Talked to my daughter's friend and she made me rethink how I talk about my work

Her friend is 22 and works at a coffee shop. She asked what I do and I gave my usual spiel about being a project manager. Then she asked if I actually like it. Not what my job is, not what I make, but if I like it. I kind of froze. Nobody has ever asked me that before in 15 years. I've been thinking about it all week. Has anyone else had a young person ask a question that made you stop and really think?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_holly3h ago

Oh man, that question hits different when it comes from someone who hasn't been ground down by the corporate machine yet. I mean, I used to think the whole "do you like it" thing was just something young people said because they hadn't figured out how the real world works yet. But honestly, after reading your post and thinking about it, I totally see what she meant. We get so caught up in titles and paychecks that we forget to check in with ourselves about whether the actual day-to-day is making us happy or just keeping us busy. It's kind of unsettling to realize you've been missing that question for years.

the_simon1h ago

Oh man, yeah that's exactly it. It's wild how we build these whole identities around our jobs but nobody ever asks the simple stuff. Like we all just assume everyone is stuck in the same boat so we don't bother checking in. But that girl asking if you actually like it cuts through all the career ladder stuff and gets to the real heart of it. It's almost like we've been trained to think liking your work is optional or just something for other people. And the fact that it made you stop and think for a whole week says a lot about how disconnected we can get from ourselves. Makes you wonder how many of us are just going through the motions without ever having someone call us out on it.