"So, what do you do for a living?..."

I'm sure other occupations experience this but I find it a bit rude when people comment in a negative way that I'm a professional clown.

It seems strange to me that a person, to my face, would say, "oh, I don't like clowns" or "that's scary" or a hundred variations of those statements.

Isn't that just a bit rude? Why would you say that about someone’s profession? I may try to explain or change the subject, it has always struck me as odd to say that to someone. In one fell swoop, they take away all my passion, my training, the little thank you cards from kids I get. Whether you like clowns or not, it’s my profession, I do love what I do.

I can handle the "oh, you don't seem very funny" comment a lot more. I can appreciate that, because it says, clowns are magical; you should be a clown 24/7 and live in a wonderful little world and eat cotton candy for breakfast. I tend to like these folks a lot more because I can talk about being a clown, my experiences, how I got started, my philosophy of children (which I can talk about forever).

I have asked around to other professions. My dentist also gets these comments, he's the kindest man I know, wonderful with children and adults, yet he gets the "oh, I don't like dentists..." My neighbor is a lawyer. Again, a very nice person, has helped me umpteen times carry heavy things into my house, just because he saw me getting something out of the minivan (yes, I'm a minivan dad). He gets the "Oh, I don't like lawyers..." comment.

I think it's just a lazy thought process. I don't like dental treatments but I sure appreciate dentists and that I live in a country with such good dental care. I have needed the professional services of a lawyer a few times, we really do need lawyers, it's very important. Our laws are what define us as a civilized society.

My thought is that people are repeating the watered down version of what Jay Leno, Howard Stern or David Letterman are saying. These are adept social observers, comedians that have honed their craft over many years to comment on society in a comic way. A good comedian is a philosopher under it all. A good comedian can make observations about what I do, hey, that’s what they do.

I think their comments get repeated and repeated and repeated till they become "oh, clowns are scary". If you just repeat a punch line, it doesn’t make it true.

Whatever the reason. I feel manners are everything in this world. I can't say much to when someone insults me to my face. I will surely find my way out of that conversation as quickly as I can. I can't change rudeness but I don't have to listen to it.