If you could have any career that different from the one you have, what would it be?

I would work with animals, either as a vet tech or a vet. My love of animals, especially dogs, came late in life.

Archaeologist.

International bon vivant.

Commander of a supply boat in the Army.

Fluffer.

Assistant to the producer in the WJM newsroom.

Grand Poobah of Dish Queens

Opera singer. Heldentenor more specifically. The next best thing is my current job in financial services that provides me with enough money to attend the Bayreuth festival every summer if I want, or any other opera house that puts together an interesting Wagner production.

I'd be a writer of novels. I really like the concept of developing structure for a plot, flesh out characters with traits that make them interesting and serve the story. Needless to say, I haven't written one line of fiction since high school.

[quote] If you could have any career that different from the one you have, what would it be?

Editor.

Sitcom Archivist at the Museum of Television or the Paley Center.

Carpenter, especially of fine furniture. I’m a librarian now and after thirty years I’m somewhat fatigued by the mental aspects of the the field. It’s all figuring things out, which can be engaging, but I would love to have something tangible at the end of the day. Don’t get me wrong — the smile and thanks from elderly patrons or the excitement of kids finding a new author or genre can be richly rewarding. But I would think that carpentry can be emotionally satisfying *and* three dimensional.

A philanthropist of sorts.

After seeing some of these stories on the news, where an elderly person has been conned and lost X thousands of dollars and doesn’t know how to get it back or whatever, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to say, “Don’t worry, I got you.”

Or some people who through circumstances not of their making, can’t afford food or medicine, etc. to do the same.

Medieval art expert with a job at the Cloisters.

OP, I think you have it wrong. Tugboat captains get paid pretty well and it's more stressful than you think. One of those barges you're pushing hits a bridge span and there is major trouble.

National Park or National Forest Ranger.

Obgyn

I tried being a novelist and failed. But even novelists who can sell their work usually have to support themselves with something else like teaching or journalism.

[quote] I tried being a novelist and failed.

You are among very good company.

The beloved Prime Minister of a small and very wealthy European country.

^ Why not go all in and be the absolute king or queen for this country? If you don't do it, I'll do it. And you don't want to be my prime minister.

OP, r15 is right. The linked picture is from the Sunshine Skyway Bridge disaster, in which 35 people died when a tanker smashed into the bridge, causing it to collapse; admittedly, this involved the harbor pilot not a tugboat captain, but the idea is similar.

The southbound span (opened in 1971) of the original bridge was destroyed at 7:38 a.m. on May 9, 1980, when the freighter MV Summit Venture collided with a pier (support column) during a sudden squall, sending over 1,200 feet (370 m) of the bridge plummeting into Tampa Bay. The collision caused six cars, a truck, and a Greyhound bus to fall 150 feet (46 m) into the water, killing 35 people. One man, Wesley MacIntire, survived, although, contrary to belief, his Ford Courier pickup truck did not land on the deck of the Summit Venture and roll into the water; rather, it flew into the hull on the port side, ricocheted off and sank. Several other drivers - including former Major League Baseball player Granny Hamner - were able to stop their vehicles before reaching the gap in the roadway.

John Lerro, the harbor pilot who had been steering the ship, was later cleared of wrongdoing by both a state grand jury and a Coast Guard investigation. A microburst had suddenly hit the freighter with torrential rains and 70 mph (110 km/h) winds as it was in the middle of a turn in the shipping channel nearing the bridge, cutting visibility to near zero and temporarily rendering the ship's radar useless. Lerro put the ship's engines into full reverse and ordered the emergency dropping of the anchor as soon as he realized that the freighter was out of the channel, but the bow still hit two support piers with enough force to cause a portion of the roadway to collapse. The south main pier withstood the ship strike without significant damage, but a secondary pier to the south was not designed to withstand such an impact and failed catastrophically.

I wish I'd gone to law school. I'd have been a prosecutor, not because it's fun to put people in jail but the puzzle solving is very interesting to me and because I think justice requires some thought, not reflexive Javertian zeal.

Though I suppose it would be fun to put some people in jail.

When I was a teen, I wanted to be a headwriter on a daytime soap. Now, if I couldn't be independently wealthy to be able to live far away from other people, I guess I'd rather be a historian at a sleepy college in the Midwest.

R21 I would want the ego boost of being reelected again and again. Absolute king wouldn't be a bad gig though.

[quote] I wish I'd gone to law school. I'd have been a prosecutor

I actually left the profession you want to get in. I got the same motivation that you describe when I left law school. And then I saw the humongous egos at court, on both sides. I couldn't handle all the pompous characters trying to impress a jury or a client or both. And it's not just at court. I don't have a very competitive personality. So wherever the job demands high profile sales men temperament, I am not feeling too well. To me though this is not just a temperament issue. If I see someone handle a client or a jury with sales-men tactics that try to mask a poor legal argument I still cringe because we are getting into territory of manipulation in a more or less unethical way. The legal profession is like real life. You want to be your best, but it's too easy to show your worst.

I don't have a career, I have a job (I hate). I think I would have become a musician of some sort. But I come from a poor blue collar background and it wasn't encouraged.

