Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Turns Out I Wasn't Such a Strange Kid Afterall

I was watching the news last night and an article came on that totally reminded me of my childhood and gave me a good laugh all at the same time. So much so that I had to call my hubby on the phone and share my good laugh with him.

Here is the story:

Do you remember being a kid and having adults ask you, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I think that is a standard question that every kid faces at some point in their life. As a child I know I was asked that multiple times, and as a youngster, I'm guessing around the age of 5 or 6, I always had a definitive answer to that question, and it was not the answer I think most adults expected from a little girl.

Whenever anyone would ask me that question as a little girl, you would have thought I would have answered with the standard little girl's dream job answers. You would have thought I'd have said I wanted to be a teacher, a ballerina, an actress, a nurse, or some other feminine and girly career choice. Oh, no, not me! I knew darn good and well what I wanted to be when I grew up and it sure as heck wasn't any of those things. I was adamant that I wanted to be, of all things, a garbage truck driver. Yes, you read right. A garbage truck driver!

My parents would just shake their heads and laugh. Now looking back I too laugh. I have to wonder why as on Earth I ever chose garbage truck driving as my future career choice? What was I thinking? I can hardly stand gathering up the garbage and taking it out to the bin now, let alone the thought of driving around in a smelly garbage truck all day long picking up other people's garbage.

The news broadcast that helped me bring back the memory of my childhood career desires talked of a young boy in Fresno, California who also hopes to become a garbage truck driver someday. Unlike me when I was a kid just dreaming about a career in sanitation, he took action to turn his dream into a reality by writing a letter explaining his desires to the local waste disposal company. The said company then sent their best garbage truck driver out to this kid’s home and let him explore and operate the garbage truck. Free hat included!

So, see mom and dad, it turns out I was not such a strange kid, and I now know I am not alone in my childhood desire to be a garbage truck driver. I just wasn’t wise enough to write a letter, get on the news and score a free hat. Case closed!

3 comments:

Sarah said...

Haa haa..CUTE! Love it!

agent713 said...

Our garbage man used to go up our street while we were walking to school. If we were on time (which I rarely was) we could walk along and "help" him. I'm sure all the kids tagging along must have driven him nuts but he was always in a good mood about it.

It's not such a strange career goal though!

Brynn said...

OMGOSH Cathy, that is too funny! Would you like to be on "garbage" duty at the retreat? I'm sure that could be easily arranged! LOL