My (Brief) Life on the Beat
During my junior year of high school, I had this insane notion that I was going to eschew a post-secondary education altogether and jump into the world of private investigation. A family friend had opened his own firm, and I, eager to break into the business, researched the art of snooping quite thoroughly. As an all-around gadget geek, I had the tools and knowledge of a seasoned pro, or so I thought.School let out for Winter Break, and I interviewed with the head of the firm. I was given my first assignment a few days later. I'm not at liberty to divulge the specifics of my subsequent adventures, but let it suffice to say that I'm a lousy private eye. After being unceremoniously tossed into a swimming pool by a couple marks who weren't at all happy about my clumsy surveillance work, I decided that maybe the whole gumshoe thing wasn't my bag. Raymond Chandler had this racket all wrong -- it's not glamorous or particularly thrilling; it's risky drudge work mired in a bunch of bureaucracy, at least on the entry level. And I wound up getting tossed into a freakin' pool by Pruneface and Flattop. A week into the gig, I quit and never looked back.
Let this be a lesson about the importance of testing the waters before jumping into your "dream job." Sometimes, you'll find that they're a bit cold.
Labels: dream job, internships
Posted by Brian on 9/29/2008 10:49:00 PM
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1 Comments:
So after literally testing the waters, I’m surprised that you didn’t love being a private investigator! The internship still sounds like if nothing else, it left you with some interesting stories. I think it was definitely a good thing to try it out before spending any more time daydreaming about adventures a la Columbo.
I have always been fascinated by the world of criminal investigation and I can remember us all being fingerprinted in elementary school and me being completely enthralled with the process. It’s a tough field to work in, thus I think it’s vital to have an internship before committing any money in college toward that degree. Take me for example, I personally love detective shows like CSI and Monk, but I’m pretty sure my sleuth skills are best left to finding out who last used my hairdryer.