When you read a list of professions from earlier times, it reads like a roster of surnames. That’s because people were identified by what they did for a living (as opposed to recently, when we pay attention to what’s on their iPod).  John Smith was a person named John who worked as a blacksmith; Bill Sawyer was a lumberjack, and so on.  In India, in the Parsee community, you’ll find people with surnames such as Contractor, Doctor, Engineer, etc. But watch and see: when someone asks, “Who is he;” “Who is she,” invariably, people start to describe what they do and with whom they are associated.  “Oh, he is a salesman over at the Ford dealership,” or, “She is the preacher’s wife.”

Continue reading WHAT YOU DO IDENTIFIES YOU