Do people ever tell you that you should be something? Like "You should be a singer", "You should be a professional artist", "You should be a model"?

What do people tell you? And what do you do really?

A teacher. An english teacher. People think I am great with kids, say I'm well spoken, and know I love to read, so they think "She MUST be a teacher", despite my appearance. One friend's mom is now DETERMINED to hound me into being a teacher. I don't like kids, I have to patience, I yell, my grammer sucks, and the idea of standing in front of a class everyday makes me want to scream. No, I am not a teacher.

I do work as a legal assistant and general "do-er of extra crap about the office" for an online porn company. I make decent money, have my own office, look like a weirdo, have free health care, screw around online all day, and look at naked people all the time. I guess you could call it educational, in a manner. It's opened my eyes!

A chef, my mother wants to send me to culinary school. i rather eat glass, i hate cooking, its just she works so much i usually end up making things, and well with the amount of food network i watch and crazy 60's year books i read, i'll admit that i do make some things really good, but id know id suck in that kinda resturant situation, people yelling and shit, urg.

A teacher. Either a High School English Teacher, a Special Ed teacher, or a College English/Literature Professor.

Uh. No. No thank you.

Of all those, I'd be a Special Ed teacher -- 'cause I think I'm good 1-on-1 with a student, but I have a math learning disability, and I'd hate myself if I forgot to carry the two and gave a kid a lower grade by accident!

I would *never* teach English or Literature to bored high school or college kids who don't give a rats ass and hate to read. I'm not putting up with their attitudes! (Or, worse, their *parents* attitudes). Plus, in High Schools, yoou have much less control over your curriculum. I'd hate to be told what to do in the classroom -- especially since what's taught tends to be really "safe" and "watered down." (For example, nobody acknowledges that Whitman was an open homosexual, and they ignore parts of "Leaves of Grass" where he admires the cute boys playing in the Hudson Bay. Or, the Dickinson poems that are taught are the wimpy boring ones, and they don't always do the cool ones about death, etc.)

My profession: Electronic Publications Specialist (I help update websites...I'm not a webmistress, though...)

My "real" life: I'm a writer/poet/scribbler. :)

I hear all the time about how I "have to" be a mom. I'm so NICE and SMART and EMPLOYED and getting married, its like people think all of a sudden I should be a baby cannon. I'm also pretty open and vocal about reasons why I may never want kids, and at 28 still cannot forsee wanting any at all until at least my late 30s. I love my dog and thats plenty.

*snork!* Bwhahahahahaha! Baby Cannon! Baby Cannon! I LOVE that, RedRamona, that's too funny! Bwhaahahahaaaa!

*ladyjane hides under her cubicle desk, snickering to herself!*

baby cannon caused me to snort - just the visual of a child blown at high speeds from the crotch area.....priceless....

a Radio announcer or DJ.

I have a really good "phone" voice (although you would never think so in person.) I was actually a DJ in college and my own mother swore up and down it wasn't me.

side note- I worked at the service desk at Kmart in high school. One time a little boy came up to me after making an announcement and just stared at me. He finally said he thought I'd be a blonde. Hmmmm...... (he couldn't have been over 12 and I am the farthest thing from being a blonde. Brown hair, brown eyes, etc.)

i've been told i should be a stand-up comedian. i think it's just because i have a problem with everything and vocalize it in a humorous way.

-S

i was told all through college that i should be a lawyer, cuz i can't persuade anyone to do anything but more than once i've convinced someone on my point of view through debate. too bad my lsat scores stink, eh?

jangrl. :)

Like Red Ramona, I also get told that I should be a mom and I'm only 23! Talk about pressure! I suppose that I brought it on myself in high school by being vocal about the fact that I never want to have kids. My mom is still convinced that this is a phase that I will grow out of (nearly 10 years later!). My friends every so often ask if I still don't want kids and then put on the "you'd be such a good mom, who are my kids supposed to play with?" routine. It gets old. Very very old. As far as I can see, now I am making it possible for one of my friends to have an extra kid while still maintaining zero population growth. They should be thanking me!

Everyone tells me I need to be a vet. Okay, so I have this wierd power over animals that makes even the most vicious attack dog and the most skittish cat totally ignore their owners in favor of me and love me forever and ever and ever. I'm pretty sure I'd lose this amazing power if I started cutting animals open and setting bones...ech, even if it's for their own good.

