Working is for Chumps

I know people who love their jobs. I know people who feel fulfilled and satisfied with their careers. I even know people who are of age to retire, but choose to continue to work. I am not one of those people.

I have never really liked working. I don't feel that work enhances my life or makes me feel good. The only real satisfaction I get from a job is the money I receive from it. I really find it to be more of a chore than anything else and I don't like to do chores.

I guess the best job I ever had was the first job I had. For the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in high school, I was an ice cream scooper. I worked at a local drug store (more like a small Target of today) where there was an ice cream counter. We didn't do anything fancy like shakes or sundaes, but we did do cones and cups or hand packed containers.

I don't know what made it such a great job. I guess we were busy - it was summer and we sold a single scoop of ice cream for 35 cents. Maybe it was the fun of being the first job and first paycheck I ever received. We did have a fun staff. Most of them were also high school students, so we knew of each other. It could have been the old fashioned cash register with the big buttons. You would have to push the 30 cent button, then the 5 cent button, then sub total, and then the big black key for final total to get the drawer to open. I even enjoyed the menial tasks like refilling the inventory and cleaning the utensils. The joys of youth.

Every job since then has become a little less enjoyable. I guess the youthful days of summer are gone. I don't hate my current job, but I can certainly think of other things I would rather be doing. I would retire tomorrow if I could. It is sad that those things that used to be such fun when you were a kid are not as much fun when you are a grown up. Oh well, I guess there is nothing that can be done now but wait for retirement. Then the fun will start again.