# What did you want to be when you grew up? Your childhood career aspirations



## debodun (Oct 13, 2022)

A telephone operator, which would now be a defunct profession.


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## hollydolly (Oct 13, 2022)

...alive!! I had no other aspirations but to stay alive!!


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## Pinky (Oct 13, 2022)

Veterinarian

Nurse


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## C50 (Oct 13, 2022)

I just wanted to make money, really never gave a thought to how I would do it.


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## Pepper (Oct 13, 2022)

I wanted to be an airline stewardess like Vicki Barr and go to exciting places!


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## hollydolly (Oct 13, 2022)

Pepper said:


> I wanted to be an airline stewardess like Vicki Barr and go to exciting places!
> View attachment 244488


..and did you ?.. my sister in law was an Air Hostess ( Cabin crew)


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## Pepper (Oct 13, 2022)

No, but as you know I was a traveler.


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## jujube (Oct 13, 2022)

A newspaper reporter.


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## NorthernLight (Oct 13, 2022)

A housewife.


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## Gemma (Oct 13, 2022)

An Army medic.


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## RadishRose (Oct 13, 2022)

A dancer on the stage
An artist
A police detective
A landscape designer

Hah!


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## ArnoldC (Oct 13, 2022)

Gowing up I never had any aspirations beyond wanting to ride a motorcycle.  Life was simple then.  _Arnold_


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## LadyEmeraude (Oct 13, 2022)

I'd always wanted to be a nurse when I grew up. 

Also wanted to be a 'tap' dancer specifically.

Also wanted to be a Dental Assistant, that one I did make happen
in my 20's.

*I along the way did many other things, some banking positions,
and a variety of other things of interest. In my later years, I stayed
situated in Health Care work and positions. 

Still though want to be a tap dancer


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## Gaer (Oct 13, 2022)

I remember someone asking me that when I was four years old.
I wanted to be a lady, which meant to me to be soft- spoken and gracious,
like my Mother.
I had no aspirations to accomplish anything, but rather to see what
circumstances happened to me.  Just drifted along with the wind.


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## RadishRose (Oct 13, 2022)

Altho' I recall my above career leanings, I never really had a burning desire to be anything, seriously. Except motherhood.


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## OneEyedDiva (Oct 13, 2022)

At one point I wanted to be a back up singer. By the time I graduated high school, I wanted to be an artist but my parents would hear nothing of me going to art school in New York.


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## dobielvr (Oct 13, 2022)

Teacher

Instead I became a customer service rep for a wheelchair manufacturer here in town and auto parts rebuilders company.
Then to the IRS, off and on, and in between...finally settled there.


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## Gary O' (Oct 13, 2022)

Gaer said:


> I remember someone asking me that when I was four years old.
> I wanted to be a lady, which meant to me to be soft- spoken and gracious,
> like my Mother


And you, fine lady, found success


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## CinnamonSugar (Oct 13, 2022)

A nurse!  Took me a while to get to it but enjoyed it


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## Gary O' (Oct 13, 2022)

What did you want to be when you grew up? Your childhood career aspirations​
Heh, this keeps coming up

.....and I keep posting this;

When I was about four, five maybe, all I wanted to become was a cop. 
Not a Dragnet, Sgt Friday cop, but one that wore the blue, the boots, the service cap, the badge, the…gun…and holster.
*OH YEAAAH*
Not a doubt in my mind.
Thing is, I was never around cops per se, at least not for a few years. 
So all I had for ready reference was the local service station guy. The ‘almost a cop’ guy.
He had a uniform, and if I recall, had some sorta badge.
And he had a service cap. The one with the glossy bill, and high rise front.
Yeah, he was almost a cop.



I always liked stopping there.

‘Fill’er up?
‘Ethyl?’

He’d get the pump going, cranking the numbers to zero, sticking the nozzle in, flipping the lever, filling the back seat with the glorious aroma of gas fumes of which I breathed deep (couldn’t get enough).

‘Check ‘at oil?’

