Humans being, doing and going

In this Seattle Times article about complaints about dating from men in their 40s and 50s:

"I'll meet a woman and the first thing she'll do is ask 'What do you do?' They'll weigh your wallet," says Scott Abraham, a 53-year-old Seattle counselor who says he's given up on dating. "I have a friend who's a doctor, but he never wants to tell women that because he'll be treated differently. We went out one time and he said, 'OK, tonight, you be the doctor.' He's a good-looking guy, but that night, I got all the attention. I had my choice of three or four women. He said he sold cars and he got no attention."

I have my own theories about why people ask "What do you do?" of people they've just met. I think people are reluctant to get too heavy and talk about really meaningful things with strangers, and the fact is that most people just don't find their work that meaningful. It doesn't really say that much about them -- except maybe how long they went to school and how much money they make as a consequence. There must be doctors who don't make huge amounts of money, though -- I'd love to go around saying "I'm a doctor" and then follow it up with "But I work at a community clinic and I only make $40,000 a year" and see how it changes things.

Of course, this whole notion of "She's only interested in me for my money" is the premise behind tons of fiction and movies. "Let's Make Love," for example, where a "billionaire" who is the subject of a satirical off-Broadway revue falls in love with one of the show's stars but hides his identity until he's sure she loves the real him. And you can probably think of countless variations of this.

But that's hilarious, the doctor saying to his friend "You be the doctor tonight."