Jaz-
I was a prevet until this semester and I stil do a lot of animal rescue work (both of my dogs were seriously abused and my cat was a stray).And I love animals and they love me and I get asked all of the time "Now..Why is it you aren't you being a vet, again?"
and every time I explain to them that if I was a vet I would be a good vet but I would be of no use to anyone else in my life. I let it control me too much. I become a basket case. Ths would not be good if I end up being Donna Reed ;)

Katy

Work people are very supportive and tell me I should do my jewelry full time. Considering I've never sold a single item of jewelry, that's a lot of confidence on their part.

Mostly people tell me I should be what I am, a lawyer.

I get told that I should be a mother ALL THE TIME! and I am about 5 days from 20 right now! but I do want to be a mom someday so that doesn't bother me too much.

friend leaving for the summer: Katy I hope you get a boyfriend soon

me: why? do I act desperate or something?

friend: no, you are just the marrying type and I hope you get a boyfriend soon and get on with it.

I have been told by lots of people that I will make a good wife, apparently I am a strand of pearls away from being Donna Reed.

Also...
my grandma wants me to be a pediatrician.
my grandfather thinks I should be a florist (?!?!?!)
Lots of people have said a singer/broadway.

***I*** think that when I grow up I want to be a librarian, preferably in an elementary school and I want to keep writing children's books and hopefully open my own bookstore (think "you've got mail"...you know, but successful)

I am 19 right now so we will see :)

Katy

My friends all think that I should be a professor. My dad for some reason thinks I should go into advertising. (???)

I can't decide what I want to do career-wise.

i get the model thing sometimes. usually by dunk men, though, so i'm pretty sure that doesn't count.

i get writer (by people who have never read any of my writing, curiously enough) and english teacher. sadly enough, the semi-artistic talents i enjoy more, nobody really says much about. bummer.

i get told i should be a masseaur (spelling??) almost everytime i give someone a back rub. i'm considering it since right now i'm nothing in the career department. . .

During most of my high school years, my father tried to strongly encourage me to go into some form of health care (like physical therapy or radiology or something), but not to become a doctor. Because health careers were semi-secure and he didn't want to have to put me through medical school. The fact that I strongly dislike touching strangers and swoon (vasovagal reaction)at vivid descriptions/pictures of medical problems didn't discourage him. (Now, I work as a writer for a company that does a lot of business with pharmaceutical companies.)

I hear English teacher and writer (as in, novelist) all the time, which is nice because I aspire to both. However, it pissed me off to no end when one of my relatives said, "So, you're going to teach, right?" when I graduated college because you know, that's the only thing a woman with an English degree can do.
-mystril

Lawyer. I have heard this so many times since I was about 13. But I don't want to be a lawyer, so I only pull out my skillz when I really need to.

Chef. I enjoy cooking but to do it as a profession would take the joy out of it for me. "Kitchen Confidential" really confirmed that feeling.

I get dj or comedian all the time. Probably because I am sort of a class clown and I can't shut up.

I actually did get my degree in broadcasting, but I didn't want to actually persue that.
I do social work.

my art teacher thought that i should've been a comedian because i was damn funny.

my mother thinks that i should be a writer or artist in some form or another. that doesn't vague it up at all.

*I* want to act. Or be on SNL. Because I'm damn funny.

What will really happen?

I'll end up living on the street corner in a tiny box, with finger-less gloves, a shopping cart and a brown bagged bottle.

i've gotten model, judge, artist, and teacher. the rabbi i work for also told me i should go to rabbinical school, but since i'm catholic, i don't think that's too likely. ;)

i've gotten "you should be a mother" (um, yeah, if you can find me a guy who's not a total donuthead, i might actually consider thinking about it), "you should sell your arty/crafty stuff for a living" (well, i liked top ramen back in the 80's, but i like to eat real food now), "you should be a teacher" (what, go back to college and get a degree so's i can babysit a bunch of snot-nosed kids 9 months outta the year?).
personally, i woulda preferred to be a trust-fund baby, but i never had a choice in the matter! so i sit in a cubicle 40 hrs a week and earn a steady paycheck for pushing numbers around and surfing the 'net. and that gives me the freedom to do the crafty stuff in my off hours.
-s~

my oh-so-asian parents had dreams of me being a doctor or a business person once, mostly so they wouldn't end up supporting me into my thirties and i won't have to live on a flea-market salary like my mom. that dream lasted about a week.

mostly i get journalist, editor, and teacher, which is because i'm a writer. i would be a horrible teacher and i'm an even worst editor (as evidenced by my three years in magazine publishing hell).

i think most people just think i should stop dicking around and go back to work or (gasp) grad school. however, no one's ever told me i'd make a good mom!