Work, job, career: Was it what you thought it would be?
Two questions asked of me recently gave me pause. The first question came from a young neighbour who stopped by the other evening to ask, not for money for some fundraising effort, but a question as part of an assignment for her math class related to surveys, statistics and graphs. She asked, Is the job you did as an adult what your child-self thought you would be doing when you grew up? My short answer was, No. The longer answer is that, as a little girl, I had fantasies of being a corner-office corporate boss — a Big Wig who had plans, gave orders, and commanded respect from everyone by virtue of her position in that corner office. I’m pretty sure this fantasy was more about telling boys what to do than it was about any specific work or skills! Fifty years on, I can say with assurance that I have never come even close to fulfilling this fantasy. The second question came from a writing friend who asked if I would follow the same career path if I could do it all over again.