Back when I was a sprout I was told by teachers and other people that I should aspire to a career. I wanted to become an inventor, thinking up cool gadgets and fiddling with inventor junk until I came up with something patentable to make my fortune and a secure future. I wanted to be Ron Popeil’s dad. I wanted to be Edison or Tesla or the guy that invented the hook and loop fastener. If I were a kid today I would want my invention to be pitched by two guys that have their own TV show on the Discovery Channel.
That all went out the window when my high school guidance counselor took offence at my subtle joke about a carrot and his toilet training during a mentoring session. High school administrative people seldom seem to have a sense of humor. This man had even less than most. He failed me and killed my aspirations.
During a company training session a few weeks ago, I had to take one of those tests that tell you what kind of personality you have. I was confused when I scored ‘creative’ on three out of three sets. No one else in the room came close to three out of three in anything, let alone creative.
Maybe I missed my calling by not sticking to my guns and making a basement laboratory with incomprehensible electric gadgets and flickering lights. I could have been that weird guy down the street that is collecting snail slime from the neighborhood yards in little blue glass jars. I could be comfortable with being that way if I had a lot of money.
It seems that was not in the cards.
Instead, I have become a foreman for a national specialty subcontractor. That means that my company purchases and installs specialty items for construction companies. “What is a specialty item?” you might ask. A specialty item is anything from anodized angle brackets to zippered zebra skin doors. It can be anything that an architect can want and imagine. (A strange lot)
I worked my way to being a foreman with this company. I did not grease my way into the position by kissing asses and performing deviant sexual acts for morons. I simply took my job seriously and did the best I could and worked at my job every day. They decided that they trusted me enough to let me run work for them in different states.
When I think back to the projects that I have worked on and the things that I have accomplished, I find that I don’t miss being an inventor one damn bit.
Is that what they call ‘job satisfaction’?
