If You're Working Right, It'll Be Like You're Not Even Working at All

Throughout my years in the K-12 public schooling program, people used to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and the the answer was always the same; I don't know. And as I've gotten older, wiser, and more mature, my answer has become even more blunt; "I doubt I'm going to grow up any more."

There are basically to trains of thought; do what you love and do what is practical. It is my goal today to disprove both of them.

If I were to do what I loved for a living, I would be;

1) a political cartoonist/political commentator

2) a radio show host/talk show host

3) a writer

4) a film critic

5) a dinosaur

I know what you're thinking; "But, jinkies, Scoob, that doesn't sound too bad!" Maybe not, but I'm not sure how to go about doing any of that. Not everyone can be a Thomas Nast or a Johnny Carson or a Michael Crichton or a Roger Ebert. And I would probably make a better dinosaur than any of the other things on that list. I already kind of resemble Earl Sinclair.

If I were to do what was practical, well, let's just say college would still be an option. But seeing how it's not currently an option, I have a hard time seeing practicality in anything. I could stay at Subway, but that hardly seems practical. And therein lies the issue. Not everybody is going to be rich and successful. Some of us are going to be the guys who make burgers or shine shoes for the rich. There's no shame in that; it's necessary in capitalism. But I don't believe I'm destined to be a burger flipper, partially because I don't believe in destiny, but mostly because I would never be content at a Jack in the Box or a Del Taco (unless I owned it).

The simple truth is you gotta do what you gotta do, regardless of practicality or enjoyment. Do you think the guy who scrubs up whale vomit at Seaworld for minimum wage enjoys what he does? Some of them probably do (I sure don't want to meet that guy), but most of them probably don't. But unless you inherit it from a dying relative, you're never going to become the head whale vomit-cleaner without working your way to the top from the bottom. Most successful comedians start out working small clubs for about $20 and free beer (if that). Mike Tyson was once just a troubled youth from Brooklyn before achieving success as a boxer (albeit controversial) and later as the best part of The Hangover.

Do what you will, and you will make do.