I get what you're saying UB, but there's nothing you can do about it, other than to just mess with people, as everyone has already suggested.
It's like you said - people like to be able to label you as one thing, and then judge you based on what that one thing is. Saying you're a poker player has both positive and negative connotations, and I think you just need to live with them. Until you get to know someone on a more intimate level these kind of snap judgments are hard to avoid. I think it's because people want to rate each other, form a hierarchy, and see where they rank. It's superficial. I mean think just think about the rhetoric of appearance, and how we judge people on it. Everything from body weight to hair style to clothing. It's deep seeded. Studies have shown that on average tall people make more than short people. Why? Because people associate height with confidence and power.
I think a better question people should ask when first meeting is "what would you like to be doing if you could, and how are you planning to get there?"
What someone wants to do with their life is more telling than what they are doing with it, at least at our age. Right now we're all in the process of trying to get somewhere, but lacking in some areas which prevents us from being there.
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