[讨论]If you were not a xxx, what would you be?
[讨论]If you were not a xxx, what would you be?
The other day I was talking to a super-over-achieving engineer who is PASSIONATE about her job. I had the impression that if she were not an engineer, she would try the darnedest to become one, and that she would probably work until the last day of her life if she could. Boy that kind of enthusiasm about one's job is alien to me. I like my job, but I always have this cynical attitude about work being just work and an unnecessary evil. She made me feel a little for a little while (but the shame didn't last ).
Recently I read a couple of things about retirement and how people in our generation are expected to work into their late 70s etc. It got me thinking. I don't think I'll have enough love for my current job to work into my 70s -- what do I want to pick up as a second job?
If you ask me 10 years ago or even 5 years ago what I want to do with my life, I'd give you this blank stare. I had stupid fantasies of course, which are safely unattainable, like writing movie reviews for LA Times. I didn't know anything about myself or this world. I am one of the six people in this world who actually like growing older, because now I'm getting to know myself and how I fit into this world better, and it doesn't seem so daunting any more.
So I thought about second or third career in life, and realized that there are many things I enjoy doing and will probably at least sustain my life if not make me a millionaire. I can be a bookstore clerk, a librarian, a bookstore owner (see a pattern here?); or I can be a travel agent who organizes and books other people's European tour; I can be a home organizing consultant (yes, there is such a profession); I can be a freelance editor; I can be a science fiction convention organizer or a film festival brochure writer; I can be a figure skating judge (they don't get paid); and then of course, I can always sit home and try to finish writing my 101st novel (and probably no pay either).
A somewhat unlikely option, for me, is to teach English somewhere in Italy...
So what do you think you would reasonably enjoy doing as work? No impossible day dreams please.
Recently I read a couple of things about retirement and how people in our generation are expected to work into their late 70s etc. It got me thinking. I don't think I'll have enough love for my current job to work into my 70s -- what do I want to pick up as a second job?
If you ask me 10 years ago or even 5 years ago what I want to do with my life, I'd give you this blank stare. I had stupid fantasies of course, which are safely unattainable, like writing movie reviews for LA Times. I didn't know anything about myself or this world. I am one of the six people in this world who actually like growing older, because now I'm getting to know myself and how I fit into this world better, and it doesn't seem so daunting any more.
So I thought about second or third career in life, and realized that there are many things I enjoy doing and will probably at least sustain my life if not make me a millionaire. I can be a bookstore clerk, a librarian, a bookstore owner (see a pattern here?); or I can be a travel agent who organizes and books other people's European tour; I can be a home organizing consultant (yes, there is such a profession); I can be a freelance editor; I can be a science fiction convention organizer or a film festival brochure writer; I can be a figure skating judge (they don't get paid); and then of course, I can always sit home and try to finish writing my 101st novel (and probably no pay either).
A somewhat unlikely option, for me, is to teach English somewhere in Italy...
So what do you think you would reasonably enjoy doing as work? No impossible day dreams please.
I also have read the same statment about our generation working until the 70's, which I don't think its a bad thing, if you're not depending on that income and you're just doing it for fun. My dad still works half of a day for his old company I think he enjoys it. I thought I'd teach when I retire from the corporate job, exactly what I don't know yet, but I taught undergraduate level IT course for a short wile in grad school and I enjoyed it, and I'm tutoring English right now which is not too bad either. I also thought about having a small coffee shop/book store, which I'm sure is the dream that a lot of people have.
wouldn't these be exactly the type of jobs to avoid, for they would easily rob you of your passion for books and travel? at least that's my impression after reading orwell's recollection of his years as a bookstore clerk.
i love what i do now, so i can't think of anything drastically different. i'd just like to be better at what i do. or become a full-time socialite gracing the pages of vogue and vanity fair...
i love what i do now, so i can't think of anything drastically different. i'd just like to be better at what i do. or become a full-time socialite gracing the pages of vogue and vanity fair...
Last edited by ravaged on 2006-07-25 20:51, edited 1 time in total.
Now that happy moment between the time the lie is told and when it is found out.
Jun's question is: 'what would you be'? I've not thought about that for a long while. Librarian perhaps. When I was in my teens I wanted to retire at the age of 22
If the question was 'What could you be outside your current scope', guess I could be an English teacher in China, or a Chinese teacher in Europe. Total lack of imagination I know!
