As a nerdy teleworker who enjoys the company of machines over people, when I find myself in a social situation (and its not a Vermont .Net Users Group meeting) I am there because it is something I am attending at the request of my super wife. At a dinner party tonight I encountered the question.
“So what do you do, David?”
My response is always the same, “I type.”
At that point my wife always intercedes, describing in simple terms what I do for a living, getting me off the hook. And she always describes in it such a way that it sounds interesting even to me.
I don't know why its so damn hard to come up with a short description for my work. I mean, I've been doing essentially the same thing for the last 10 years; you'd think I would have come up with a decent response by now. In layman's terms, what is it that I do anyway? Well, I build web applications, do database development and graphic design work for a small company in Pittsburgh. But that sounds so lame.
Oh, hell. I think I'll stay with “I type.”