Maggie, at From Cave Walls, and Lauren, at LSS Attitude of Gratitude, alternate hosting Throwback Thursday. The idea of the prompt is for them to give us a topic and for us to write a post in which we share our own memories or experiences about the given topic. This week, Maggie chose the topic of “career dreams.” She wants to know…
- Do you remember what you first wanted ‘to be’ when you grew up? I wanted to be an “army man” or a cowboy. When I got older (a teenager), I wanted to be a disc jockey.
- Any idea what inspired that dream? Watching too many John Wayne movies on TV and listening to a lot of AM top 40 radio stations.
- What ‘job’ did you most emulate in play? Army: the hard nosed sergeant; cowboy: the trail driver; disc jockey: Cousin Brucie.
- Did you have any idea what salary or pay you thought you would have? None whatsoever.
- Were there careers you knew you did NOT want to do? Doctor, dentist, politician, undertaker, car salesman.
- Were you ever encouraged to follow in the footsteps of a family member? Nope.
- Were you ever urged to join a family business? There wasn’t a “family business” to join. Not in my family, anyway.
- Were you ever discouraged from a particular field? If so, why? No. I was always encouraged to do whatever I wanted to do.
- Did you have a Career Fair at school? I don’t specifically remember, but I’m sure we must have had them in high school and college.
- As an adult looking back, do you ever wish you had taken the direction of your childhood dreams? I actually did pursue being a disc jockey. I got what used to be called an FCC Class 3 commercial radio operator license and then got a job at a small-town, rural AM radio station in Maryland. I was assigned to the midnight to 6 am show five nights a week. It was a very lonely job. Imagine being a blogger and no one ever reads your blog. Well, that’s what it was like being a DJ in a mostly rural farming community. No one was listening to radio between midnight and 6 am. I used to try to have call-in contests where I would offer things like a voucher for a free meal at a local restaurant or a ticket to a movie at the local theater. No one ever called. No one! And after four months of spinning records and talking to myself for six hours a night, I quit. This was in 1968, during the height of the Vietnam war and I ended up enlisting in the Army Reserves to avoid being drafted. So I suppose I actually did achieve my childhood ambition to be an “army man.”
This, That, and the Other 
Wow Fandango. I can’t imagine doing that job with no listeners whatsoever. Becoming an army man, even a reservist was a scary thing at that time. My older brother, the &^(&, enlisted in the army for 4 years ensuring he would not see combat. (he never did) But from all I heard basic training was horrible. Thanks for joining in with your career dreams.
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It’s an absolute blessing to be encouraged, as a kid, to do whatever you want to do. I enjoyed reading about what you wanted to be back then and why, and so on.
I’m glad my son in the army finished the time he intended and is no longer in there. And, really, I didn’t think this in the past. I don’t see the point in joining these days.
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Fandango as a disc jockey. I can see that, but I always thought that would have been a lonely job. In high school we called in for requests frequently and got to know some of the local DJs. I am sure they tired of us! On a clear night in Virginia, just after midnight, we could pick up WLS out of Chicago. It was our break from constant country and bluegrass. Thanks for joiningn7s this week. Always a pleasure to read your posts.
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I lived in the DC area and I remember listening to WLS (on clear nights). If I remember correctly, the DJ there was Dick Biondi.
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I do not remember the DJ’s – it would have been in the mid seventies era that I recall most.
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My WLS on a clear night would have been around a decade earlier than yours.
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I was in was my early 20’s at the time.
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You coulda chose the political path Fan…….save the country
Golly gosh, you a DJ? You just needed another shift with more listeners. Seriously, a shame……..
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I have lots of good memories of the night time DJ on a local station, would talk to him for a long time some night. I can’t imagine no one listening at all… that is just sad.
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