DEAR MISS MANNERS: I work from home, at an online job that is writing- and photography-based. While I make a full income, many of my friends and family don’t consider it a real job.
I am never asked about it while at functions, but family and friends on both sides ask my husband about his job. (He works in corporate real estate, and has sold a number of sizable buildings.)
When someone does mention my work, it is sarcastically (“Well, at least he gets up and goes to work every day”) or as an offhand question that the asker doesn’t really want the answer to (“Are you telling me you really make money doing that?”).
How am I to respond? I’m very supportive of my husband’s job, and he is of mine. It’s making me not want to go to functions anymore.
GENTLE READER: Understandably. Parties at which people talk only about jobs and rate one another accordingly cannot be much fun -- even for those who pass the test, such as your husband.
In your case, they have gone beyond the pretense of conversation to insult you. So Miss Manners will permit you to make a stiff reply: “You are not familiar with the world of online careers, are you?” and, if necessary, the protestation that “it would be too much of a bore to explain the basics.”