Mmmm...social gatherings. Particularly when I don't know a lot of people present.  It's not just the small talk - after all, strangers have to start somewhere.  It's the tendency for peopls of to say scertain things when/if they find out I am a musician - when a person gives you that "Oh that's so cute" look and you see it coming...

   So...what's the name of your band"
   In of itself, this is not a bad question whatsoever...however the legitimacy of your response is premised on immediate commercial recognition else they look past you with that lazy Sunday afternoon kind of gaze.  You can tell them your band MonkeySnot (emphasizing it as one word) just got signed by Simon Cowell and will be playing the superbowl halftime show.  Then they will pat you on the head.

  "You must have a lot of groupies."
  This one is a real peach!   It tells you more about a person's motivation for doing something.  Because we embark on this journey of developing a craft and perpetual hustling so we could be pre-emptively renown for being whores.  Brilliant.

  "What is your real job?"
  In Bill Bruford's Bill Bruford The Autobiography he writes about getting the exact same question at his wife's gatherings.  Even after his long list monumental musical achievments.  I figured if Bill still deals with it I can "roll" with it.  I understand if a person does not know a musician can make a living without being famous - 
but their disbelief indicates they knows nothing of self-employment or entrepreneurship.  This is exemplified by their insanity of living for a pension they're never going to get.

  "You must love not having to get up early."
  Gotcha...

  "You must love the flexible hours."
  I can't even rationalize from where this deluded statement arrives but I keep hearing it.

  "Well at least you're doing what you love to do."
  Do people ever say this to hookers?  It's the "at least" part...I'm sorry, what did I miss?  Oh that's right - this isn't my real job (see above).

  Ultimately you begin to wonder if thoughtless statements and questions are just airing grievances by those who resent not having the courage to follow through on their own interests.  Then again such people wouldn't have the depth to have a desire for self-actualization in the first place.

  It's not that I'm offended per se by these things but that I am utterly bored by this kind of insistent palaver. It is completely different when a person is sincerely interested and it's not hard to tell. 

  Thoughts? Comments? Criticisms?