What do you do for a living?

When I'm asked that question in the Netherlands, it always gives me pause. Either I give a vague answer or I answer truthfully. If I answer vaguely, I can usually dodge the question because it's not polite to dig when someone is being vague. At the same time, I try to remain polite and not throwing up a "verbal wall" where someone is like "whoops, did I just stir a trauma patient?"

A mixture of respect, skepticism and disbelief

The other choice is saying that I'm an independent entrepeneur; a professional gamer; an esports athlete."So you play computer gameS?" is often the retort. It's a question mingled with a mixture of respect, disdain, disbelief all at the same time. People usually cannot hide their first reaction very well, when they are surprised by something like that. Invariably, the stereotype makes its entrance in my conversation partner's mind. They take another good look at my physique; perhaps my eyes are a bit squarish, and perhaps those pants are more baggy than they looked like at first sight.

My dear readers, this blog continues at:

http://myeg.net/blogs/user_blog.php?blog_id=350