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Zhar has become an internet personality thanks to this one simple question.
One of the first questions I ask someone when I meet them is what they do for a living. I find every job fascinating, and maybe it’s because I’ve had so many throughout my life.
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I started cutting grass — as most teen boys did when I was growing up. Then I went on to all of the following: stock boy, checkout clerk, dishwasher, cook, waiter, trainer, office manager, word processor, proofreader, mail sorter, running a fax department in a large law firm, actor, film producer, children’s book author, app developer, PR pro, and now a writer.
The reason I list those jobs is because when someone tells me what they do, I can usually relate in one way or another.
However, there was a time in my life when if someone asked me what I did for a living, I lied. The reason? Many of you of a certain age will understand why. Back in the day, if you were gay and, in the closet, you didn’t want anyone to know anything about you.
There was a fear of being outed at work, so I usually lied about what I did when I met someone because, if I got to know them, and things went south, they could pick up the phone, call my employer, and tell them I was gay. I know for certain that I’m not the only one who experienced that. Additionally, you were loath to draw attention to yourself, and telling someone what you did for a living was paramount to risking too much information about yourself.
I’ve been thinking about the way I approach strangers, and the days of hiding my profession a lot lately when I started following the social media star, the DasWassup guy, aka “What do you do for a living guy,” Ted Zhar. I find it so enjoyable to watch his street interviews, approaching strangers and asking them what they do for a living. It’s so revelatory in so many ways.
One of the other reasons I get a kick out of watching his TikTok and Instagram videos is that he features so many gay men, and approaches them in a wonderfully flirtatious way, i.e. “Hi there handsome, can I ask what you do for a living?” Or, “Wow, you look great. I love what you’re wearing…” I think the reason he does that is to break the ice and get them to divulge how they earn a living.
But, to me, it is yet another reason I so much appreciate the openness of this generation. When I was of a Gen Z age, if anyone came up to me, and called me handsome, I’d run away, muttering something like, “OMG, how did he know I was gay?” Further, I would have started sweating bullets if someone asked what my job was, “OMG, he’s going to out me.”
As the times changed, so has my willingness to disclose what I do without hesitation. I’m proud of all I’ve done, and who I am, and watching Zhar’s conversations has reinforced that feeling.
That’s why I wanted to talk to him. His real name is Edward Zharnitsky, and he’s a 29-year-old actor-in-the-making who lives in New York City. The whole thing started as a joke to him but now he has millions of cumulative followers, registers millions of hits on his posts, and since he’s started has landed branding and endorsement deals. He makes six figures in his job asking people what they do in theirs.
“I started doing it during COVID, and with no followers, no nothing just messing around, trying to make videos and then you know, and one day a guy in a gray Ferrari pulled up, I asked him what he did for a living and the rest is history,” he told me in a recent, old fashioned phone call.
While most of the conversations he has are in the streets of SoHo in Manhattan, he has also visited New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, South America. He told me he learns the language before he visits foreign countries so that he’s better able to dialogue with people on the streets.
He’s also brazen enough to speak to celebrities, including Ed Sheeran, Demi Lovato, Jared Leto, Jeff Garlin, Scooter Braun, Lance Stephenson, and scores of athletes including Mike Tyson.
“My success rate, not only with celebrities, but with everyone else I approach is around 80 percent. Not everyone is so willing to talk to me, and now when I approach people, there’s a sizable number who know who I am, so that’s pretty cool,” he explained.
Zhar is not gay, but that doesn’t keep him from complimenting the men. He also does the same thing with women. I asked him if that sweet talk was intentional. “That’s a really good question. To be honest with you, I don’t even realize half the time that I’m doing that. I’m just being honest, so sure I guess I agree with you that it does uplift the mood for the rest of the interview.”
And it works both ways for Zhar. “It’s doubly refreshing when I compliment them, and they get excited because they know who I am.”
I explained to Zhar about how it was back before he was born, and how I would never disclose my job, and he seemed amazed to hear that. I also told him that I do the same thing he does when I meet people. I ask them what they do because, to me, everyone has a story.
“That’s exactly right. That’s really what I most enjoy about it. Everybody has a story. Everybody has something to share. Everybody has an interesting life. Even if they don't find it interesting, somebody else might. So I like to document people that I find interesting because you know there's a good chance that if I find them interesting, somebody else will too.”
“And yeah, I'm doing more invasive content these days. So instead of just kind of stopping in the street, what do you do for a living, and they walk away? I'm actually now doing more like a minute to two-minute-long interview where I walk with them down the street and so they can explain a little bit more what they do.”
He also has been taken to their place of employment a few times, most notably with New York City real estate reality star and mogul Ryan Serhant, who asked Zhar to accompany him while he looked at a $40 million penthouse. “That was just unbelievably cool.”
And the most unique or out-of-the-ordinary job he’s heard? “There’s just so many but I would be a race car marshall.”
For the time being, Zhar will continue to make the best out of the opportunity he’s been given. “I keep getting gigs, and yes someday I see myself eventually becoming more of an actor or director, so it's all kind of leading on to that. But I'm enjoying it so much.”
