Decision not to ask what they do for a living when I people for the first time

I stopped asking people what they do for a living if it Is not a business-related meeting.

How much can you learn about the people you first met via asking their occupation? Not so much since work does not define anyone and tell who they are. I slowly find this somewhat not genuine. What does this question often imply? Educational, social, financial background, etc. There’s bias and job-shaming culture involved. It is not your intention but modern culture and media keep sending this kind of message on what success look like and what most people “should” admire. If we are not careful, those ideas stick with us without filtering.

We should be more conscious about judgement on certain jobs. How is it ok to judge someone’s work based on the amount of the money or status? How is it humane that we treat people differently based on the material gains? We are all someone’s precious sons, daughters, friends, neighbors and loved ones. We are ALL precious and should say no to the bias. If we ever going to judge someone by what they do for a living, let’s do by how much they contribute to the communities and how much they enjoy.

If you think you are free from the bias and unfair judgement, imagine that you just met two new people. One is CEO of multi-billon tech company and other is a waitress (Don’t get me wrong I love my servers. Some of them are my friends. It is just an example). Can you treat the exactly the same inward and outward? If you are not sure on this, let’s not ask the question. We can ask what they enjoy doing, what are their hobbies, current interests and even exchange some ideas on future gatherings. You will get to know someone better this way and get connected more. It will open your and their hearts faster. Let’s be free from the bias and treat our friends the way we want to be treated. We all want friendships because we like each other. What does occupation have anything to do with it? There’s no harm in trying this out and share your experiences!