I’m beginning to wonder… has snobbery become an epidemic? I guess before you can answer that question we should define a snob. A snob is anyone who takes a small part of you and uses it to make a complete picture of who you are. For example, “what do you do?” Have you heard that one recently? That question itself really isn’t bad. It’s usually the snob, who creates an entire portrait of you based on your work, who is bad.

But to be serious for a second, the idea of creating a character assumption based on someone’s job title excludes a person’s being in it’s entirety. Imagine a pile of business cards. Could you pick your best friend from those cards? Well most people ask the question, “what do you do”, to decide whether or not they will continue the conversation with an upbeat tone or check their watch & move on.

Shift Your Approach

Lead into conversations by asking people “What are you into?” Not only will it offer people the opportunity to discuss what they are really passionate about, but you will also get a more diverse group of answers that will lead into a more interesting conversation. Not to mention… it’s way less snobtastic.