Does your occupation really matter?

[joelmarj]

[quote name='greyblueseas']This is really interesting for me. Naturally, sailing with X is about the type of cruise experience you want, whatever your background or occupation. But asking what people "do" is a standard conversation opener in the UK as well, and one I have been sensitive to since I started having difficulty in finding employment a couple of years ago. I have turned down invitations that would involve meeting new people as the question is inevitable and always brings tears to my eyes as I don't know what to say. For me, it is quite courageous to be meeting new people and risking getting asked the question at the end of April! :)[/quote]

Greyblueskies - trust me when I tell you that you will be sailing with a wonderful group of people in April. Having met several of them already and after chatting plenty with many others I think you will find them to be warm, caring and respectful people. Hopefully you will find yourself at ease quickly so be sure to stop by the martini bar before dinner and we'll be sure the welcome mat is out! SEE YOU IN A MONTH!

[jaxon41]

[quote name='Sky Sweet']In this day and age, I don't think most people judge others by how they chose to earn a living. The question just frequently comes up during a cruise as a way to start a convervation.

However, I do think there are way too many people who judge others by their wealth, or lack of it, without even considering if that person earned their money ethically or helped society in the process. In my opinion, that mindset discourages our youth from striving to become the best they can be, and knowing what is really important in life.[/QUOTE]
skysweet,

I think you nailed it when you said people are sometimes too concerned about wealth and not how it was achieved. That is a particular bugaboo with me. We are taking our first family cruise on Celebrity next spring. DH has a large family, 14 children. The eldest female will not be joining us -- she's too good for us even though she married inherited money. She tells me how she cheats the IRS by charging personal things off to the business, like gas, but then rails against anyone who needs welfare as feeding at the public trough. We are the "rotten limb" of her famliy tree although the family has so much to be proud of because everyone else has made it on their own from very poor beginnings. We will have a surgeon, a CPA, a dental hygenist/inventor/artist, an incredible woocdworker (whose day job is stocking shelves), a retail manager, a steel mill worker, a hospital houskeeper supervisor, a gifted seamstress, a director of a homeless shelter, and a small business owner from our "rotten limb" of siblings going.

As my dear mother used to say -- it is not the money in your pocket that counts, it's the class in your character.

[Cam6959]

Amber14 - I just got off a Celebrity cruise 14day RT to Hawaii. My husband is a railroader and I am a secretary. Did I feel uncomfortable? No. The people on Celebrity are all having a relaxing vacation and they cannot wait to meet new people. Plus I had the people I met here on line to make me feel just as comfortable as can be. :D Our tablemates were the most awesome people you would ever want to meet and everytime we told someone what we do for a living there were always questions, just like we asked questions on what they did. I can honestly say this is the first cruise I went on that I actually felt I made some lasting friends. :) Enjoy!

[RonnieS]

I am common as dirt not born of blue blood. My father drove a beer truck. My mother waitress and sometimes took in ironing to make ends meet. Growing up on Chicago's north shore I was surrounded by old money and lots of snobbery.

However classless character isn't reserved just for the well heeled. I have three in laws with master degrees. They've not 2 cents to rub together between them. Squandered opportunities etc. They look at us with a jealous and envious eye. Always making remarks like "gee going on another cruise, boy it must be nice".

Busting my hump to provide for my family I've reached a comfortable level and I make no apologies nor do I feel guilty for my lifestyle that includes a Celebrity Cruise and other finer things in life.

I've also not forgotten whence I came.

[bububr]

Answer: human being, degreed with a willingness to learn new things achieve new goals and encircle myself with a vast diversity of friends who can show me things I have not seen.

Oh, how do I pay my bills, I work of course. But does it really matter what I do as long as I do?

Dave:eek:

[jessemon]

[quote name='Amber14']I have read the 2 threads posted on this X board and on Carnival board about the differences in the two cruise lines.
We have an X cruise booked but have only been on RCL - never X or Carnival. We chose our X cruise because of what we read on this board, the itinerary and the ship.
On the Carnival thread, they seemed to think X cruisers were snobs who asked what your occupation was 15 minutes after they met you. This can't be true, right?
I am a school librarian and my husband is a carpenter. I would hate to think we would be "looked down on" because we're not in the "money" professions.[/quote]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=red]Amber14,[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=#ff0000]We have cruised on every major cruiseline. Every one of them have their good and not so good points. We have cruised on "X" more than once. As on all cruise lines there are soome snobs. They spin the $20,000 dollar watch around their wrist or tell you how much their hubby spent for the new ring they got today in St. Thomas. I always have a standard line for them..."I'm impressed":rolleyes: [/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=#ff0000]"X" is a great line to cruise on. Most people you will meet are great. Never been asked what I do for a living. If that question did come up in the first 15 minutes of conversation I would tell them I'm a 51 year old male stripper. Then say...got a mental picture yet?:p[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=#ff0000]We would be happy to have a librarian and a carpenter at our dinner table. Libraians have to help teach the snobs brats because they are to busy looking down their noses at people. Carpenters are a gifted group of people that can make something from nothing. Just look in the "Bible". What did "Christ" do for a living ?
When we were on the "Veendam" this past Christmas a fellow walked up to the pool bar and announced to everyone he had just spent $35,000 on a new bracelet for his wife. All I said was, "You got off light". He walked away quietly.:D [/COLOR][/FONT]
;)