How do I dodge the "what do you do" question?

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That's good, too! And in this economy, people ought to understand.

You know, when NTs ask 'What do you do?', I think they're trying to place you within a landscape so to speak. I don't think they really mean anything by it.

Yup. It's part of a social ritual and only slightly more meaningful than "How are you?"

But a little bit there's a dark side in that they're trying to decide if you're an 'important' person or not.

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New political slogan:

Aspie, 'Normal,' Different in Different Ways, we're all just people.

We need to be about the business of human liberation.

Our institutions should serve us, not vice versa.

Yep, I'm still a professional. People better damn respect that.

If I can get away with being facetious I usually say "freelance pornographer"

You could say "I am semi-retired" LOL!

So did we!

When people ask me, I usually just say "A little bit of this, a little bit of that..." and just reciprocate the question. Usually they start going off about their job or life or something.

Or you could say, 'I do web design.' Then when they draw it out of you, you could say, 'Well, it's adult content.' And see if they're shocked or not.

What do i do?

I sleep, eat, drink and be merry!

But in all honesty i'd be honest.

However being a student, I may have a different answer if I was in your position.

A comedian was doing a riff on this. He was doing the theme that some people's jobs just don't lend themselves to conversations, and he tells this story where he's sitting next to this guy on a plane and asks the guy what he does. The guy says, "I manufacture ball bearings." The comedian says, now, where do you take the conversation from there.

"The round ones?"

I mean, where do you take it?!?

That's pretty much I did before I was a student when I didn't want to talk about disability. I had written some articles and a book but I noticed that when I said I was a writer, people got really interested and I didn't feel like talking about my writing either. But then I saw that when I described my writing (non-fiction, technical writing, instructional manuals) people got REALLY bored and wanted to talk about something else. So then I was happy to answer "what do you do?" with "I write" because "ooh! Have I read anything you've written?" was answered with, "I don't know - do you like to read technical manuals?" and suddenly the topic of conversation dramatically CHANGED.

Another answer I used to give before I started getting published was to turn it into a joke and then immediately ask them something about themselves to distract them. Like:

"ha ha ha I'm independently wealthy. So, have you lived in this area all your life?"

You could just be honest. There must be some things you do even if they're not at a job.

Can you actually be a student while on disability, or would that mean that you're "not disabled" and cause you to lose disability benefits? (Please specify which country you're answering about, if not the US)

Say "BOOKKEEPING", this will kill the conversation instantly.

"I'm unemployed." *insert lopsided grin* "Don't ask!"

Should convey that there is something more than "I'm a feckless scrounging git out to steal your hard-earned taxes" to the matter while discouraging further questions.