"So, what do you do for a living?"

[Mikey P]

Small talk at your wife's high school reunion..

Do you tell them you are a business owner and leave it at that in hopes you can change the subject to the delicious finger foods being served? Do you make up some crap about being a On location fiber sanitation expert or do you bang your chest, give them a face wash with your rug sucker lizard paws and yell "I SUCK RUGS FOR A LIVING BUDDY!"


Are you proud of what you do for a living?

Will your kids be proud when some one asks them 50 years from now about you?

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

wow 29 views (people not proud of what they do) and not one reply.


I'm proud of what I do and not scared to tell anyone. I do find that when I tell someone that I own my own business they will change the subject rather fast. Not sure why that is.

 

[Ron Lippold]

hell yes Mikey this is a great business, while its not to glamorous i had a lady tell me wow if you do this all day you must make a pretty good living. I said mary ann now quit thinking you are not suppose to think about stuff like that

I like flying under the radar

 

[safeclean]

I tell them that I am in the cleaning and restoration business.

I am proud in what I do for a living but I am not proud of the time spent away from my young family its really hard on us but bills have to be payed, currently working hard on replacing myself at work just takes time in training them to be you . 8)

I hope my kids will be proud of me in 50 years time as I have a long way to go.

Craig

 

[Blue Monarch]

My canned answer...

"I clean carpet, tile & grout"

Usually sparks some questions and I'll go into it further. If not, they can think what they want.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

If you don't enjoy making small talk with people you'll never see again, (I don't) I do find telling them "I'm involved in the cleaning and restoration industry" will often earn you a blank stare and a polite "drift away" into the crowd.

It works during air travel when I get "chatty" neighbors in the adjacent seats as well.

That said, if someone does engage you in conversation, you can often learn more objectively how our industry is perceived.

Things I've learned from superficial social interactions:

1. A surprisingly high percentage of wealthy people don't have their carpet professionally cleaned; instead they let the maid do it. Its not that they can't afford a professional cleaner, its because they don't trust them in their homes.

2. Those that do hire professional cleaners can rarely tell me who they had do it last. This is especially true if the LIKED the job. They remember the guys first name, even some gossip they shared. But they forget the company.

3. They nearly always, however, remember the name and details of a bad job.

If I want to be engaged in conversation, I tell them about the ecological work I do with a few local universities and the museum.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I usually tell them I own a cleaning company, if they are not impressed BFD!

I don't try or care to impress people, I am who I am. (sounds like Popeye LOL) I just don't give a rats ass about who they are or what they have, if they ain't sharing it with me, then I could care less.
8)

On location fiber sanitation expert LOL

 

[Jimmy L]

I say nothing.



But I do work the room by talking to everybody. I ask what they do for a living and by the time I leave a little clique they all love me. Asking about
"THEIR" interests makes them feel good about themselves and eventually you.All because you were interested enough to inquire about their lives.

All inquires to what I do are redirected to talk more about "Them".

I am the handsome mystery man. Women will suddenly reach out to touch you feeling you are a long lost friend. When curiosity does get to them and they in unison scream out "WHAT DO YOU DO?" I meekly say,

"I clean carpet and furniture"

Then all their eyes look down to the floor and they turn around and ignore me. I then find a corner of the room and stand there quietly until its time to leave.

 

[Don M]

I am a environmental technician. Then just walk away or do not speak again. They give you the weirdest look.

 

[harryhides]

I get paid to play with crayons . . . . . .

 

[vincent]

I'll say I own a carpet cleaning company, and oh by the way, is your husband still in jail?

 

[FB7777]

when asked I tell them I have a carpet cleaning company


it doesn't come up often, I find that to be a pretentious question, typically asked by someone that yearns to tell you what they do for a living


in creativity of conversation, it is one step up from asking about the weather

 

[Bob Foster]

I tell them I'm a carpet cleaner and all the time they are thinking yup he looks like a janitor too....

 

[Desk Jockey]

I work as a lab technician for the Center for Disease Control, then cough after you shake their hand! :shock:

 

[Jimmy L]

Oh brother..that's original...DUH!

 

[Desk Jockey]

Go eat your chunky monkey and melow out......dude!

 

[diamond brian]

Pen and pencil repair.

 

[Jimbo]

My answer:

I'm in my 28th year of increasing people's SELF-ESTEEM....
















by keeping their floor coverings cleaned!

 

[Aaron Richards]

I tell them I own a carpet cleaning business. If their not impressed, BFD! I am very proud of what I do, and I love having the freedom to take a day off for kids activities @ school, or just because I wanna go fishing!

As far as my kids go, I don't want them to be proud of me because of what I did for a living. I want them to be proud of me for being the best DAD I could be. I love them very much, and they know it! That's what's important to me.

 

[roro]

I usually tell them I work for a building services company - how about yourself....
If they want to know more - specialist cleaning, restoration, pest control, topical coatings, decontamination blah, blah blah.

roro

 

[Jack May]

Like others, it depends on who's asking.

Short answer to close conversation is I'm a carpet cleaner.

Open ended answer is usually about my more specialised services working for insurers, retailers etc. In other words, I'll tell them what my passion is as far as my job is concerned, but I almost always try and get them talking about their work as well.

John

 

[Jim Bethel]

I know Shorty tells people....

"I am an executive indoor pollutant and enemy foreign soil eradication engineer"

Jim

 

[Chris Muetterties]

We have a Cleaning & Restoration Company

 

[Jack May]

Jim, you beat me to it.

I was trying to find one of Shorty's old cards to get the wording correct

John

 

[Scott S.]

i tell them i own a Cleaning Company. somtimes they are impressed sometimes they arent.

isnt hard to impress people in my town.

sometimes i get the question from people i know.

"why are you doing that when you have a good job and good insurance"
i just tell them i like cleaning better than making parts. which is true, i also like being out and about and meeting new people. i figure that i have cleaned enough crappy carpets that i should be immune to just about everything by now.

 

[-JB-]

I tell 'em . . . "none of your damn business! You just get back to work, and remember I said medium-rare this time Einstein!"

 

[Steve in Omaha]

Self employed, for openers

 

[Becker]

I got to tell ya.

I live in a neighborhood much like Wisteria lane.
You know the hood, every tries to impress and out do their neighbor, most drive high end cars, blaa blaa blaa.
BMWs are the norm.


So when all the working stiffs leave long before I do, and roll in as I'm working in the yard, or watching Alex play with other kids in the hood as I chat it up with the stay at home mom's.. I have to tell ya they wonder what I do.

No shame in what I do.

Today was a long day.. Left the house at 9:am and got home at 4:30 pm.

Avg working stiff in my hood leaves at 7am and rolls back in between 6pm or later.

Really nice hours, good pay.

 

[Steve in Omaha]

amen brother becker,

but dang it, I'm the guy that's out early and home late.

 

[Rex Tyus]

I tell them I am a kept man. Never cared much for those that would judge me by my occupation. So I take the other extreme.