"'How'd you get into this line of, of work?'
"'How do most people get into theirs?' He shrugged. 'They drift in.'
"'I always knew what I wanted to be.'
"'And made it. Lucky. But you had Fireball to belong to, and Fireball has Anson Guthrie.'" (p. 186)
Two kinds of people:
(i) those who know from an early age that they want to be a doctor/engineer/teacher etc and attend school/College/University to acquire the necessary qualifications;
(ii) those who study history/literature/philosophy etc from interest and learn the possible career outcomes of their subjects at a later stage.
(ii) was me. See To And Through A Career.
A variation on (i) is a situation where the family decides but the individual goes along with it:
running a farm, shop or other family business;
"professional" families of doctors/lawyers etc.
In Ireland years ago, an eldest son would inherit and bequeath the family business, a second son could join a prestigious profession like the law and a third son, not needed for inheritance, could join the prestigious profession of the celibate priesthood.
10 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I would guess that, even in the West, it was fairly customary up till about a hundred years ago for most people going into professions/lines of work chosen for them by the family. Iow, your variant of " i."
Sean
Sean,
You have caught up with the posts for today. There will be no more this evening and almost certainly none in the morning as we prepare to travel, Sheila's state of health permitting.
Poul Anderson's texts provide us with an endless range of different topics to discuss.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I'm relieved! (Pant, pant!!!) (Smiles)
I hope Mrs. Shackley soon feels better!
Ditto, what you said about PA's works! And I hope you saw my comment about how I think you misunderstood the origins of the Terran Empire and how it was able to expand as it did.
Sean
Sean,
I got that. I don't always reply if I have no particular disagreement.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Understood! Just recall how the Time of Troubles was remembered with dread!
Sean
Paul and Sean:
Career path i (family-input variant): A humorous novel from the '60s, Don Quixote, U.S.A., about a Peace Corps volunteer in a banana republic, mentioned that in the locals' families, the custom was that one son went into the army, one went into the priesthood, and one joined the revolution. That way the family was protected in all contingencies, whether the dictator retained power, rebels overthrew the regime, or the Second Coming occurred. The fellow saying this was one of the rebels.
Kaor, DAVID!
Ha, ha!!! Talk about taking out insurance to cover all the contingencies!
Sean
Neat.
Paul.
Though most Irish families had an emigrant or two every generation; that's why there are so many more people of Irish descent outside the island!
Myself, I wanted to be an author from the moment I realized there was such a profession.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I'm glad you became a writer, and an SF writer. But you did have one false start, when you became first a lawyer. But you soon became dissatisfied with that profession.
Sean
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