I Wanna Be A...

Think back to when you were young. What did you want to be when you grew up? The standard answers from a little kid are a Fireman, a Police Officer, and Astronaut. Mine was the last one, Astronaut. So in those innocent years of playing outside in the backyard, pretending to blast off to some distant planet, things were good. Everybody else wanted to be a Fireman. I would say, "Firemen, who wants to be a Fireman, Not ME!!!!!"

In school, you take the quizzes that match you with a certain career and for those few weeks you truly believe that you are going to be handed that career in that specific field. Mine was Forestry Management. Cool!!! Outdoors, fresh air... wildlife. What they don't tell you what Forestry Management entails. Management is Latin for paperwork, a desk and a goddamn phone that contunuously rings. On the plus side you get to order around underlings but after awhile that probably gets old.

As I got a little older, I noticed how young girls went ape shit over famous rock and roll folk when they played in front of them. Cool!!! The Traveling, The money, the wildlife... What you don't see are the strung out, drugged up skinny dude who can't get an erection anymore because the only veins, that haven't collapsed, that you use to shoot up are in your dick. And the medicinal drugs that you have to take because you are Hep A,B,C positive. I still play guitar without the dream of multiple sex partners in some motel room thousands of miles from home. I know what your saying.....

Fast forward to a couple of years ago. When I was younger I had no desire what so ever to anything in health care. I didn't like the sight of blood, the stank of another person's shit would put me close to death, needles, oh my god, needles (another viable reason the rock & roll magnet never stuck), and sick people in general. My father in law paid for an EMT class and asked if I would go and I agreed thinking that it sounded interesting but hmmph. As the class went on I got more into it. The blood and guts weren't as bad as I thought they were and the clinical in the E.R. caught my attention.

After I passed the tests and was official I was working for Pepsi Cola as a service technician. Health Care became more and more of a thing for me. It's a career field that will never cease to exist because people will always get sick. The thought of quitting a great job at Pepsi never crossed my mind. I did quit and took a large pay cut in the process but am happier in my job now. I work in an Emergency Department with great co-workers and stuff. I'm Happy!!

To the punk kid who wanted to be an astronaut and definitely NOT a fireman!!! I am a South Dakota Certified Fire Fighter of 3 years... Who'd a thought huh?


Eric