I'm sitting here in my office contemplating this month's LabSpaces theme, about what I would "be" if I wasn't a scientist. In many ways I find myself in the same boat as Odyssey (though without the super awesome animation). I can't really imagine doing anything else. I wanted to be a scientist (a biologist, even) since I was about 8 years old and I discovered that this was an actual profession.

In any event, I started to consider what it is that I actually do as a new PI, which has made it clear there are some jobs that I will NOT be using as a fallback position. For instance, I would not want to be an electrician, plumber, accountant, secretary, teacher or sales person. Even though I do some of all this as a PI. Somehow it would all be different if not for the science part of the job.

I can also imagine some jobs that seem great but that I would probably hate after about two weeks. Most of these jobs would require me to interact with customers. For instance, I could imagine being a veterinarian. But after the 200th ridiculous request from a pet owner, I would lose my shit. There are also the jobs that would require some talent that I don't have. I could not hack it as a Carribean resort tester, for instance, because I do not have the ability to sit still for even a few hours before I am bored out of my mind. I am moderately athletic, but there is also no chance I will ever be a professional athlete or even an ultra-runner . I also think it would be super fun to be a park ranger. One where I can live on a mountain somewhere far away from people and just run around on the trails all day. I love the 1-2 week backpacking trip. Except that I'm sort of an extrovert and I would eventually go crazy with limited human interactions. So that would probably end poorly.

So, what would I do? Well, I think that I would focus on food. Maybe I would be a chef. A friend of mine just quit her job to go to culinary school and I am a little jealous. And I really like to watch Top Chef. Also, I really like to cook. I am one of those "never use a recipe" sort of cooks. And I like to try to make random things work together. I'm usually pretty good at it, too*. Yeah, I could totally do that. I also think it would be great fun to make wine or beer. I love to drink wine and beer, and that job would have a sort of nice mix of "chemistry" and "cooking". Or I could be a critic. Maybe I have a future as the third reviewer of the food world?

*based on repeat diners at Chez GZ