| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Do your neighbors know what you do for a living? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do your neighbors know what you do for a living?".
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Why, there's nothing to be ashamed of  ). It reminds me the title of a book written by Jacques Séguela, an advertisement mogul: "Ne dites pas à ma mère que je bosse dans la publicité, elle me croit pianiste dans un b..."
| | | | Hipyan Nopri 
Indonesia
Local time: 16:09
English to Indonesian
+ ...
In fact, my neighbours do ask me of what I do for a living, and I tell them what I do. However, because people rarely find someone whose profession is a translator, they seem to be confused of what I do.
[Edited at 2007-11-12 12:38]
| | | | John Cutler
Spain
Local time: 11:09
Spanish to English
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| Yes, no, I don't know | Nov 12, 2007 |
Like most city dwellers in Spain I live in an apartment building. In my building there are 15 dwellings, and I have different levels of familiarity with all of them. So some of them do know and I’m sure others don’t.
The neighbour upstairs (the one who puts on her high heels and starts machine-gunning around her apartment every Saturday morning around 7 am) definitely doesn’t know what I do. Nor do the ones who live diagonally above us and also seem to outfit their active 3 ye... See more Like most city dwellers in Spain I live in an apartment building. In my building there are 15 dwellings, and I have different levels of familiarity with all of them. So some of them do know and I’m sure others don’t.
The neighbour upstairs (the one who puts on her high heels and starts machine-gunning around her apartment every Saturday morning around 7 am) definitely doesn’t know what I do. Nor do the ones who live diagonally above us and also seem to outfit their active 3 year old with combat boots every Saturday morning and often times until very late in the evening. They’re the ones who I would have answered, “No, and I don’t care”.
The one who does know is the woman on the 2nd floor who pops in unannounced for a coffee whenever it suits her. She’s seen me emerge out of my office enough times to get the basic gist of what I do.
I think all the others assume I’m an independently wealthy gringo (or “guiri” as they say here) because when I work at home they see me coming and going at times when any self-respecting person should be "working" 
[Editado a las 2007-11-12 13:08] ▲ Collapse
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I am usually too busy for socializing. I have no time to get to know a neighbour. Neighbours of half a century have come to know and respect my polite aloofness. New neighbors, however, at the begining are more curious and try to piock up a conversation but soon enough they give up when they see a glased look in my eyes and a general look of disinterestedness.
My attitude is that I have far better things to do than know what aneighbour does for a living. Similary, I think, have far ... See more I am usually too busy for socializing. I have no time to get to know a neighbour. Neighbours of half a century have come to know and respect my polite aloofness. New neighbors, however, at the begining are more curious and try to piock up a conversation but soon enough they give up when they see a glased look in my eyes and a general look of disinterestedness.
My attitude is that I have far better things to do than know what aneighbour does for a living. Similary, I think, have far better things to do than to inquire into what I do for a living.
Of course there is nothing wrong in what I do. I am not ashamed of my profession. But I value my privacy and do not wish to expose myself to "neighbourly inquisitivness".
If I do not care what a neighbour does for a living, why do neighbours care about what I do for a living. I keep my distance and encourage them to keep their distance.
Insociable? Maybe. But I cannot see what is to be gained by, to my mind, unnecessary conversations. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Salam Alrawi
United States
Local time: 04:09
English to Arabic
+ ...
well, my neighbours and my friends and may be most of my country know that me (a doctor and my coleage doctors) are sitting without jobs and left the hospitals after the occupation of Iraq,
and they know that I am trying to do any job I can find for living,
It is something all the world know about it, so even if I want to hide it then I can't )
Thank you very much,
Best regards,
Salam
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I am often wondering if my neighbours think I'm just a lazy girl, who sits at home all day, watches tv and gets her bread and butter from mommy and daddy... that's at least how some of them look at me
| | | | | I don't think so... | Nov 12, 2007 |
I live in an old 4 apartment building in the old part of the city, and in all other 3 houses live old widows who not only do not know what I do, but think in pesetas and cannot understand that one can work via internet. I think they all pity me and think I have no job!
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| Jobs from neighbours | Nov 12, 2007 |
In our immediate neighbourhood (a row of 9 terraced houses), at least two families (and probably more) know my work. In fact I have done translation jobs for these two families.
Come to think of it, in most cases I know what the people in our row of houses do for a living, too.
In the rest of our street, though, I hardly even know anybody's name, let alone their jobs, and probably hardly anyone knows me.
I have friends and close acquaintances elsewhere, though, and most of them... See more In our immediate neighbourhood (a row of 9 terraced houses), at least two families (and probably more) know my work. In fact I have done translation jobs for these two families.
Come to think of it, in most cases I know what the people in our row of houses do for a living, too.
