Wow, thanks to everyone for participating in the first of 12 monkeys. We had loads of people list all the jobs they’ve had. I hope you all had fun doing it — I certainly had fun reading them!
In honor of the success of this monkey, here are two interesting monkey links:
Keep an eye out for the next monkey — middle of next month!
As promised, below is my list of jobs blork has done, in roughly chronological order. It does not include babysitting my nieces and nephews when I was 15. It starts with my first real paying (summer) job and proceeds to my current position. It includes a few volunteer jobs, but only those ones which I consider to be, or have been, of some value.
This is an interesting exercise, because I’ve always had a phobia about being stuck “without options.” I’ve always envied these people who manage to find a way to scrape out a living wherever they are, doing whatever it takes. I’ve always feared that I can’t do anything worth getting paid for, that I was condemned to a life on the margins of employment, getting by on unemployment insurance cheques and under-the-table pizza delivery jobs.
Then I look at the list. While few of the jobs have a lot of career potential, I find it amazing that I’ve always managed to find work when I needed it.
Please join in and make a similar list on your blog. But remember: this is not a meme, it’s a monkey!
So? How about you?
The turning of the year is traditionally a time of personal reflection — or at least of making lists. As such, over a wine-soaked dinner last night, M and I started telling stories about the various jobs we’ve done over the years. We laughted at the craziness and madness of some of them. M as a rule-defying librarian? Blork as a late-night industrial kitchen de-greaser?
“This is blog-worthy” we said. We also thought it would be fun if people out in the blogosphere were to chime in with their own lists on their blogs — all on the same day. We propose next Wednesday (January 14).
I’ve held dozens of jobs in my time, too many to discuss in detail. I plan to list them all, but to comment on only a few. (In some cases, the job title alone will be comment enough.)
Please participate! A little January introspection is a lovely thing, and it’s even better in bulk!
More: Since M and I only think big, we’re considering making this a monthly event in which we propose a topic a week in advance, and on the middle Wednesday of each month all those who wish to can blog about that topic. We’re not going to get all fancy and coordinated — we just like the idea that once per month a lot of people blog about the same thing. Sort of like the Friday Five, but with no requiement to link to the original or to comment at any central location.
We call it our “12 Monkeys” thing (12 singes), because, well, monkeys are fun, and there’s that thing about if you get enough monkeys typing they’ll eventually write a Shakespearean play, and well, there’s 12 months in a year. M will post the monthly monkey in French and I’ll post it in English.
Wanna play? January’s monkey is “List all the jobs you’ve ever held.” Post it on Wednesday, January 14. One request: put “January’s Monkey” somewhere in the post, to facilitate Google searches. Strike that last bit. Let’s keep it simple.