Being in my 20s, I've learned that it's not a good idea to ask that among my peers at parties, since so many are in service industry jobs (if they have jobs at

Being in my 20s, I've learned that it's not a good idea to ask that among my peers at parties, since so many are in service industry jobs (if they have jobs at all) that they hate and don't want to talk about. Even if they do have salaried careers, it seems most people would rather talk about something besides work. Tech parties are a different culture since many of us are fortunate to be employed in self-actualizing roles in high-growth companies, or at the very least enjoy their jobs better than most. However since I live in the Midwest, engineers aren't as plentiful as in the Bay area. At any rate, I usually just ask "how do you spend your time?" instead if Im fishing for conversation material. It's a bit more open ended