What do you say when you meet someone and he asks...

[StarDust]

...what you`re doing in life?

I mean if not gonna say I specialize in staying home all day and doing nothing. Nor say I suffer chronic fatigue, most people wouldn't buy it and think I'm a lazy loser. So usually I say I'm student on a break(which is true) and that I'm going back to school soon(which after all is the first thing id do the day I get healthy).

[Chronicfatiguetreatments]

...what you`re doing in life?
I mean if not gonna say I specialize in staying home all day and doing nothing. Nor say I suffer chronic fatigue, most people wouldn't buy it and think I'm a lazy loser. So usually I say I'm student on a break(which is true) and that I'm going back to school soon(which after all is the first thing id do the day I get healthy).

i would usually say "not much", and then just ask them what they do. I got pretty good at avoiding questions that i dont want to answer.
But also after going through all this for so long, i feel like i dont care what people think as much anymore.
I definately have a thicker skin than i had before i got sick

[billoddie]

Yes. Basically no one REALLY cares. Asking how you are is just a rhetorical question. Likewise, I generally say, "yeah, Im Ok", and then just change the topic.

[neil25]

I usually just say i got ill last year and im now recovering to go back to uni. I would try and avoid saying chronic fatigue because no one really understands it.

[crmfghtr]

I say Im a police officer on medical leave. Then they ask what is wrong and I say really bad case of Lupus. Sounds so much better then disability for chronic fatigue syndrome. Might as well have a rubber stamp on my head that says "lazy loser"

[niaholt]

I am now leaving the house again, can meet a friend for coffee.....do small stuff. The suffering over the years has been so intense that I dont want to talk about it with anyone. They will never understand. Being out of the world for so long makes it hard to make conversation that they relate to when you leave religion and politics aside. Altho I have been shut in, I feel my intellect is much higher now and the forums give me the platform to discuss what it is that I feel and elevate me, rather than dumbing me down and making me feel a loser. So why do I need their approval and risk ridicule.? I tended always to be and open honest person, but my grandson tells me I should wear 3 Faces, 1 for my family, 1 for myself and 1 for the world. I think this is wise counsel. I dont need their validation of my illness......I have all of yours.

[renea]

When I'm asked what "I do" I give the person a bright smile and say; " why, I'm the glue that holds the universe together....it's a very hard job and not many people can do it ." I have had CFS for 20 years , so any day that I can get up , get dressed ,go out and have coffee with my friends ,is a good day. I'm just happy to be able to leave the house for an hour or two. One thing that CFS has taught me is to not care what others may think . There are not many who truly understand the day to day living with CFS . You have to take pleasure in the small things around you and try not to care what others may think .

[lili2701]

it's a good question cos I just hate it when people ask me why i'm not working etc grrrrrrrrr i know people talk behind my back and as I look ok they think im depressed or hypocondriac you know.. then when i dont want to talk about it i just say i'm looking for a job but with the crisis is hard to find one..
Even my family thinks i'm lazy so i don't expect people i hardly know to understand CFS..

[piddlywink]

I just cry! No, not really but that is what I generally want to do. "Chronic fatigue, o, well I'm tired all of the time too"and then I picture myself slapping them right off the face of the earth! Normally, it doesn't really bother me that much, its only slightly annoying, but sometimes, when I need people to think more highly of me (ie. bosses at work,teachers,etc)or when I'm talking w family, it can be really hard. We still look healthy, so the assumption is that we are lazy and/or mental. It's unfortunate, but at least we're not so narrow minded.

[Firebird Zar]

Might try this when asked what you do: "I have a dehabilitating conditon. I try to live my life one day at a time and find some way to make my life matter." If the person persist then add: "I find that I cope better if I avoid discussing it, thank you for your concern." At some point you know its just simply none of their business and you don't owe them an explanation.