7/21/09

Forget plaids, just keep your pants up

I suppose all parents speculate on what their children will be when they grow up. Children do it, too, of course. My oldest son has said he wants to be an artist. My daughter thinks maybe she'll be a nurse because she likes to listen to heartbeats. As a child, I wanted to be a piano teacher (never took lessons), a dancer, a Veterinarian, or a writer.

With a child who has a special interest or obvious talent, it is natural to consider the possible careers in which that talent or interest could be best utilized. If you throw in the possibility that your amazing child may always find socializing, teamwork, office politics, or various environmental stimuli (like fluorescent lights) challenging, then a concerned parent may become guilty of turning the future career speculating into a minor obsession.

Orangeboy hasn't proffered any professions for himself, but I have given him a few suggestions. He took to the math teacher idea for awhile. Everyone who knows him is aware of his affinity for numbers and math. Then I started envisioning poor Mr. O standing in front of a classroom full of derisive teenagers in his ill-fitting pants and misbuttoned shirt, vainly trying to keep their attention on algebra or trigonometry. I felt the possibility of lifelong maternal guilt coming on and decided that maybe we should further consider our options.

There are many obvious nerd fields; like engineering, information technology, video game testing or designing (He really liked that!), or auditing; but I think I have now come up with a real winner...

Plumber! Orangeboy would make a great plumber! Plumbers are necessary in any civilized society and they make pretty good money - right? Most plumbers work independently and don't have to worry about their fashion sense. Orangeboy can spend hours reading instruction manuals and drawing flow-charts; so I can see these interests being used in reading plumbing diagrams for new houses and meticulously piecing together all the right joints, elbows, and valves. He also spends a lot of time putting together various K'nex and Leggos constructions, but isn't incredibly creative when it comes to his designs. He does best when he can sit down with a complete set and an instruction booklet to follow - step by step.

Don't you think he'd make a reliable and conscientious plumber? Like I said, civilization needs plumbers - plumbers and doctors- and if you don't have enough plumbers, you'll need a lot more doctors.

2 comments:

  1. My son recently told me he wanted to work as a computer tech support person and live at home. The sad part? I can so see that happening!

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  2. OMG, that's an awesome idea.

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