He lifted the hood and did….something, appearing at the driver’s door, showing Dad the dip stick, resting it in display on a really cool red rag, then tucking that rag in his back pocket. Letting half of it stick out……cool. 
Sometimes he’d go to the rack of oil, grab wunna the glass bottles with a stainless steel spout, and pour in a bit of oil.
Then he’d spray the windshield with some sorta soapy liquid, wiping all that off with the magic blue towel until the grime and streaks was totally gone. All the while talking about the weather or the ‘sorry ass Yankees’, or Joe Louis.
And he had BO…yeah, real big guy aroma…..wow.
Man, I wanted to be him, only I’d strap on a gun, as that was the only thing his was missing.
What a cool job!
Just doin’ that all day long.
‘Check ‘at oil?’
‘Whuddaya think about them sorry ass Yankees?’
tuck
wipe
pump
….kids in the back seat, lookin’ at me in awe…wide eyes ogling my holster…and ivory gun handle….and red rag.

One day me and Dad were headin’ down the road.
Just him and me, 
and he sez, ‘Whaddya wanna be when you grow up?’

_*‘A service station guy!’*_

Things kinda turned south right then.
Dads.
Go figure. 
Whud he do for a living? Work in a warehouse?
Prolly jealous.




After that, I never shared my true thoughts with him….for years….decades maybe.

Heh, turns out folks rather frown on service stations guys….with guns.

But, hey, if that ever happens……..


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## Chet (Oct 13, 2022)

As a child I had no work aspirations, even coming out of high school.


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## Been There (Oct 13, 2022)

I was all over the map from being a train engineer to a fireman, a cop, a truck driver and a school teacher.


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## Aneeda72 (Oct 13, 2022)

Still alive


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## MickaC (Oct 13, 2022)

I don’t know yet…..still waiting to grow up….


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## squatting dog (Oct 13, 2022)




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## bowmore (Oct 13, 2022)

Loved Submarines-got to go down in 2 Polaris subs
Wanted to be a pilot-Ended up with 1200 hours
Loved trains-Was fireman on an 1898 Steam engine
Wanted to see the world- Been to all 24 time zones and 7 continents.
Now retired with a full bucket list.


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## Aneeda72 (Oct 13, 2022)

bowmore said:


> Loved Submarines-got to go down in 2 Polaris subs
> Wanted to be a pilot-Ended up with 1200 hours
> Loved trains-Was fireman on an 1898 Steam engine
> Wanted to see the world- Been to all 24 time zones and 7 continents.
> Now retired with a full bucket list.


My first husband was in the Navy-short marriage-anyway I got to go down into a submarine and on the aircraft carrier he was stationed on.  Both were amazing.  Husband was not.


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## Lee (Oct 13, 2022)

I watched Shirley Temple and Bill Robinson and wanted to do tap dancing.


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## DebraMae (Oct 13, 2022)

I wanted to be a teacher, a secretary or a nurse.  Didn't end up doing any of those.


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## palides2021 (Oct 13, 2022)

After my little cousin died of leukemia (he was 13 months) I wanted to work in the field of biochemistry, so I could work on solving those cancer problems. I was only 13 then. I had that big dream for a long time and even wanted to become a PhD up through college! I ended up getting a biology degree, and working in the biology field, but I became disillusioned after working in the lab for over a decade. I did get my PhD eventually but in something else.


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## StillLearning (Oct 13, 2022)

I wanted to be an architect. Figuring out the layout of homes etc. It still fascinates me. But marriage and kiddos were my journey. It’s all good.


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## David777 (Oct 13, 2022)

Over my 13 K12 years went to 11 different schools including 3 high schools.  In high school, recall being confused and concerned of the prospect of selecting a career even after studying various employment information.  Parents never tried to guide me into anything.   Decided to just try and enter the public California college system that at the time here was still mostly free.  But the Viet Nam War changed that possibility when politicians declared there would be no more draft deferments for those not already in schools.  And this guy was obviously a prime healthy prospect for dodging bullets carrying an M16 into Mekong Delta leech, mosquito, and poisonous snake infested swamps.  Well at age 17 with a HS diploma, took navy and USAF entry tests, scored high, volunteered before receiving a draft notice, then began an electronics career via that route without ever obtaining a college degree.


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## SeniorBen (Oct 13, 2022)

When I was a kid and through my 20s, I knew somehow that I would eventually become an engineer. I thought I would become a mechanical engineer, but I wound up getting my degree in computer science.

