(no subject)

[eor]

bravecows asked in her post:

And to those to whom university is nothing more than a distant dreadful dream: what do you do for a living? How d'you like it? Would you have seen yourself doing it twenty years ago, and if you had, would you have been pleased or horrified or just relieved you weren't dead?


what do you do for a living?
I work in a warehouse: solving problems, teaching people, and generally doing whatever needs to be done.

How d'you like it?
Overall, I like it. It provides me with exercise. Any frustration is usually confined to one day. Most of the people I work with are pleasant. The company I work for seems to strike a balance between company wants/needs and employee wants/needs. When I leave, I'm generally able to leave my work behind and not think about it until the next day. It doesn't have the prestige or pay of some of the other jobs I've had, but it also doesn't have the stress of other jobs I've had.

Would you have seen yourself doing it twenty years ago, and if you had, would you have been pleased or horrified or just relieved you weren't dead?
No. When I first went to university I majored in electrical engineering. When I returned years later, I pursued a degree in accounting. Both of those choices where based on the concept that being a "professional" would provide me with a better living. It was only after many missteps that I realized what a better living means to me. The things that make living better for me don't necessarily go along with being a professional. The collars on the dress shirts make my neck breakout for one.

Twenty years ago I thought that figuring out what job I would do was the most important part of my future. Now I realize that is the least important part of my present and future. Yes, having a way to put food on the table and a roof over your head is essential. Yes, I do still take a lot of pride in doing what I do well. But what I do for a living is transient. What I am is so much more. It's all the things I do because I want to that really matter.

A lot of people want to do something they love for a living. I don't. Doing anything day in day out for 30 years will make me hate it to a certain degree. I'll let work be work and let the things I love be the rest of my life.