To hate cryptic people

[m0therofdragons]

This is inspired by a friend's dh. Known them for years and still no clue what his job is. It's come up in conversation but he is so vague. My theories are:

1. He's an arms dealer or other kind of illegal activity (but wears smart clothing)... maybe top drug lord?

1. He's a spy.

1. He thinks his job is to intelligent for us to understand.

1. His job is just really dull/he's embarrassed by it.

I have an uncle who has a job he cannot discuss and I understand this but this guy is just cryptic "oh it's kind of like sales but not quite" but then he answers everything like this. Just answer the question. Don't most people know what friends do for a living?

He doesn't have a job at all.

Adds pleas for the answer to the riddle.

I don't get it either. I don't think many people do as no one is saying!

Maybe he’s some kind of porn producer.

A good friend of mine is a high ranking army officer. When discussing jobs with people he's just met, he'll invariably say he's in the civil service. Cuts right down on the nosy questions explaining.

'Sales' seems like a perfectly adequate answer.

*RIDDLE ANSWER - don't look if you want to work it out yourself
*
My first is in daY, but never in night,
Next is an article which hides in plAin sight.
The rest is the sound of an exclamation,
One usually made to give people a fright. Boo (BU)

Sol it's YABU.

If someone has made it quite clear they don’t like being questioned in detail about their work that should be respected IMO. Rude to go on doing it.

I don't disclose my job to most folk because I get mithered to death for the rest of the evening if I do

Ha! Thank you - that's brilliant

We used to spend a lot of time with another family in the 90s. Our respective children were friends at school and it developed from there. The husband of this family was always around, every day, at whatever time of day. Blokes often ask each other about their jobs and I saw nothing wrong in having the conversation with this particular guy.

He was very vague and cryptic. He had been in the army before he got married but he said he was involved in his parents’ business. His wife said he was a writer and for ages she would say he was working on a historical novel. His children loved the fact that he was always at home.

We never knew very much about him at all until he left his wife and children for another woman. She then told us that in fact he had no job at all and that they lived on financial handouts from his parents’ business. It was a women’s clothing shop that never appeared to have any customers and sold clothes that you wouldn’t imagine any woman ever wearing anyway. The family lived rent-free in a maisonette over the shop. The most charitable conclusion might be that he was a part-owner of his parents’ business and the handouts were dividends.

When the dust had settled after their divorce we felt he had made fools of us, living a double life whilst appearing to be a happily married family man when he clearly had some dark secrets. He had spent a good deal of time with us and our family in our home, accepting our hospitality and charming our children. Once he had left his family we never heard anything about him again and the friendship with his former wife and children faded as the children grew up and went their separate ways.

One of our neighbours was one of the close protection police men, he had a gun and had to carry his passport at all times, he'd disappear for weeks at a time, which was quite handy as he was living a double life, one with his wife, another with a girlfriend with whom he had a baby. When the shit hit the fan, he was the talk of Sheffield

Is he a clamper?

Sorry, I couldn't help myself! Ive been to a very long and boozy lunch. Except I was the designated driver, so just water for me. peachgreen's answer works perfectly well, the answer I had in mind is below.

My first is in da Y, but never in night,
Next comes AN article, it's hidden in plain sight, (the word article in a crossword clue often points to a definite or indefinite article, the, a or an)
It ends with the sound of an exclamation,
Which is usually used to give people a fright. (sounds like 'boo')

YANBU

I agree with a PP it's a way for people to sort of categorise where you fit in the big scheme of society. Also a lot of people don't do very exciting jobs so don't want to dwell on something that's not that interesting. I tend to broadly give the industry but not specific role; not because I'm trying to be mysterious but because by and large to me its just a job. Some people are also embarrassed by what they do.

To be honest, I'm not sure many people know what I actually do but friends know where I work and have a very vague idea. Honestly not expecting the full ins and outs and if he said sales that's one thing but what the hell is "sort of sales but not quite".

I don't understand why you would say civil service rather than army or Navy etc. My friend is a Commodore in the Navy. When people ask him his job he says "I'm a Commodore in the Navy. I fly helicopters." It's not difficult.

I have a job I can't discuss with people. I just tell people I do filing, it's part of my job, so not a lie. People rarely ask for more details as it sounds so boring and self-explanatory, why bother. It wards off overly intrusive people effectively.

Your friend's DH would be better off doing the same.

Not everyone wants to talk about work. Why try to force the issue for your own satisfaction? He could have any number of good reasons for not saying more. It may be a job which is private/secret, something exciting/important but he's deliberately playing it down, or he's working for a famous customer who doesn't want their staff "outed", or a job/company which is controversial in some way and he'd get people arguing at him every time he told them his job.

French Ducks but "an" isn't hidden in plain sight, only "a" is. So YABU

Yeah, sorry, Frenchy - your riddle only works if the OP IBU.

I was having a chat with some people down the pub. One bloke was adamant that he could not talk about his job. He said it was complicated and scientific! I was pissed and persisted in asking him what he did.

He was a chiropractor!

Is he a transponster?

DH has a slightly odd job - not something standard that people would know and to be honest even after 10 years I don't understand it . His title sounds very important so it sounds wanky to say it but I can't explain so I just say oh its something in blah blah industry.

“I don't understand why you would say civil service rather than army or Navy etc. My friend is a Commodore in the Navy. When people ask him his job he says "I'm a Commodore in the Navy. I fly helicopters." It's not difficult.

It IS difficult sometimes when you can’t talk about your job. If you’re TOO general then you run the risk of someone saying “oh I used to work for the civil service, in the passport office , where are you based?” And if you don’t work there but in some sector you can’t yalk about then you’re stuffed.

Quite ordinary people have jobs which they can’t talk about to all and sundry, you know. It’s a myth that they are all James Bond types. Who do you think follow suspected terrorists? Or gangmasters? Armed drug dealers? Or VAT fraudsters (a criminal conviction for which could involve years in jail)?

Just ordinary people.

they need to keep a low profile and that includes in their local neighbourhood. As funnily enough criminals live in normal places too, not underground lairs.

I have a friend whose husband is a policeman. I've known her for years and she doesn't know that I know, and I have to be careful not to let it slip that I do know because then she'll wonder how I know and she'll suspect other friends of telling me. It's very complicated.

All he would say was that he was employed by the civil service, and because of the Official Secrets' Act he was not allowed to discuss what it was he actually did

Surely anyone who actually has a job they can't talk about would have a credible cover story and never allude to the fact that they can't tell you what they do. You'd just think they were an accountant or whatever and never question it.