For many people, it's all they have.

are you american? that's pretty standard for neurotypical and neurotypical masking circles. everyone you don't know is going to get filtered through the "what do you do for work?" question. it's not that uncommon to get asked that even in more queer and neurodivergent circles, but significantly less so. it's treated as both like an establishment of hierarchy (which is generally to be gracefully set aside by most people, once established) and a means to quickly assess someone's likely social circles and norms. people who suck do, and people who mean well also do it. american life is so centered on getting sold for labor that different cliques use work as a general compass by which to navigate social life and evaluate opinions of others.

Yes, pretty common. It takes up close to half of our waking hours (oh god oh god )

I guess closer to a third when taking away weekends.

Its probably the nr.1 thing people that dont know each other very well talk about with each other.

it's basically low level small talk.

also i think the vast majority of people stress about their job in some capacity outside of work, especially since i think just about everyone is grossly overworked to an overwhelming level these days

so it's a way to blow off steam too, sort of empathically share in the misery

It is unfortunately very normal. If people talk too much about their job I look for a way to exit the conversation. Talk to me about something interesting or I'm gone.

I think it's only normal to talk about your job if you're either talking to new people, or if it's a new job and therefore a new experience for you.

Its common small talk and a convo people start to do social gauging as others in this thread have said. You don't always have to respond to every conversation, just listening is ok and if something catches your ear you can ask more.

When first getting to know each other, talking about your job is normal. You’re learning about the other person and vice versa.

Venting about bullshit at work is also normal.

Celebrating BIG achievements at work is also normal.

But talking about Sarah doing this or Joe doing something funny or how many tickets you got left. No that’s not normal. That’s annoying as shit. It is common though.

Unfortunately yes, it's like the most common ”adult” subject.

The level of focus on it that you describe sounds bizarre to me. I can see shooting the shit about how much our jobs suck maybe once.

I always ask people what do you do for fun that's not work related and get far more interesting convos

Unless of course you get the nerd that's reading philosophy still haven't figured that one out yet

Most conversations generally fall into four categories:

Work

Kids

The last vacation you had

The last good meal you had.

If you don't have kids, like me, or if you don't go on vacation, it's very limiting. You can sub out vacation for whatever interesting thing you've done recently. I'd say keep the job talk mostly to a minimum, unless the person You're talking to is in the same line of work. People love to commiserate about bad jobs or bosses. I feel like there's a line though. People don't really want to hear other people talk about something they can't relate to, and complaining about work/coworkers too much can come off as negative.

The real answer is don't overthink it. I am also very socially awkward and I find if I just force myself to act like people expect, the ice gets broken, and I can let my guard down.

Today, I got thrown into a situation at work where I had to explain an aspect of a job to a new person who I hadn't even been introduced to. I just started doing the task, then when I couldn't bear the weight of the awkwardness of having not yet introduced myself but giving direction, I just got it over with. Our next interaction went fine.

Actually, two new people started today and the other one is very outgoing. He just kind of let me hop in on a conversation without a formal introduction, and that went well.

It's weird, because I'm so awkward in my head, but I'm generally well liked. I'm polite, and I don't dominate conversations, and can usually come up with something interesting or something in common with just about anyone.

Yes, it's all people talk about. It's fucking awful.

Wage war on neurotypical culture. Make it stop. I'm so fucking tired hearing about work

Yea

It can be neutral ground to start a conversation on.

The questions asked or stories about work that are told, aren't going to be super personal. In general, everybody "has to work" in some capacity so it can be a way to find a generally common experience to break the ice with.

But yeah, any job that I was actively enjoying I never expected anybody to be even a little bit interested in so I'd give the most short answers possible to try to politely communicate that, "I've got nothing to say to you about what I do for work."