How do you handle social gatherings when your profession comes up? Other then changing the subject before you are blamed for every nuclear incident in the last century.
That's actually a tricky thing to handle . . . or, at least, to handle well. I've had it come up in all sorts of situations from class reunions to the laundymat. All I can say is to answer the questions directly and simply without any long-winded explanations. If additional questions come up, treat them the same.
My most successful confrontation occured at the laundrymat at Indian Point when one of the other customers noticed my nuclear subject t-shirts. Everyone else in the laundrymat either joined in or, at least, paid attention during our discussion. But I kept it simple and matter-of-fact.
There used to be an anti-nuke group that set up a booth at the Lake County fair back in the '70's. I would look for them every year and engage them in a discussion about their opinions and where they got their facts and ideas from. It turned out that the preponderance of their facts came from the problems with the Columbia River in the Handford area. Once I knew where their "facts" were coming from, I could deal with them simply and matter-of-factly without calling them stupid or ill-informed.
Just like at work, the key is to keep it simple without directly challenging their closely held beliefs. If you call someone stupid for believing the moon is made of green cheese, they will defend their belief to their death regardless of the facts because you have challenged their ego. Don't do that and you'll be more successful in your "discussions". As long as you understand that you probalby won't change their opinions, just keep to the facts and keep it simple. Others listening in will hear the difference and will be more likely to be persuaded by your simple honesty.