If the question was 'What could you be outside your current scope', guess I could be an English teacher in China, or a Chinese teacher in Europe. Total lack of imagination I know!
NO! Not sugar mama I would not actually spend a penny on those pretty boys! I will just lead them on with hope that I might buy their work....
Being socialite sounds fun, but actually might be a lot of work. You have to keep up with the trends, shop the latest collection....That is too exhausting. Oh wait! ravaged you might actually like that.
Being socialite sounds fun, but actually might be a lot of work. You have to keep up with the trends, shop the latest collection....That is too exhausting. Oh wait! ravaged you might actually like that.
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我的构想和三小姐一样。事实上,我今天呼哧带喘地从图书馆捧了十二本书去check out的时候,就很羡慕坐在那儿的亚裔小帅哥,可以无边无垠地看,爱看哪本看哪本,还有收入。弄不好,咱也当回母博尔赫斯。
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I have worked in a travel agency before, not as a travel agent, but close enough to see what the job is really like. People sometimes can be unreasonable beyond imagination. You really need a LOT of patience to enjoy being a travel agent.
As for me, if I get tired of what I do now, I would love to own a small pet shop, or work at a pet beauty shop, maybe a dog walker.
As for me, if I get tired of what I do now, I would love to own a small pet shop, or work at a pet beauty shop, maybe a dog walker.
吹牛大王历险记里的那匹马不就是这样的么,嘿嘿。silkworm wrote:嘿嘿,火焰你可知美国的兽医系比人医系还难进。
按说我不算怕看血呀尸体呀的,不过有一次在兽医系办事,碰巧需要从解剖室穿行,可把我给弄愣了―― 屋子正中的手术台上,赫然搁着一匹马的前半身儿,一群学生对着马头马脖子又切又拨楞的。马的后半身儿,从前腿儿之后被齐刷刷地锯断,矫健的马后腿儿和丰满的马屁股平放在地上淌血。同行的人轻巧地从马屁股上跨过去,回头等我也跨。我咬了咬牙,迈过去了。
天,我猜如果是我,可能要咬了咬牙,尖叫起来,或者晕过去了。
兽医有没有小兽大兽之分?咱能不能只做小兽不做大兽。
我昨天把这篇文章给小爱看,问他想做什么。他沉思了一下,说,想做他转物理以前学的专业――软件。编程序很有趣。完了又说,我真是nerd啊,人生第一选择是物理,第二选择是软件。
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One day my piano-playing will reach that mediocre level, then it's time to quit day job to launch my next career!
I see myself doing gigs at churchs, weddings and jazz clubs, hanging out with saxophone players, making up promotion packages, selling CDs at local music festivals, depreciating musical instruments on tax return...Strangers call me up wanting to know if I'm open for their office Christmas parties, I have to turn them down:" Sorry, I'm booked that night, I'll perform at my friend Knowing's party."
A lifetime is just not enough for all these fun.
I see myself doing gigs at churchs, weddings and jazz clubs, hanging out with saxophone players, making up promotion packages, selling CDs at local music festivals, depreciating musical instruments on tax return...Strangers call me up wanting to know if I'm open for their office Christmas parties, I have to turn them down:" Sorry, I'm booked that night, I'll perform at my friend Knowing's party."
A lifetime is just not enough for all these fun.
这种情况很容易给目击者留下深刻的心理创伤。
其实每个职业都有pros/cons。有时候我怀疑librarian的职业是否真像想象中那么美好,如果做接待动作,就需要不停的和人说话,很难不受打搅的看书。而且并不是每本书都那么有趣,一个人的阅读兴趣如果能够概括10%的市面上的书就已经很了不起,所以大部分时候仍旧是和boring的书打交道。
我以前呆的大学里有个中文图书馆,非常萧条,门可罗雀。藏书间很矮,而且光线不好,大部分灯都黑着,要走到哪条胡同里,就把灯打开。那里的图书馆员是个中国姑娘,很清闲,总是在埋头读书。我非常喜欢那个图书馆的气氛,如果打一份暑期工,大概会非常愉快,可是全天候的干上好几年的话……
其实每个职业都有pros/cons。有时候我怀疑librarian的职业是否真像想象中那么美好,如果做接待动作,就需要不停的和人说话,很难不受打搅的看书。而且并不是每本书都那么有趣,一个人的阅读兴趣如果能够概括10%的市面上的书就已经很了不起,所以大部分时候仍旧是和boring的书打交道。
我以前呆的大学里有个中文图书馆,非常萧条,门可罗雀。藏书间很矮,而且光线不好,大部分灯都黑着,要走到哪条胡同里,就把灯打开。那里的图书馆员是个中国姑娘,很清闲,总是在埋头读书。我非常喜欢那个图书馆的气氛,如果打一份暑期工,大概会非常愉快,可是全天候的干上好几年的话……
And I pay you with a couple of ugly paintings I've bought from young artists, and they are auctioned off at 3.4 million 10 years later. That also makes you the highest paid pianist ever in the history!helenClaire wrote:Strangers call me up wanting to know if I'm open for their office Christmas parties, I have to turn them down:" Sorry, I'm booked that night, I'll perform at my friend Knowing's party."
