TBH I had no idea, when at school, what I wanted to do. I had a vague thought about teaching but Father vetoed Grammar School and Uni on the grounds that such things were "not for the likes of us" .... after many rows I signed up (at 15 and a half) as an apprentice in the RAF... more to get away from home and Father than any ideals about fighting for Queen and Country. Best move I ever made. Had a great time, took to it like the proverbial duck to water but then Harold Wilson came along with his capitulation over Aden and suddenly I was made redundant after 6 years service. At least I got a nice letter from Her Majesty thanking me for my service rather than an email from a faceless individual in the MOD which seems to be the modern way of asking for the tin hat back.
The mistake of getting married at age 19 and having the first kid when we were only 21 and then getting made redundant by the RAF meant that I spent the next 30 years working each day to afford to go back to work the following day. Hell of a culture shock from swaggering around with stripes on me arm to working in a builders yard I can tell you!
After that it was one job after another ~ forever chasing an extra £1 a week in the pay packet. I've sold most things to all sorts of people, worked as a postman, a greenkeeper on a golf course, worked as a barman in a number of pubs and hotels, managed shops, been a union shop steward until I drifted into the manned security business (guarding factories, managing shifts) until I divorced and remarried then took on a pub. Then the health issues started and we sold the pub only to find ourselves having bloody kids so I had to go back to work .... back into the security world as sales rep, then sales manager and finally compulsory retirement at age 51.
So no life plan, no career map just work, eat, sleep and work again.
I don't have any real regrets ... even managed to become friends with my Father when I was 30ish but not at all what I would want my kids to do with their lives. In fact I don't know if it is still possible to clamber up that particular ladder.
