Take This Job...
Wed., March 2, 01:06 PM
Well, I’m borrowing from someone else – Golf Widow in this case – because it’s more interesting than anything I’ve thought of today. Realize, of course, that my version will be a little different, since there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that I’ll ever have a real job ever again. And we’d have to assume better eyes, more energy, etc. But I still daydream.
Even if you revel in your ultimate career choice ... when you dream, do you sometimes see yourself doing something different for a living?
If you could excel, enjoy, and earn a more-than-comfortable salary in these professions, which field of each would you pick, and why?
Art: I always say I’m not artistically inclined. How about cosmetics – I certainly spent fifty years painting my face.
Business: The best jobs I ever had were in small companies. I’m a very good second-in-command, office manager, or whatever you want to call it. I’m especially good if the business is something that I understand, that I can do. Publishing would be good; bookselling might be fun.
Education: It definitely would not be for a school system. Does preparing three little kids for their education count for anything? One thing that’s kind of fun is teaching English as a second language – not classroom style so much as real world style. How do you count money, go to the store, choose a menu, apply for a job…
Entertainment: Me? So out of character. Stand-up comic, I guess.
Fabrication: Knitting, crocheting, embroidery. Does anyone do hand embroidery any more?
Finance: I used to be good at this sort of thing. Excellent bookkeeper, especially accounts receivable. Did my own taxes (till they got really complicated). I was in fairly good shape until I lent money to someone (more than once) who didn’t pay it back.
But you know what would be great? Having the resources to lend money to people who didn’t have good credit history but were still good risks. Y’know, young people with potential who needed a home now. Or someone who needed help getting education in order to get a better job. (Not like those people who got college loans and decided they wouldn’t bother to pay them off.)
Food: Cooking lessons. Not gourmet, not Cordon Bleu. Simple skills (and the background knowledge, the chemistry) to cook at home. I think you could start this for young kids, so that they’d learn there’s something other than burgers and fries.
Invention: How many things have I invented for myself that later went on the market? We’ve also been burned here, in Husband’s attempt to get something patented. (The invention company – that’s supposed to help you, for a fee – didn’t bother to tell him that he couldn’t get a patent because there already existed a patent on the item.) Once burned, twice shy.
Law: I’ve done this. Wish I could get out, but it’s the only office job where I can make more than minimum wage now.
Medicine: I gave up on the idea of nursing because I couldn’t stand to see people in pain. I didn’t stay in temp jobs in medical offices because I still had to deal with people. (“Are my test results in yet?” And I’d tell her no, because I couldn’t tell her she had cancer…) Research would be better, if I weren’t so clumsy in a lab. How come Greg never spills his samples all over the floor?
Music: More than anything, I would like to be able to sing my kind of music. I love playing in an orchestra; singing in harmony would be wonderful.
Politics: You mean that subject I’m always ranting about? It is already so badly skewed, worldwide, that I can’t imagine anything I could do to make it better.
Repair: I used to be good at this. It was one of the reasons I was such a good office manager; I used to fix whatever broke. At one time, I considered trying to become a copier repairer (preferably for Xerox, which was my favorite); they weren’t hiring women yet. If I were starting now, I would choose computer repair. (But I would have to be a little taller; it’s hard when you can’t reach the back of the machine.)
Sales: I don’t mind selling people something they’re already interested in; retail sales isn’t bad. I enjoyed telling people about our product when then phoned for information. But trying to sell a product or service to someone who doesn’t want it is torture, and “cold calling” is absolute torture.
Science: I loved chemistry. I’m a klutz in the lab. Back when I still thought I could be a chemist, I considered cosmetology. I wouldn’t mind working on math, though I think – it’s been so long – I would have to go back to first-year algebra.
Sport: The first thing I thought of was basketball, because it’s where my interest is now. But my first love was baseball; how I’d love to be good enough to play infield – on the kind of team I remember, not the sleazy guys who play today.
Technology: I always wanted to be a computer programmer – ever since I knew such people existed. I’d like to experiment with artificial intelligence.
Transportation: I’d like to find some way to move people without burning up all the fossil fuels. My thought is that railroads would be the best way, but I’m open to other ideas. We have to lose the preconception that everyone needs to drive his/her own auto.
Writing: My mother told me that, when my hair got grey, I could say whatever I wanted to. I do. Now, will someone pay me to do it?
BONUS: Think fast — what normally illicit, immoral, or illegal work would you love to do if you could get away with it and be compensated handsomely for it? Madam – it would make people happy.
