"What do you do?"

I've come to dread that question, which is increasingly common. We're a society of individuals that relate on a personal level with our workplace identities, so the query is all but impossible to avoid.

My dread does not come from a dislike of my work--quite the contrary, I'm very passionate about my career as a communications professional in the insurance industry. What causes my aversion to the occupation question is the difficulty I have in simply explaining my work. First, I have to describe my profession itself, public relations, which is intangible--how do you explain the purpose that media pitches and bylines serve to your 80-year-old grandmother?

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