I'm not sure why I thought that I would become an engineer. Nobody encouraged me to go to college when I was a kid and none of my close friends went to college. My cousins did, though. One's a professor, one's a lawyer, and one works in finance, or they were, anyway. They're probably retired by now. So maybe they influenced me. I saw what you could do with a degree and since I was good in math and interested in mechanical stuff, I thought that was my destiny.

I didn't start the program until I was 33 and was 38 when I received my Bachelor's degree. The country was in a deep recession when I started and was booming when I finished, so that was pretty good timing.


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## Fyrefox (Oct 14, 2022)

When I was a kid, I wanted to be an _astronaut!  _The Mercury space program was going on then, and we watched them take off on a black-and-white TV in the auditorium of my school.  Fools that we were, we believed what the library books said about us exploring the inner planets by the 1990’s…

A little later, I wanted to be a _doctor!  _I had one of those _Visible Man _models that were transparent, and you could see the ribs and organs inside.  The darn thing would never stay closed, however, so I had the lying down _Visible Man _guy…

But snap, I wound up as an educational specialist…


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## IKE (Oct 14, 2022)

When I was growing up I either wanted to be a bulldozer operator like one of my uncles, a cop or a G.I. like my dad and my other uncle were at one time......I joined the Army.


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## Lewkat (Oct 14, 2022)

An adult, so my feet could touch the floor when I sat on a chair.


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## officerripley (Oct 14, 2022)

Out of the house. (Anywhere but _that_ house.)


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## Moon Rat (Oct 14, 2022)

Radio disc jockey, stock car driver or a Captain on a cruise ship.


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## Bretrick (Oct 14, 2022)

The problem I had as a young person was I never had time to think about such matters.
My upbringing was a constant torment so all my time was spent just trying to ward off the negativity.
It was not until I was over 40 and past all that torment that I thought if given the opportunity back then to explore and develop what was inside of me I would have studied creative art.
Painting, sculpture, mosaics, photography, drawing, interior design et al.
Sure, I could try some of them now, and I have done some wonderful art works, though I do not have any of them to show.
I painted 5 metre murals on my apartment walls, never had inspections. Where I am now I have inspections. I asked if I could paint a mural and was told no.
I create stuff from what people call junk. I create stuff from flotsam and jetsam.
I see beauty all around me.
I am very creative and that is way I am rather upset that I was not given the chance to explore and develop my creativity.
These days I am rather jaded and tired.
If I make retirement age, maybe I will explore my creative side and see what comes out of my head.


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## Furryanimal (Oct 14, 2022)

A train driver .


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## Tommy (Oct 15, 2022)

A marine biologist.


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## Farrah Nuff (Oct 15, 2022)

Dancer


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## horseless carriage (Oct 15, 2022)

C50 said:


> I just wanted to make money, really never gave a thought to how I would do it.


My first aspirations were to become a priest. It gets you a lot of attention at a Catholic school. 
Later at college, a secular centre for further education, my lecturer told me that I was a good people's person. He suggested that I seek managerial work. What a sound piece of advice. I joined a large conglomerate and started to climb the greasy pole. How I loved it, make that, love it. At 76 you learn to get a better grip.


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## Aunt Mavis (Oct 15, 2022)

I really had no clue. I stumbled into my current trade.


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## charry (Oct 15, 2022)

A nurse and I’m now a carer


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## fuzzybuddy (Oct 15, 2022)

I guess it depends on what age I was. Fireman, cowboy, etc., when I was a little kid. An architect, or radio DJ as I got older, so , of course, I became a psychiatric nurse.


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## RadishRose (Oct 15, 2022)

Gary O' said:


> What did you want to be when you grew up? Your childhood career aspirations​
> Heh, this keeps coming up
> 
> .....and I keep posting this;
> ...


Check out the guy's tie!


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## Don M. (Oct 15, 2022)

I always wanted to be an Air Force fighter pilot, but I had to start wearing glasses in my teen years...so that dream was gone.  However, I did join the AF, and got a good education in electronics which set me up for a nice career.


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## debodun (Oct 15, 2022)

RadishRose said:


> Check out the guy's tie!


I was checking out the car on the far right.


