# What was your dream job when growing up? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 28, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391 "2012-05-28T23:08:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/1 "2012-05-28T23:08:03Z")
Well, what was it? Mine was to be a military pilot, namely fast jets, but unfortunately a few factors put paid to that one, mainly the fact that I was very short sighted! _(at a later date having lasers fired at my eyes solved that problem)_. I recently learned from a friend that one of the first things they test for during initial selection is the Photic sneeze reflex which is an automatic disqualifier, so I wouldn’t have got past the front door. > **[Photic sneeze reflex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex)** > > The photic sneeze reflex (also known as Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst (ACHOO) syndrome or photoptarmosis, of the combining form from Ancient Greek φῶς, phōs, "light" and πταρμός, ptarmós, "sneeze", colloquially sun sneezing or photosneezia) is an inherited and congenital autosomal dominant reflex condition that causes sneezing in response to numerous stimuli, such as looking at bright lights or periocular (surrounding the eyeball) injection. The condition affects 18–3 Th... As I get older I have increasing personal concerns over state use of force, I’m not a pacifist but unless I truly believed in the cause I would have moral problems with the application of violence to resolve it. _(I am not anti-military by any means just to clarify)_ So that’s mine, anyone else? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/2 "2012-05-28T23:20:33Z")
Olympic skier, rock-star drummer, auto racer. My dad, who payed the bills, saw to it those dreams were crushed damn quick. I can’t complain too much, however. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/3 "2012-05-28T23:24:39Z")
For a very long time, I wanted to be a comedian…or perhaps more specifically, I wanted to be Bill Cosby. My folks had a bunch of Bill Cosby’s old albums and I would listen to them over and over…I thought it would very cool to be able to tell stories and make people laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/4 "2012-05-28T23:29:47Z")
Ballerina or astronaut. This was in the days of Sally Ride and Baryshnikov. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/5 "2012-05-28T23:30:57Z")
As a small boy: train driver. At school I wanted to be a teacher…until I found out that they weren’t paid particularly well. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/6 "2012-05-29T00:06:20Z")
Baseball player, specifically a center-fielder. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/7 "2012-05-29T00:07:46Z")
I’m with the OP, right up to high school I wanted to be a fighter pilot. I never would have made it though, I’m a laid back bloke and don’t have the drive required for that sort of job. Interesting to daydream occasionally though. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/8 "2012-05-29T00:13:59Z")
Civil Rights lawyer, go on to be POTUS ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/9 "2012-05-29T00:15:27Z")
Librarian. I thought all they had to do was sit around and read all day. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/10 "2012-05-29T00:16:00Z")
Scientist. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/11 "2012-05-29T00:17:26Z")
Theoretical physicist ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/12 "2012-05-29T00:28:28Z")
I’m with the OP. Fighter jock, hopefully progressing on to astronaut. Alas, the minimum height for pilots in the USAF and USN is 64 inches (162 CM), and I am only 62 and a half. So I enlisted in the Navy and got to work on those fighter jets, and I got to ride in some cool airplanes/helicopters. I am kinda glad I didn’t make it because many of the fighter jocks I worked with were not pleasant people, although most of the helo pilots are great to work with. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/13 "2012-05-29T00:31:59Z")
On my first day of high school, as I was walking into the building for the first time, I set the fire alarm off by tripping the manual pull station by the door. I am now the installation and service manager for a fire alarm company… ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/14 "2012-05-29T00:34:51Z")
I wanted to be an inventor. I wanted to have a lab and to just tinker around and make things that no one had ever though to make before. It turns out that’s a lot harder than it sounds. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/15 "2012-05-29T00:35:59Z")
Mad scientist. Seriously. I’m pretty proud of my success to date. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/16 "2012-05-29T00:46:49Z")
The very first career ambition I had - I did alter this several times and in fact I’m still not sure what I want to grow up to be (I’m 52) - was to be the garbage man. In those days, they were two man trucks. One guy drove, the other (my ambition) was the guy that hung on the back, hopped off at each house, tossed the trash in the back and occasionally hit the lever for the compactor. Some days, I think I wanna still do that. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/17 "2012-05-29T01:01:47Z")
Draw bridge operator. I had little ambition (still sounds nice, though) ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/18 "2012-05-29T01:04:31Z")
When I was very young, I wanted to be a heavy equipment operator (e.g., tower cranes, backhoes, excavators). When I was a pre-teen, I wanted to be a mapmaker for the National Geographic Society. If I could relive my life, I’d be a cartographer for the NGS. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/19 "2012-05-29T01:15:20Z")
Seeing Eye dog trainer. StG ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391/20 "2012-05-29T01:17:30Z")
Science fiction writer. When I saw the first Nebula Awards Anthology and read about SFWA, I wanted to be able to be a member. I’ve been a member for almost 30 years now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-dream-job-when-growing-up/623391.md?page=2)