office Space’… “Oh, are you a big fan?”…(um, no, I’ve seen one movie of his…wasn’t impressed…) “Are you related?” (um, no, I don’t think so as he’s never answered my weekly phone calls asking for money…) When I tell people where I live, “Are you a Yankees fan?” (um, no, hate them), which leads to, “Oh, you must be a Red Sox fan…” (nope, hate them, too…) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-people-always-ask-you/818609.md?page=4)