Wow, haven’t done one of these in a long time…
1. Are you happy with your current line of work? What do you like/don’t like about it?
I am happy with my current line of work. An offset of what I’ve done for 30+ years now and what my dad did. I like that it pays the bills. It’s a minimum wage job; in the fact that I am probably making the minimum amount needed to live in California (Marin County no less). 10-20 years ago, or even in a different part of the country, it would be a really good salary. I think I like best about work is the people I work with. Honestly it was this reason I was commuting for hours for work for so long. The company has treated me well and I believe in their work and mission statement. But the company has been growing up and moving away from its start-up phase and I’m worried about the future. I’m starting to see things from jobs in the past come up and it’s making me uneasy.
2. Do you see yourself doing the same type of work in 5 years? What about 10?
I would like to be doing the same work in 5 or 10 years. Let me rephase that; I would like to be with the company for another 5-10 years, but higher up the corporate food chain. I had dreams? goals? ambitions of jumping to the manager track. But after my last yearly review and the last few months those ambitions have cooled, and I feel like I am just standing in place.
3. Did you see yourself doing this type of work 5 years ago? What about 10?
I did see myself doing this type of work and still do, just maybe not in this industry. Honestly thought I would be bookstore for life. And if I live that long, I can still see myself dying as a part time bookstore cashier or something. No retirement; I have to work to afford that cardboard box that I will be living in the future.
4. Did you have a dream job as a child? What was it?
Video game designer. I have vague memories of me drawing out different levels for a sequel for the Popeye video game. One was you playing as Olive Oil, the other was you playing as Bluto.
5. If you had to pick a radically different job from what you have now, regardless of whether you’d realistically be able to do it given your skillset, what would you pick and why?
In past lives, I thought about being a chef/cook, an architect, policeman, bus or truck driver. But those thoughts and dreams died a long time ago.