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## David777 (Oct 15, 2022)

Don M. said:


> I always wanted to be an Air Force fighter pilot, but I had to start wearing glasses in my teen years...so that dream was gone.  However, I did join the AF, and got a good education in electronics which set me up for a nice career.


@Don M. , did you after Lackland AFB basic, also go to school at Keesler AFB?


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## Alligatorob (Oct 15, 2022)

Marine Biologist - Sylvia Earle was a neighbor ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Earle ) she inspired me.  She's a bit older than me, and I am sure never knew who I was, but I sure knew of her.  Living on the Gulf of Mexico helped.

In the 8th grade they gave us a test to see what professions would best suit us.  My top two were anthropologist and mortician.


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## Lara (Oct 15, 2022)

My High School English teacher told me I was a talented artist and should do layout design for the yearbook. I did, enjoyed it, wanted to be a Graphic Designer, went to VCU. Then Corcoran School of Art in DC. Became a Graphic Designer in Washington DC. Then Art Director of a firm. Then worked in Hollywood for a design firm.

Got married (second, first didn't count lol). Then left the smog and rush hour for motherhood while I started a home business of Freelance Logo Designs in coastal southern California (won award for one in the nationwide publication of Communication Arts). Then started my own mail order silkscreen printing company.

Husband died young...never remarried. Became a full time mom (ages 1,2,4,6) until they were finished with schooling. Then worked full-time at a hospital for 8 years and then retired. Enjoyed all my careers.


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## Don M. (Oct 15, 2022)

David777 said:


> @Don M. , did you after Lackland AFB basic, also go to school at Keesler AFB?


After Basic training at Lackland, I spent a full year at Lowry AFB in Denver, studying electronics and the weapons control systems....radar, sight system, and bombing computer on the F105's,  The training was extensive, and equal to, or better than what a university would have supplied. 

Since I lived in Denver, the AF gave me "separate rations" and allowed me to live at home during that year....so it was like having a regular 8 hour/day job, and I just commuted to the base 5 days/week with no military baloney.  That was a Great year.


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## David777 (Oct 15, 2022)

Yeah half my military time was actually in schools.  Once overseas for a week, had wee hours into sunrise flight line guard duty carrying an M16 where F105D's "Thunderchief's" were taking off. Of course at dawn when the land surface is cool sound waves bend downward thus carry over long distances.  Listening to a F105D take off from the starting end of a flight line where they turn on afterburners  is about as loud a thunderous sound as is imaginable.

Was 30133 Electronic Warfare Repairman, SECRET FBI clearance.


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## palides2021 (Oct 15, 2022)

Bretrick said:


> The problem I had as a young person was I never had time to think about such matters.
> My upbringing was a constant torment so all my time was spent just trying to ward off the negativity.
> It was not until I was over 40 and past all that torment that I thought if given the opportunity back then to explore and develop what was inside of me I would have studied creative art.
> Painting, sculpture, mosaics, photography, drawing, interior design et al.
> ...


Go for it! It's never too late to learn.


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## palides2021 (Oct 15, 2022)

Lara said:


> My High School English teacher told me I was a talented artist and should do layout design for the yearbook. I did, enjoyed it, wanted to be a Graphic Designer, went to VCU. Then Corcoran School of Art in DC. Became a Graphic Designer in Washington DC. Then Art Director of a firm. Then worked in Hollywood for a design firm.
> 
> Got married (second, first didn't count lol). Then left the smog and rush hour for motherhood while I started a home business of Freelance Logo Designs in coastal southern California (won award for one in the nationwide publication of Communication Arts). Then started my own mail order silkscreen printing company.
> 
> Husband died young...never remarried. Became a full time mom (ages 1,2,4,6) until they were finished with schooling. Then worked full-time at a hospital for 8 years and then retired. Enjoyed all my careers.


Sorry that your husband died young, @Lara ! Your strength and courage shows in your taking care of your four children until they finished schooling! Glad you enjoyed all your careers.


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## charry (Oct 15, 2022)

My hubby was atop footballer and played for a well known club, until his dad told him to get a proper job…lol.
so he decided he wanted to be a diamond cutter…
in the end he was an architect….that designed some of the most beautiful mosques in the world ….


