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My 14-year-old has discovered the Who, courtesy of the television show "CSI." From her iTunes playlist comes the question written by Roger Daltrey and put to music by Pete Townshend way back in 1978.
Whoooo are you? Who? Who? Who? Who?
It's a reasonable inquiry for a new generation of teens trying to figure out their place in the universe. But as double-digit unemployment and partial employment become a fact of life, plenty of fully formed adults are also wondering who they are now that they aren't doing what they used to do.
It is perhaps distinctly American to link identity with profession. We ask, "What do you do?" – a question with a verb – and, reply, most often with a noun. "I am …" a doctor … a teacher … someone with a job title.
"What do you do?" is a question that resonates in a place like California where people go to escape queries like "Who are your people?" and "Where did you go to school?" But with the state jobless rate topping 12 percent, and untold numbers of Californians working fewer hours, or doubling up on jobs to make ends meet, perhaps it's a question that no longer applies. If you are a state worker moonlighting as a waiter, are you two nouns or one? If you're taking a hiatus from work to raise children or care for aging parents, are you "just" a mom or "just" a son? If your job's been eliminated, are you what you were before you got laid off, or are you simply "unemployed"?
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