In the rest of our street, though, I hardly even know anybody's name, let alone their jobs, and probably hardly anyone knows me.
I have friends and close acquaintances elsewhere, though, and most of them know my job (and I am perfectly willing to tell anyone who is interested).
[Edited at 2007-11-12 13:28] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Parrot
Spain
Local time: 11:09
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Why does this sound familiar? | Nov 12, 2007 |
Mohsin Alabdali wrote:
they see a glased look in my eyes and a general look of disinterestedness.
I've done worse. I've responded in other languages.
But seriously... there's one film scriptwriter in the block who sends me texts from time to time. The porter knows I do a lot of work "on computers". But I had to put my foot down everytime he recommended me to teach the neighbours how to run them.
But yes, I'm the weirdo who leaves for the airport with a suitcase when everyone else is working and stays home when everyone else is leaving with their suitcases
| | | | vixen
Greece
Local time: 12:09
English to Dutch
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| Yes; probably not and I don't care | Nov 12, 2007 |
Some of my neighbours do and others don't.
The ones we're friendly with in our street with terraced houses (both on our side and across the street) know what I do for a living and will probably understand why the lights in one of the bedrooms (i.e. my office) are sometimes on until late at night.
My nextdoor neighbours on one side always take care of our cats while we're away on weekends or holidays. The... See more Some of my neighbours do and others don't.
The ones we're friendly with in our street with terraced houses (both on our side and across the street) know what I do for a living and will probably understand why the lights in one of the bedrooms (i.e. my office) are sometimes on until late at night.
My nextdoor neighbours on one side always take care of our cats while we're away on weekends or holidays. They even drive us to/from the airport in the middle of the night. We live quite close to Amsterdam airport (Schiphol). Of course, this works both ways.
My neighbours on the other side hate our guts after a dispute over a garden fence, so they probably don't know what I do for a living, and I don't care. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Williamson
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:09
Flemish to English
+ ...
| Office knights | Nov 12, 2007 |
My neighbours are "office-knights", who get up early to go to their office, face a two hours traffic jam and fight their career battle for a meager salary. The other neighbour is a wealthy lady, who does not need to work. She has enough money and enjoys life to the full...
How you can earn money with a pc (ranging from freelance translation to freelance programming to freelance website-building) is not fully understood and i am not going to tell them.
[Edited at 2007-11-12 14:32]
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Rebecca Garber
Local time: 05:09
Member (2005)
German to English
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| Several of my immediate neighbors work out of the house as well | Nov 12, 2007 |
So maybe I just live on a really odd street.
There is the guy who repairs musical instruments (brass, so he won't touch my daughter's flute, drat), the statisitical analyst next door, the translator (me), the retired IT guy (now an artist and musician), and the real estate agent.
The people with normal jobs (except for the piano teacher), live across the street.
So I know what my neighbors do for a living, and they know what I do. We also trade off watching kids and... See more So maybe I just live on a really odd street.
There is the guy who repairs musical instruments (brass, so he won't touch my daughter's flute, drat), the statisitical analyst next door, the translator (me), the retired IT guy (now an artist and musician), and the real estate agent.
The people with normal jobs (except for the piano teacher), live across the street.
So I know what my neighbors do for a living, and they know what I do. We also trade off watching kids and pets, and knowing who works at home makes it easier to borrow cooking/baking ingredients or various gardening implements on short notice.
We had a chance to move, but stayed because we like the neighborhood so much. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Yes - a cheap way to advertise! | Nov 12, 2007 |
I like to tell my neighbours what I do, if it creeps up in the conversation. I like to think that should any of them hear of a need for a translator at their workplace they might say 'I know just the person'! Unfortunately, as the only English person in the village I'm more likely to get asked 'My child is really struggling with English at school, I suppose you couldn't tutor him?'. They suppose right!
[Edited at 2007-11-12 15:44]
| | | | Saifa (X)
Local time: 11:09
German to French
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| Some do, other don't | Nov 12, 2007 |
The neigbours I am used to talk to (more than just "hello") usually know what I do, like I generally know what their job is and the name of their dog.
I have nothing to hide, and as Victoria, I consider it a good way of advertising.
Our direct neighbour told me that she thought at the beginning that we were rich guirís (foreigners) who do not need to work!
So I explained her what we did exactly. Everybody here understands one can work via Internet, as many neighbours ... See more The neigbours I am used to talk to (more than just "hello") usually know what I do, like I generally know what their job is and the name of their dog.
I have nothing to hide, and as Victoria, I consider it a good way of advertising.
Our direct neighbour told me that she thought at the beginning that we were rich guirís (foreigners) who do not need to work!
So I explained her what we did exactly. Everybody here understands one can work via Internet, as many neighbours who owe of a little shop also order their stuff online or get e-mails of clients etc. ▲ Collapse
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