A lifetime is just not enough for all these fun.
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Of course. I'm not talking about a perfect dream life or even your dream job, but a job that is part time and you probably enjoy doing to the extent that you are willing to spend some of your life on it. Doing absolutely no work also has its pros and cons.其实每个职业都有pros/cons。
I have worked as a cashier albeit not for a long time. Dealing with library patrons and doing other book-related work are much less stressful than dealing with other types of customers. And I kind of like some people interactions.有时候我怀疑librarian的职业是否真像想象中那么美好,如果做接待动作,就需要不停的和人说话,很难不受打搅的看书。
Librarians file them and retrieve them, but don't have to read them all.而且并不是每本书都那么有趣,一个人的阅读兴趣如果能够概括10%的市面上的书就已经很了不起,所以大部分时候仍旧是和boring的书打交道。
To me being the pleasant side of being a librarian or bookstore clerk isn't about reading books for free. God knows I have plenty of books to read, free ones included, already. It's the close proximity with books and the smell and feel of books that somehow calms me.
The more I think about my own question, the more I realize that the key to enjoying work is removing the need to MAKE A LIVING on it. The pressure of making money often turns a reasonably likable job into something odious. We all pass time one way or another, either in working or in idling.
以前在别的地方看过类似的讨论。
压倒性的第二职业是libraian。不过我猜这个职业在大家的饭特西中如此热门的原因是,这是一个公认的tiny/zero pressure的职业。很多人选择这个职业只是想转换成recessive style的生活而已。如果有梦想成真的机会,他们大概很容易被bored。
真正for fun的second career大概是楼上的那些“全城第一的绣品店”,“Piano woman”和"science fiction convention organizer " 。
如果把生存压力的顾虑放一边,从个人兴趣出发来考虑,我还是选博物馆。 博物馆里最好收藏的是近代字画和古玉。
压倒性的第二职业是libraian。不过我猜这个职业在大家的饭特西中如此热门的原因是,这是一个公认的tiny/zero pressure的职业。很多人选择这个职业只是想转换成recessive style的生活而已。如果有梦想成真的机会,他们大概很容易被bored。
真正for fun的second career大概是楼上的那些“全城第一的绣品店”,“Piano woman”和"science fiction convention organizer " 。
如果把生存压力的顾虑放一边,从个人兴趣出发来考虑,我还是选博物馆。 博物馆里最好收藏的是近代字画和古玉。
我这肯定是受电视电影小说影响拉――那个我很久以前看的《法网柔情〉,法外情法内情,还有一直特别喜欢的ALLY MCBEAL――不过如果不能那末风光,那我就算啦――要不,作新闻主播――Maria Bartiromo from CNBC is my idolsilkworm wrote:(抱歉我又来刹风景了。)
我们一个拐弯儿朋友是律师。我从她那儿知道,原来,咱们在电影电视小说里看到的口若悬河的上庭律师(litigation lawyers)只占很小一个比例。
大流儿的律师做corporate law,连直接跟客户打交道的机会都不多,除非自己的team lead带着。大部分时间是关在自己的办公室里狂写memo。以至于她们不见客户的时候,在事务所上班穿着之随便,吓了我们一跳。她说她刚进事务所时,上司给她找了一个背景类似(大陆本科,美国法学院毕业)的同事做她的mentor,那女士有时上班穿黑色弹力运动裤。
我一定是搞混了,这是说第二职业,不是dream job