Here is where the tag line for this blog comes from.
By now you have probably figured out that this Blog is about things that I do outside work. What you could call a “hobby”. — However,
this posting is an exception. It is a post about this blog’s tag line,
reading “Things I do when I don’t do…”:
A friend of mine has a French aunt. — But not any French aunt, she is
the epitome of French Auntness: An elderly lady who enjoys the finer
things in life and can do so because she has a considerable fortune at
her disposal.
So when said French aunt was visiting my friend in the States, he
tried to be a good host to her, showing her around in San Francisco
and eventually taking her to a social function where she felt right at
home.
Everything went well until one of the other guests asked her “What do
you do?”. A fairly common question in the States when you want to make
conversation without getting too personal. Even people who don’t have
to work to earn a living will usually come up with some kind of
answer, since your profession still seems to be what puts you on the
social map.
The aunt however did not quite understand the question. Being French,
English is only her second language and apparently she hadn’t heard
the phrase “What do you do?” before. She asked my friend and he tried
to explain the meaning of that question to her:
“He wants to know how you make a living, what you do for work.” my
friend tried to explain. At that point her face lit up, finally
catching on to the meaning of the question she was asked and with the
confidence of a elderly wealthy French lady she replied:
“Oh no, no, no! — I don’t do!”