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## Jamala (Oct 15, 2022)

charry said:


> My hubby was atop footballer and played for a well known club, until his dad told him to get a proper job…lol.
> so he decided he wanted to be a diamond cutter…
> in the end he was an architect….that designed some of the most beautiful mosques in the world ….




That’s interesting Charry, is your husband Muslim?I thought it is not permissible to allow a non-Muslim to build or design a mosque.


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## Don M. (Oct 15, 2022)

David777 said:


> Yeah half my military time was actually in schools.  Once overseas for a week, had wee hours into sunrise flight line guard duty carrying an M16 where F105D's "Thunderchief's" were taking off. Of course at dawn when the land surface is cool sound waves bend downward thus carry over long distances.  Listening to a F105D take off from the starting end of a flight line where they turn on afterburners  is about as loud a thunderous sound as is imaginable.
> 
> Was 30133 Electronic Warfare Repairman, SECRET FBI clearance.


If you were overseas on a base in Europe, with F105's was it Bitburg or Spangdahlem in Germany???   If it was in Thailand, Takhli, or Karot?  I spent 4 years at Spangdahlem, and 1 at Takhli.

Yup, that engine on a F105 was a real brute.  At Spang, the base offered a ride in the back seat of a F-105F to those who made "airman of the month"....so for a few months I "saluted" and "yes sired" everything that moved and won the award.  What a hoot!!!  The pilot put the beast into full afterburner until about 20K ft. altitude, then leveled out and hit about Mach 1.5.  He went through some maneuvers that almost made me upchuck.  After about 45 minutes we returned to base, and one of the first things I did was to check my drawers to make sure I hadn't soiled them.


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## Sassycakes (Oct 15, 2022)

I always dream about being married, having children, and being a nurse 2 out of 3 isn't bad.


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## Gardenlover (Oct 15, 2022)

Gigolo or musician - both live forever in the hearts of their fans.


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## charry (Oct 16, 2022)

Jamala said:


> That’s interesting Charry, is your husband Muslim?I thought it is not permissible to allow a non-Muslim to build or design a mosque.




no....he is english.....and he has designed alot of mosques in saudi arabia , istanbul etc 
i dont know where you got that information from, but its wrong 
he also designed and built the government offices in Riyad SA


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## Tempsontime65 (Dec 23, 2022)

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...career aspirations??? Oh yeah I aspired or was it conspired to talk to that new cute girl sitting in front of me!!


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## JimBob1952 (Dec 23, 2022)

When I was 8 or 10, I wanted to be what used to be called a "white hunter" (safari guide) in Kenya.  Then I wanted to be a famous zoologist.  Then I found out how hard science was.  Then I wanted to be a famous novelist.  Then I found out I didn't really have anything to write about.  (My parents' fault for being nice and giving me a normal childhood -- no neuroses etc.)  

So I did what I did and it worked out ok.  Now I'm 70.  I still want to be a famous novelist.  Maybe I'll give it another try.


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## Nemo2 (Dec 23, 2022)

I haven't yet decided....hey, I'm only 80.


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## dobielvr (Dec 23, 2022)

I wanted to be a teacher, cause I so admired all my teachers.
But, instead I spent most of my working years being a customer service rep.

For a wheelchair manufacturer, and an auto parts rebuilders.


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## smilingmore (Dec 24, 2022)

Pinky said:


> Veterinarian
> 
> Nurse


Me too!  I wanted to save all the puppies in the world by giving them distemper shots.  I had lost a couple of puppies and really wanted to do that.


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## Disgustedman (Dec 24, 2022)

Well, I wanted to serve. However, I derailed that at 10 (but was unaware then)  my BIL. Was army.
I looked into that, the recruiter was a bit unfriendly. Got up and left. Worked in various companies. From Tektronix, Fender amps, Nike, Adidas, security for 3 different companies, all sucked.

But injured on the job was when I found out that my hip had been damaged at 10 jumping out of a tree. So no military or police type job. Trained on trucking, no success. Now, but physically can't do it.

So I have wandered this life. No roots anywhere. As Tony Randall said in the movie. "Seven faces of Dr. Lao" when he was reading a woman's future that when she dies "it will be as if you've never been born"

I can believe that


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