If I would have been able to fly a little--this would be all I would want to do for the rest of my life...
I worked in youth ministry at a youth camp. Actually, I have done this many, many times now (I've been around the place since before the buildings). But in the span of one summer I played camp counselor to Jr. High and High school kids (no more young ones for me thank you--that's too much work), drove the tractor and pushed a lot of dirt around, drove the buses, fixed a million buildings, fixed too many of the camp's vehicles, plunged far more toilets than I can recount, cleaned more dishes than you can shake a stick at, I even got scammed into being a cook for a while, and I used a chainsaw nearly every day.
You'll notice that there is nothin gyou could consider glamorous in that list, but that's not what makes a good job. It is TOTALLY dependant upon who you work for. This job (even with my super senior staff pay) could not pay well enough to afford an apartment (room and board was, however provided), and there were of course no "benefits" in the traditional sense. But each and every day people would have very tired stomach muslces from laughing so hard (and I'm not overstating that one bit), and I found it so fun that I literally jumped out of bed when my alarm went off every morning (even if it was to inspect the bus at 4:00 AM). Guess what: the best part of waking up is knowing that you will be appreciated all day long--even if you make a mistake.
I'm amazed more aviation companies can't be run that way--I left my last job as a CFI/A&P to go back to camp. There's a LOT more to a good job than what you are doing and how you are paid for it. One of these days I'll even find a job like that where I get to play with airplanes.
Dan
PS-I don't have to do anything to get back into it, they always want me there. I just have to avoid finding some sort of committment requiring aviation job until next March.
So what was your favorite job.
