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Original poster

Which jobs/careers are best for giving you funny and interesting things to talk about?

28 replies

billsandmoon · 28/12/2020 14:35

If having funny/interesting things to talk about with friends and family during your personal life was your only consideration when choosing a job or career, what would you choose to do?

The background is that I've been working in a job I absolutely love for the last 10 years but everything I do is completely confidential and I can't talk about it with anyone. I had thought this wouldn't be an issue as I'd just fill my non-working life with lots of fun and interesting activities but it turned out that the job was often very demanding and I'd go through phases of having very little time outside work at all. Leaving me with little in the way of news and interesting things to talk about.

I've been thinking of changing career and am considering my options and what I might enjoy. Ultimately, I'd love to find a job that brought joy to my personal life as well as my working life in that it gave me lots of funny, interesting stories to tell and lots of things to talk about (while not being a job bore) but I'm not really sure what kind of jobs provide that. I'm also considering all the other factors and I may end up doing something similar to what I was doing before but I'd be interested to know if anyone had any ideas. I was thinking something with children or animals might fit the bill but I'm open to all suggestions.

I have a health condition which I don't want to say too much about as it's outing but this does limit me, mostly in terms of what hours I can work (there must be a degree of flexibility and working afternoons and evenings is preferable). However, I'm open to all suggestions!

If you have or have had a job that gave you loads of interesting things to talk about what was it and did it bring you a lot of happiness?

OP posts:

FourEyesGood · 28/12/2020 15:05

There’s no flexibility with hours, but secondary-school teaching has always been interesting!

AnitaHotdog · 28/12/2020 15:10

Diplomatic service. The stories! Though limited generally to be told to other colleagues ahem.

MoiraNotRuby · 28/12/2020 15:14

Oh god none of them! I have a family full of people who regale us with 'interesting' anecdotes from their jobs. Its so fecking tedious!!! I like to see my friends so we can have a two way conversation like normal people do.

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Jobs

abstractzebra · 28/12/2020 15:16

Charity retail.
We spend all day laughing about weird donations and weird customers, marvelling at fantastic donations, playing with toys and looking up the value of art and other nick nacks and generally having a good time.
Volunteers are fantastic too and because they are all volunteers, people come and go throughout the day, so you always see new people.
I tell my friends and family about anything notable in the shop and take photos of anything I think they will laugh at!

Original poster

billsandmoon · 28/12/2020 15:17

Surely exchanging funny and interesting stories is part of a two way conversation Moira? Sounds like your family members just aren't very attuned to what other people find funny and interesting?

OP posts:

MoiraNotRuby · 28/12/2020 15:20

@billsandmoon

Surely exchanging funny and interesting stories is part of a two way conversation Moira? Sounds like your family members just aren't very attuned to what other people find funny and interesting?

You are quite right there. But the longer their career goes on, the more they seem to think their Interesting Job Anecdotes are all that's needed for a conversation 🤔.

raffle · 28/12/2020 15:20

Working with Adults with Learning Disabilities in a Day Service was amazing! I’ve never had such a laugh at work. It provided some of the funniest moments where the entire group would be cracking up laughing for ages!

Original poster

billsandmoon · 28/12/2020 15:20

FourEyesGood - yes, my friend's a secondary school teacher and she usually has good stories (and some pretty horrific ones!). Just a shame about the lack of flexibility but maybe I can work on my own issues.

I always wanted to work in the diplomatic sevice Anita but I'm at an age where I want to settle down and have kids and I'm not sure I want the travelling at this stage of my life. I'd love to have friends that told me all about it but as you imply, I'm sure they wouldn't be allowed to even if I knew anyone!

Abstractzebra, I'd thought about that but thought the material might not stretch as far as I might like. Sounds like I might be wrong on that one though!

If anyone fancies sharing their stories or anything that's happened recently, I'd love to hear them incidentally!

OP posts:

Timeforabiscuit · 28/12/2020 15:23

Any job working with politicians alongside the general public.

Never a dull moment!

Original poster

billsandmoon · 28/12/2020 15:24

I sympathise Moira - that sounds cringey!

