No, I don't do that anymore.

I'm not a computer guy, technically. Yes, I like them, and still play with them, and may be smarter than your average bear when it comes to making them do tricks. But I am not really a computer guy: my field is not in computers, I don't get paid to get annoyed by them anymore, and when it comes to actual tech support knowledge I am well behind in the field. To sum up: I do not use my bachelor's degree in Computer Science. And I am very fine with that.

I expect to some degree I will always be tech support for some friends and family (except for those times where I can dump it on my brother). Luta just called me to figure out how to make Gmail stop intercepting mailto: links. I was able to sort that one out, with some nice guesswork. No problem.

But I didn't expect that random people spotting me in a hall at work would think I was the computer guy. I stepped onto an elevator on the first floor, and a couple visitors and a doctor (who probably has to duck when going through doors he is soo tall! Not relevant, but it was quite the impression) stepped on with me. The doctor I've seen before, and maybe he recognized me though we haven't really met. And he said to me (with an accent), "You computer guy?" "No," I responded, "Pastoral Care." And immediately started wondering what it was that made him think that.

I was wearing a white shirt and a tie. I had my BHE name tag that says "Chaplain Resident" under my name and "Pastoral Care" at the bottom for the discipline, but I can understand he might have not been able to see that and for the most part the tags blend together if you can't read them (Blue = doctor, Grey = student, Green = visitor, Red = everyone else such as Nurses, Techs, Food Services, Janitors, Volunteers, Chaplains, etc.). But I wasn't carrying anything, or wearing anything particularly computer-ish (two pagers, but that's not really special around here).

The visitors exited. Doctor and I continued on to sixth floor. "Pastoral Care. So, that's like Pastor..?" he asked. "Chaplain," I said. "Oh." And after a pause "You're young."

I never know what to say to that. And I don't think a doctor has told me that yet, though I'm sure plenty have thought it. "I think people hear 'Pastor' and would expect someone older." Sure. Just like they hear "Nurse" and don't expect all these women who look like they aren't old enough to graduate from college. Or "Doctor" and not people who look like they were partying at the Frat House last night. But that doesn't mean we aren't skilled, or trained. Oh well, appearances matter, I guess. I wonder about some of these teenage-looking people who are shoving needles in patients...

So was it my age that made him think "computers?" Or something else? I left the elevator laughing, but also confused.