Todays #Blogtober16 prompt is ‘What Career Did You Have Planned as a Child’
Well, I wanted to be a ballet dancer!
From a very young age I would watch ballet on our black and white television with my Dad, he love watching ballet. He would draw me pictures of ballet dancers which I loved.
My auntie lived next door to a dance teacher who had a dance studio in her basement. I did visit a couple of times and I begged my mum for lessons. I never had them. I don’t know if it was because my parents couldn’t afford it or because they realised that I just didn’t have the ability. Mum’s excuse to me was that I was too tall to be a ballet dancer.
I was always tall, very long legs which I guess did make me a little unbalanced and clumsy. In fact I was pretty useless at any type of dancing and always tripping up over my own feet. I think my parents knew I wouldn’t be any good and didn’t want me to be disappointed.
When I was a little older I wanted to be a librarian. I had a huge number of books and I would let my friends borrow them and write them out a little ticket with a date for return. In those days if you went to the library you would have a little card that would go in a big file in the library. They didn’t have computers so everything had to be filed carefully. I copied this at home.
Then as I grew I wanted to work with disabled children and I did my work experience in a special school. I then worked as a care worker and would go to people’s homes and care for their disabled children. This is something I’ve never forgotten, I was very young and some of the disabled teenagers were only a year or so younger than me. It was quite distressing at time and I eventually decided not the right job for a young person.
I’ve been through many jobs, a lot in care, some shop jobs, a bingo caller which was loads of fun but the pay was dismal. Eventually I did achieve one of my dreams and got a job in a public library. I did my degree later in life than usual and ended up working in an academic library in our local university. I was made for that job, the little librarian in me won over the ballet.
I couldn’t find a photo of my library but this was the other library in the building.
Bizarrely growing up I wanted to be 'a Mum'. When I was older I wanted to be a teacher, and I didn't do a teaching degree because I basically had to go to work to pay to live, and it seemed too hard an option. I did teach though, and I've worked a lot with adults, plus young people 16+ and children 3-5 😀
Oh I loved the library as a kid and I also made a pretend library with my sister where we made little paper tickets and glued them inside our books. What an impressive building that you worked in. I hope your daughter restaurant dream comes true! #Blogtober2016