Let's try and get 1,000,000 replies to this post

[Saapanael]

I say it does.

 

[Ariana]

I win!

 

[The Flash]

I say it doesn't. Driver is the profession.

 

[LooseCannon]

Isn't a tractor driver a farmer?

 

[Ariana]

That must be the case in Canada, apparently. But in Soviet Russia and in Socialist Bulgaria, a tractor driver is a tractor driver and nothing else.

 

[Perun]

Isn't a tractor driver a farmer?

That's my point. By that standard, a person driving a police car wouldn't be a policeperson but a police car driver.

 

[LooseCannon]

I've never seen nor heard of a person who goes around freelancing his incredible tractor-driving abilities.

 

[Ariana]

Guys, do you think freelancing exists in Eastern Europe?

 

[Perun]

Argumentum ex socialismo

 

[Saapanael]

"Tractor driver" is probably one of the first professions I learned as a kid.

 

[Ariana]

When I was in first grade, we had to learn by heart a short poem that contained the verse "My dad is a tractor driver and I am going to be a tractor driver too."

 

[Saapanael]

A generation of tractor drivers. There was a very old tractor at a place in the countryside that I used to visit as a child. Was just about the coolest thing ever.

 

[Brigantium]

Depends how the division of work operates locally to you. It's more general 'agricultural labourer' AKA 'farm hand' here, but that's because hired farm workers are expected to be able to do a bit of everything on a farm, and a lot of them are freelance.

Then there's the fun debate about the definition of 'profession'. We kept being told journalism wasn't a profession, but being a lawyer is.

 

[Dr. Eddies Wingman]

That must be the case in Canada, apparently. But in Soviet Russia and in Socialist Bulgaria, a tractor driver is a tractor driver and nothing else.

In Soviet Russia, tractor drives you.

 

[Magnus]

When I was in first grade, we had to learn by heart a short poem that contained the verse "My dad is a tractor driver and I am going to be a tractor driver too."

It's miner actually. And тракторист is/was, here at least, not just a profession, but a subculture by itself.

 

[LooseCannon]

That must be the case in Canada, apparently. But in Soviet Russia and in Socialist Bulgaria, a tractor driver is a tractor driver and nothing else.

And we won the Cold War, so you're doing it wrong.

 

[Magnus]

Guys, do you think freelancing exists in Eastern Europe?

Is this a trick question?

 

[Diesel 11]

s all 'round.

 

[Black Abyss Babe]

We kept being told journalism wasn't a profession, but being a lawyer is.

A person drawing this particular distinction apparently thinks that what a separates a "profession" from an "occupation" mainly has to do with exams, governing bodies and letters after your name. Thus I would be a member of a "profession" since I am entitled to use the letters MAAT, but someone with the same experience and skills but qualified only by experience would not be (which is actually a sore point at the moment, with some accountants).

But there is also something called "the oldest profession", as represented by our old friend Charlotte. I don't think she had to pass any exams ...

 

[Dr. Eddies Wingman]

But there is also something called "the oldest profession", as represented by our old friend Charlotte. I don't think she had to pass any exams ...

Not even an or ...

I'll get my coat.