I wondered about that raffle but always worry about the fine line between laughing with people and at people. I'm a kind person and have no cruelty streak but worry any stories told might be perceived that way by some. Was that ever an issue for you or your colleagues? Having people perceive that when it wasn't the case?

OP posts:

abstractzebra · 28/12/2020 15:39

I completely understand what raffle is saying.
Some roles you just have to fully armed with a good sense of humour!
I sold a disability scooter to a deaf man the other week. He couldn't really understand me even though I took my mask off for lip reading, so I demonstrated the whole thing for him, even though I had never, ever even sat on one before and this one was MASSIVE. I was absolutely petrified of actually moving it and when I switched it to reverse, I nearly wet myself when it went 'BEEP, BEEP'.
No idea why it freaked me out so much as I have driven a car since the 80s.
He was happy with my demo and bought it, so all was ok!
It probably doesn't sound that funny but we laughed!
We got another one in just after but much smaller so I took it for a spin to practice

Babyroobs · 28/12/2020 15:52

My job is confidential but I still tell my dh funny stories of things that happen, I just don't mention names. We have funny clients who refer to their body parts with funny names and have funny mannerisms and we still have a laugh about it. I always tell my dh his computer job sounds so boring and he never has any funny stories to tell me,

Babyroobs · 28/12/2020 15:55

A funny story I recently told my dh was a blind man's guide dog escorting him to an appointment and the dog ended up eating my colleagues lunch from her bag. Of course the blind man had no idea what was happening. Colleague had to claim expenses for a replacement lunch, he really was the worst behaved guide dog ever.

raffle · 28/12/2020 16:02

@billsandmoon, I don’t mean laughing at the people we were supporting! I mean that some of them were utterly hilarious, comedian level! Definitely and deliberately delighted in making others laugh! One of the chaps was an expert deliver of deadpan one liners, he used to make everyone HOWL!

claracluck78 · 28/12/2020 16:03

I'm an auctioneer and spend much of my week meeting the public when they bring things in for valuation/sale. There's def some strange people about! I also visit people's homes for probate purposes and often I can be one of the first people to enter a house after a death when there is no family left behind. My friends have had some great stories from me about some things we have found!!!!

badgerread · 28/12/2020 16:05

Secondary school admin support. I've been doing it since Feb and it's the best job I've had (and I've been working 32 years) not the best paid but the most fun and working with great colleagues!

Sarahandduck18 · 28/12/2020 16:12

I think having good colleagues is more important than the content of the job.

sashh · 28/12/2020 16:18

Supply teaching.

Especially in post 16 when you have the kids for whom school was not a success. It's incredibly rewarding too, when a 16 year old says, "Oh I get that, I never understood it at school" it feels incredible.

purrswhileheeats · 28/12/2020 16:23

I've had so many great jobs. Mental health rehab, primary school mentor, wedding coordinator abroad.

So many funny memories

TravellingSpoon · 28/12/2020 16:25

@raffle

Snap!

I loved my role in Day Services, we had such a fun time.

I was gutted when our service was closed.

BruiseForsyth · 28/12/2020 16:33

I’m an auctioneer too, and have some amazing stories. I could spend hours listening to some of my colleagues with decades of experience too. It really is a great job.

oohmamama · 28/12/2020 16:36

I teach post 16 with emotional and behavioural issues.

They crack me up every day. So much energy and enthusiasm for life.

You have to be a certain kind of person to work with them so the team of lecturers and supports that I work with are equally as awesome.

I adore my work and could never imagine doing anything else.

TooManyButtons · 28/12/2020 16:40

DD is a prison officer. She has me howling with her tales, it's an entirely different world. They had heavy snowfall and she mentioned the prisoners had to be kept in their cells as they were throwing snowballs. Bit harsh, I said, it's a wholesome, fun activity. "Yes mum, except the snowballs were full of drugs and mobile phones that they were throwing to each other"

maddiemookins16mum · 28/12/2020 16:48

Ex Travel Reps have a host of funny stories 🤣🤣

PuppyMonkey · 28/12/2020 16:49

I agree with pp, that many supposedly "hilarious" tales about the workplace are often only genuinely hilarious to the colleagues who were there too and can share the in-joke.

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