When I was a kid growing up in a small town, and I imagined my future, I could think of maybe fifty types of careers. They were all the obvious ones: lawyer, doctor, veterinarian, banker, store clerk, mailman, cartoonist, etc.
I always wonder how different the world would be if kids knew there are a million jobs in the world to choose from, and not just fifty. Would kids start early to prepare for careers as videographers or dolphin trainers if they knew how cool those jobs were?
I was thinking of this recently while working with a Dilbert licensee. They make fluorescent light diffusers for your office ceiling, with images such as the sky with clouds, or Dilbert characters looking down at your cube. Very cool: www.skyscapes.biz [no longer available]
So I imagine 5-year old Timmy, when asked what he wants to do for a career, answering “When I grow up, I want to make fluorescent light diffusers with Dilbert characters. They are the perfect item for adding some visual relief to drab cubicle farms.”
Timmy would die a virgin.
If you get one of these Skyscapes, let me know how you use it in your office. Was it a reward for an employee of the month, a way to make the break room livelier, or an easier way to show people where the printer is. I’ll even post your picture in this blog as you pose beneath the Skyscape. And if you are getting paid while you do it, that’s another job you didn’t imagine when you were five.