# When you were a kid , what was your dream job? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 19, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292 "2016-08-19T14:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/21 "2016-08-19T19:23:01Z")
Astronaut, and by extension a fighter pilot. (growing up, all but one of the astronauts had been test pilots) As a very small boy, like 4 or under, I wanted to be a firefighter, and also a garbageman, because they got to ride around and hang on the back of the trucks, which I thought was unspeakably cool. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/22 "2016-08-19T19:37:21Z")
Young child: an auto mechanic (or “car fix-it man” as I expressed it). 2nd grade thru high school: an astonomer (which I visualized as involving SEEING astronomical beauty and studying about it etc; I had no idea _math_ was heavily involved, nor that astronomers seldom spend their [del]days[/del] nights peering into telescopes. ---
**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:** [August 19, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/23 "2016-08-19T21:40:42Z")
A science fiction writer. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/24 "2016-08-19T21:52:26Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > My dream job changed all the time. I wanted to be: > a truck driver > **railroad engineer** > Disc jockey > lawyer > fireman > fighter pilot > > I ended up being an engineer. Just not THAT kind. The other kind. Bolded above, was me – self and a large number of other British boys of my (“Baby-Boomer”) generation. “Driver” in Brit-speak, as opposed to “engineer” – of a steam loco, of course: until the late 1950s, Britain’s rail system was overwhelmingly steam-worked. (In later years, I tried the preliminary stages of that same thing, on a preserved steam railway: quickly found that I had no aptitude for it at all.) ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/25 "2016-08-19T22:21:18Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > Until I was about 8, I thought the greatest job in the world would be to operate one of those enormous constructions cranes that towered high over the city. It is a great job. [Here’s](http://oilrig-photos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/2823.jpg) the crane I operated in my younger days. It was mounted on [this](http://oilrig-photos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/155.jpg) vessel (ship in the foreground gives a good size reference). I did this for a few years and it was in some ways an awesome job (fantastic pay, great view of the ocean). As to the OP’s question; my dream job when I was a kid involved a Ferrari, [solving crimes](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080240/) and a black friend with a helicopter. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/26 "2016-08-19T22:58:39Z")
USN F-4 (later, F-14) pilot. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/27 "2016-08-19T23:02:58Z")
A marine biologist, because I loved whales and dolphins. In middle and high school, I wanted to be a professional basketball player. I dramatically overestimated my ability to actually play basketball, though. ---
**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:** [August 19, 2016, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/28 "2016-08-19T23:19:44Z")
Fighter pilot, a dream that has never quite gone entirely away. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/29 "2016-08-19T23:53:07Z")
Chemist. In those bygone days, chemistry sets actually contained chemicals that could make interesting stuff, like SO2 and H2S (and you mix them and see what happens) as well as chemical gardens (thiocyanate, if I recall). There was an alcohol burner too. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/30 "2016-08-20T00:18:25Z")
Zoo veterinarian. From maybe 1rst or 2nd grade until perhaps 11-12. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/31 "2016-08-20T00:31:57Z")
Capturing crocodiles in the Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/32 "2016-08-20T01:16:47Z")
Archaeologist (this was decades before Indiana Jones). ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/33 "2016-08-20T03:22:17Z")
I always thought Siskel & Ebert had the best jobs in the world. This was before I knew they both also ‘wrote’ reviews for newspapers and thought they just had the TV show. I thought it would be awesome to just watch new movies every week then go on a show and give your opinion about it. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/34 "2016-08-20T03:46:12Z")
> [@bump](#): > > As a very small boy, like 4 or under, I wanted to be a firefighter, and also a garbageman, because they got to ride around and hang on the back of the trucks, which I thought was unspeakably cool. This is the same as me. Add in Secret Service Agent, but the reasoning was exactly the same. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/35 "2016-08-20T04:19:17Z")
Paleontologist, since I was about 3 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/36 "2016-08-20T04:50:33Z")
Pilot. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/37 "2016-08-20T05:51:09Z")
A cartoonist. Unfortunately where I lived, it was a one cartoonist town. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/38 "2016-08-20T06:28:42Z")
[ul] [li]Astronaut[/li][li]Firefighter[/li][li]Playboy photographer[/li][/ul] My nephew told me years ago that he wanted to be a garbage man when he grew up. When I asked him why, he told me it was because they only work one day a week. My nephew; always thinking. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/39 "2016-08-20T06:41:51Z")
Astronaut. Nobel Prize winner for Chemistry. I wanted to be like Madame Curie, really. Haven’t gotten the Nobel yet, but I did get a couple of degrees in Chemistry, one of them abroad. ---
**Author:** ![Nefario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/59ef9b/32.png) [@Nefario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefario)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-dream-job/763292/40 "2016-08-21T13:01:21Z")
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