In fact, nothing was encouraged; you were just supposed to find a factory job and stay there for 40 years. I guess.

Fair point, R26. I actually want to work for myself, but I don't know what I want to do. I thought about florist, but it's weekend work and bridezillas and I have no patience and enjoy verbal combat.

"Needless to say, I haven't written one line of fiction since high school."

Wrong, that's totally perplexing. If you like it, just start writing... something.

An heir to a fabulous fortune.

Lighthouse Keeper.

Lighthouse keeper would be cool, R31. .

I'd be a weaver, somewhere nice in Vermont. But shit, I have NO patience for setting up a loom -- a friend is into this and I have SEEN the rigamarole involved. NOPE! I guess I'm stuck just bein' a whore, darling.

R31

When I was a teenager, I wanted to live at 119 North Weatherly with Mary and Rhoda, and work at WJM-TV in Minneapolis.

When I was a young adult, I wanted to live in LA, and work at the Moonlighting Detective Agency with Maddie and David.

Writer or syndicated columnist. But also independently wealthy so I don't have to worry about money and can write when I want.

I would want to be a writer for a late-night talk show, but definitely not James Cordon.

Archaeologist, working out in the field. I’m a graphic artist and really regret wasting so much time in a field with so many undeservedly egomaniacal people. I would never have gotten involved in advertising.

I’d be a fashion designer. It was my dream but everyone in my family squashed it. I wasn’t strong or wise enough to ignore which is why I never ridicule anyone’s dreams.

I’d probably like to work somewhat in the visual arts. Working for the Andy Warhol archives would be fantastic - he is one of my favorite celebrities and extremely eccentric. Not at much as Salvador Dali, but still extremely interesting .

I would be QUEEN! FOR LIFE!!!!! Oh, wait . . . I already AM!

Journalist, the old school kind. I think it would be scary to report on actual corruption, though. People might try to kill you.

I work a job that involves interviewing people, asking questions (getting answers), and I think it's my strong point. So, that's why journalist.

Mine is built upon the requirement not to have to care much about money, which would be a nice bonus.

House flipper for historic properties (including some non-residential). To develop a team of contractors to bring properties from down and out to something that might inspire others to do the same; also to undo some wrongs by removing eyesore intrusions and replacing them with something modern but fitting in an historic neighborhood.

To be able to do that at a relaxed pace and without worrying about money beyond trying not to lose too much of it would be a pleasure and always changing.

That actually sounds pretty fascinating!

I wanted to be an actor. I loved it in hs and college. When I moved to LA I took a job in PR thinking it would be a good way to get into acting. Kinda right. I act all the time. Just not in front of the camera.

Any kind of sinecure would do me just fine.

High end international personal services analyst.

[quote] High end international personal services analyst.

Oh wait, I already am/have my dream job.

R38: Field archaeologists are often the lowliest of archaeologists; it's seen as a starting for a job in archaeology. I wish I could tell you that archaeology was free from egomaniacs but I would say it has more than its share of those and some other types of crazies as well. It's backbreaking at the field end and backstabbing at higher levels. I've seldom heard people trash their colleagues so much as archaeologists.

The work can be rewarding if it's an interesting project, and it's possible to (mostly) get lost in one's job in the field (or the lab where most field archaeologists spent at least an equable amount of time, if not 2x.)

There can be a lot of preparation and cleanup and other tasks that take away from the interesting part.

I wish I could learn about interior design and lighting. Then have my own small business helping people decorate & illuminate spaces. I have a creative side that has been dormant for many years. When I walk into a particular room, hotel lobby, etc. that are well furnished & lit it really excites me! Also, I hate rooms that are lit by one light fixture in the middle of the ceiling that is super bright! I never turn on my overhead lights if I can help it.

And we appreciate that.

Darkness is better.

[quote] I wish I could tell you that archaeology was free from egomaniacs but I would say it has more than its share of those and some other types of crazies as well.

I can see that. I don’t know why, but I can.

When I was younger I wanted to be a foreign correspondent. Now that I'm old and retired, I want to be a lottery winner.

Don’t be too hard on yourself. You may not be the brightest bulb, but I doubt you’re retired.

Either way, we love you here.

Set designer for Broadway

Musician. I love music so much and was pretty good as a kid, but I didn't think I could make a living at it.

Still love it.

Concert flautist.

R57 hail fellow flautist! Lovely to meet another fan of the instrument here.How long have you played? (if you still do?) To what level?

Only ask as I am always keen to hear about the regimens of practise and repertoire of decent flautists past or present, probably as vicarious admiration because I myself am not so skilled or gifted—I only ever got to HS/college orchestra level (not even guaranteed third or fourth chair), and didn’t really progress beyond partly due to my own numerous limitations and partly due to real life intervening. Sadly, I can’t even sight-read anymore, my ability has atrophied (does anyone know of a way to re-learn that?), and my embrouchure is limp as a soft dick. Still, I like to play little tunes to amuse myself sometimes.

And I don’t think I could have turned pro, I only ever had stamina for a 45m practise on school nights max. People don’t realise that learning to play woodwind well is physically and mentally taxing, basically the same as martial arts—for the flute in particular, your breathing and posture and focus all have to be on-point just to get a usable tone.