The World of Work

About a week before school let out, Aden had one last field trip.  She got to participate in a large scale Junior Achievement "Work" simulation.  The kids were taught how to manage money by using a checkbook and debit card and do some form of job.  Which meant a week or so before the trip everyone had to apply for the different jobs available.

Aden wanted to work in one of the restaurants.  Even though she wouldn't be cooking for real, she likes the idea of making things for people and organizing that kind of activity.  She held out hope for the job she wanted up until the day before the field trip when the assignments were given.  And then Aden found out she was going to be a bank teller.

She was really depressed about it.

I started off by telling her that the good part about her job was that she would get to see everyone.  Everybody in every job would have to visit the bank.  And that depending on the people she was with and details of the job she didn't know yet, it would probably be a lot more fun than she expected.

And then I told her something I'd never considered talking to my children about before, even though it seems obvious: People seldom end up in the jobs they want.