this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2023
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In America, every job. People make it their identity. It's the first thing they ask or tell people they meet most of the time. They make themselves what they do.
I get both PoVs. For some, it's just a clock in clock out type thing they do just to survive and maybe pay for their other passions. For others, they spent a majority of their lives training, learning, licensing, and practicing a skillset to perform their work. It's fairly often a large part of one's identity and it's not a negative thing. Though it may be a negative thing to assume someone is only their job.
But I can hardly blame someone for seeing themselves first as a scientist, artist, lawyer, or whatever.
Is it really not like this elsewhere?
LoL no. It's definitely an Anglo thing. I had a Spanish friend that I've played music with for years and I didn't know what he did until last night. I wish we weren't so focused on thinking that our way of life must be so perfect. Work sucks, sitting in traffic sucks, yet we spend almost all of our waking life doing just that.
You've known a guy for years and never bothered to ask what his day job is?
Yes our interests are outside of work. I also don't ask where he vacations, what kind of bed he sleeps on, or where he fills up his car with gas, though I'm sure he spends some of his life doing those as well. His job is not his personality and neither is mine.
Yeah,... With people who aren't coworkers we still fall into, "looking forward to the long weekend", "crazy dude was at work today", and work-related stuff like that.
Yeah but thats a southern europe thing you people lack any sort pride loyalty or work ethics thats why the civilised parts of europe has too bail you out all the time
I think every country has people with a personality-vacuum that they've filled with a job. But in my anecdotal, personal experience, Americans tend to do it far more often (they also work WAY more).
It's less the core identity of people in the rest of the world.
"Americans live to work, Europeans work to live."
You really think Americans start conversations in bars by saying, "hi, I'm a mechanic. What do you do?' This Internet idea of what Americans do is ridiculous. Anyone who spends time (paid or unpaid) doing something they're passionate about will talk about it.