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When we attended the Haiti Benefit Auction Labor Day weekend- my husband tends to get bored sitting in the auction part long- I don't, I enjoy it very much, so he roams around, looks at things here & there, etc-

One very awkward thing happened he didn't understand-
One of the people working the Benefit Auction (presumably Mennonite as he knows Amish appearance well) asked him this question:

"What do you do all day?"

My husband didn't know why someone would ask him that out of the blue.

Were they suspicious of him? He said a little girl had run in and out of one of the tents when she saw him- I don't know if someone wondered why he was there or if he was with someone or what- but he didn't know what to think-

So when a Conservative Anabaptist approaches a man and says:

"What do you do all day?"

Are they simply curious or what is that about? He seemed concerned that he was held suspect or something. It's an unusual question (for outsiders) to approach someone with-

Valerie wrote:When we attended the Haiti Benefit Auction Labor Day weekend- my husband tends to get bored sitting in the auction part long- I don't, I enjoy it very much, so he roams around, looks at things here & there, etc-

One very awkward thing happened he didn't understand-
One of the people working the Benefit Auction (presumably Mennonite as he knows Amish appearance well) asked him this question:

"What do you do all day?"

My husband didn't know why someone would ask him that out of the blue.

Were they suspicious of him? He said a little girl had run in and out of one of the tents when she saw him- I don't know if someone wondered why he was there or if he was with someone or what- but he didn't know what to think-

So when a Conservative Anabaptist approaches a man and says:

"What do you do all day?"

Are they simply curious or what is that about? He seemed concerned that he was held suspect or something. It's an unusual question (for outsiders) to approach someone with-

If someone asked me that question I would take it they are asking what my occupation is.
It's just a way to start some small talk with someone and show an interest in their life.

Josh wrote:I regularly make introductions with new people for work in a typical large corporate environment in large American cities, and I almost never get a last name. I usually try to check their cubicle’s name plate or look for an email, etc. so I can keep track of what it is.

When I forget I’m not with plain people and introduce myself as “Josh So and so” people look at me oddly, like why would I share that so soon?

I have noticed this same phenomenon. I seldom remember to do it "right" when I am not in our church setting, or to non-menno visitors to our church... but what you are saying is true there.

ken_sylvania wrote:

Valerie wrote:When we attended the Haiti Benefit Auction Labor Day weekend- my husband tends to get bored sitting in the auction part long- I don't, I enjoy it very much, so he roams around, looks at things here & there, etc-

One very awkward thing happened he didn't understand-
One of the people working the Benefit Auction (presumably Mennonite as he knows Amish appearance well) asked him this question:

"What do you do all day?"

My husband didn't know why someone would ask him that out of the blue.

Were they suspicious of him? He said a little girl had run in and out of one of the tents when she saw him- I don't know if someone wondered why he was there or if he was with someone or what- but he didn't know what to think-

So when a Conservative Anabaptist approaches a man and says:

"What do you do all day?"

Are they simply curious or what is that about? He seemed concerned that he was held suspect or something. It's an unusual question (for outsiders) to approach someone with-

If someone asked me that question I would take it they are asking what my occupation is.
It's just a way to start some small talk with someone and show an interest in their life.

Thank you Ken, I too thought that may be the case & had conveyed that to hubby yet he said it was the way it was put to him that caused him to feel like that wasn't the reason- he may be just super sensitive- Neil had lost his career due to his loss of vision & other health issues at that time, it's difficult to be in his shoes that way & awkward, someone who loved their career to answer a question 'what do you do all day' so maybe that makes him jump to wrong conclusions- I know though that many Amish & Mennonite I have talked to personally just have a different way of phraising things then we had been accustomed to , I will pass on your words, thank you-

ken_sylvania wrote:
If someone asked me that question I would take it they are asking what my occupation is.
It's just a way to start some small talk with someone and show an interest in their life.

Maybe I'm a little different but if someone asks a cockeyed question like that, I will respond in like kind. They deserve it. Be straight forward don't ask me stupid questions.

my guess it was someone who thinks in dutch, and was translating in their head before they asked the question in english.

steve-in-kville wrote:

ken_sylvania wrote:
If someone asked me that question I would take it they are asking what my occupation is.
It's just a way to start some small talk with someone and show an interest in their life.

Maybe I'm a little different but if someone asks a cockeyed question like that, I will respond in like kind. They deserve it. Be straight forward don't ask me stupid questions.

Isn't that a straightforward question?

If a stranger asked me a question like that my quick answer would be "not much". If my brother asked I would tell him to "go shinny up a cactus".

steve-in-kville wrote:

ken_sylvania wrote:
If someone asked me that question I would take it they are asking what my occupation is.
It's just a way to start some small talk with someone and show an interest in their life.

Maybe I'm a little different but if someone asks a cockeyed question like that, I will respond in like kind. They deserve it. Be straight forward don't ask me stupid questions.

This is the kind of attitude that drives wedges between NMB's and MB's. If you want to be catered to, you'd better learn to bend a bit yourself.