Got an elevator talk? You know a little spiel you spill after the ice is broken, and you’re asked, “Well, what do you do?”
If it’s straightforward, that’s good – banker, lawyer, nurse, auto mechanic, or writer. It’s more difficult when what you do requires paragraphs rather than sentences. So folks who do more esoteric things sometimes simplify them to avoid the bored looks that come after five minutes.
I stopped explaining to people I was, in fact, a practicing anthropologist. I just shortened it to me working as a videographer and a marine woodcarver, I stopped because I was tired of paragraph-long explanations of what I did. Also, people grasped what a videographer was. A sentence or two served for the more esoteric role of the marine carver. People like simple. Simple is good. It allows them to put you into the correct echelon in the ranks of things they know about. You know which column, row, ranking, and statistics. It keeps the concept of identity basic.
But I slip up from time to time. The other day, I talked about gardening with a few folks I knew, and I identified some plants they could not identify. It casually slipped out that this one was popularly used in some cultures as an abortifacient, that one to help with menstrual cramps, and that the other one was a vulnerary used to help control bleeding. They looked at me in curiosity and asked how I knew these things. I replied that in another career as a practicing anthropologist, ethnomedical practices and the use of plants in treating illnesses had been an area of research and interest. This revelation required the requisite two paragraphs of explanation.
It would have been more exciting and simple if I had slipped up and told them about my years as a secret agent, the gun-running to Central America, or my role in suppressing the details on Area 54 and the secret alien invasion.
None of this stuff was true, but they would have understood and given me a knowing look. Mission accomplished, nice and simple!
I need to work on the Area 54 spiel. It sounds a lot more believable than being an anthropologist. Don’t you agree?
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I don’t have an elevator talk beyond, “I retired from 30+ years of teaching several years back.” That leads to “What did you teach?” The answer, “English” and they all move away from me on the Group W bench… 🤣
I thought you looked familiar!! You were right next to the kid shouting Kill! Kill! Kill!
And shoutin’ all kinds of groovy things…
And when you’re retired: “What do you do?” “Whatever I want.” “Yes, but what do you do?” we could do this all day….
I think being an anthropologist is absolutely fascinating. I’d be inclined to say: Tell me more.
I thought witch doctor ….