I've never been able to tell most people what I do in any real detail. I work in high tech, and while some of my friends do, most don't; and I'm totally okay with that. Does anyone really tell other people what they do for a living? "I teach elementary school science," conveys enough information for most people to get by on. So does, "I write technical manuals and help for a software company." Neither tells people what we actually do. And if you tried to tell people what you actually do for your job, you'd probably bore them to tears or, depending on your job, make them want to crawl under a desk.