# Suspect's Job Description **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 30, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suspects-job-description/537809 "2010-04-30T00:34:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tattman40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/db5fbb/32.png) [@tattman40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tattman40)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suspects-job-description/537809/1 "2010-04-30T00:34:35Z")
How come whenever someone is arrested for whatever reason,the news says: " The unemployed waiter, cab driver, carpenter,etc…was arrested for…" If unemployed, They really dont hold that job at the moment. Should’nt they just be called unemployed? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suspects-job-description/537809/2 "2010-04-30T00:55:25Z")
I’m an engineer. I’m currently unemployed, but I’m still an engineer. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suspects-job-description/537809/3 "2010-04-30T05:08:40Z")
The translation I had to do yesterday for an exam was a review of government reports on country-level farming information. One of the hardest lines to translate was the one about the farming sector employing XYZ people, of which ABC had jobs and DEF were unemployed. It may sound strange (perhaps more when talking about no-degre-required jobs), but it’s used by The Higher Ups. ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suspects-job-description/537809/4 "2010-04-30T13:36:14Z")
> [@tattman40](#): > > How come whenever someone is arrested for whatever reason,the news says: > > " The unemployed waiter, cab driver, carpenter,etc…was arrested for…" > > If unemployed, They really dont hold that job at the moment. > > Should’nt they just be called unemployed? Our town paper says, “Multiple arrests and homeless”. They are trying to be kind. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suspects-job-description/537809/5 "2010-04-30T15:27:37Z")
One ex-con who was actually _running for city council_ got "It is unclear what Williams does for a living. He characterized himself as a “construction entrepreneur” but would provide no details. " And when asked about his lengthy rap sheet: "Williams said Wednesday he had no comment on his criminal record. “If you really want to report that, that’s on y’all,” he said. “But I’d make a statement on that some other time.” " ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suspects-job-description/537809/6 "2010-04-30T16:17:38Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > One ex-con who was actually _running for city council_ Well, that’s a novel approach. Criminal conviction _prior_ to election. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suspects-job-description/537809/7 "2010-04-30T16:33:28Z")
Some people just have jobs. When they’re unemployed, they don’t have jobs. Then the next job they find might be something completely different. Others, like Telemark and I, have careers or trades, which persist through multiple jobs, possibly for our whole life. This is typically considered better than working at whatever random job one happens to find next, so the writers are giving the people the benefit of the doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suspects-job-description/537809/8 "2010-04-30T17:33:08Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Well, that’s a novel approach. Criminal conviction _prior_ to election. We speculated that “construction entrepreneur” means “steals copper wiring from unfinished buildings”.