Recently I have had a lot time to think – mainly cause I ride the bus into work and back home. 41 minutes one-way makes for a fun time to people watch and think because I get sick when I read or look down to do a puzzle.
I have always wondered what makes people do certain jobs – for example, did a sanitary worker always know he or she would be working in that job or is it more of a necessity? When mom asked Stan what he wanted to do when he grows up did Stan answer, “I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of an RTD bus?” How do people end up in their jobs?
I know for me, I always wanted to be an attorney and I enjoy what I do – I could not imagine doing anything else although sometimes I see others and wonder. When I am getting my morning coffee (once a week) I wonder what it would be like being a barista at Starbucks. I would meet some neat people but I would have to be nice to them –not fun! When I am riding the bus home, I think to myself, do they have flexible hours? How much does this job pay? I wonder if I could drive a bus on a route for 8 hours a day? How many round trips would that be and would I go crazy not being able to text people, e-mail, talk on the phone, or otherwise interact with others? Do I really need to stop at every railroad? How dumb am I that I cannot see a train coming? Asking people for $1.75 or to see their Pass is not interaction. Worse, would I need to say to every person who got on the bus, “Do you need a transfer?”
Anyway, I digress. I guess my point in writing this is that it seems that we evolve into our jobs. Most people may want to know what they want to be when they are a child or even in high school or college, but oftentimes, life gets in the way and not all plans culminate into reality. I am not sure I would want to do anything else but, given a choice between standing at a construction site holding a sign, driving a bus, or operating a crane, I would not be sure what to choose. I am thankful that Stan chose to evolve into a bus driver, and Bob became a sanitation worker, that Linda decided to go into construction, Gloria decided to go into childcare and Rita decided to open her own home cleaning business because if everyone knew what they wanted to be when they grew-up and followed through, our world certainly could be … dysfunctional.
