Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

LogDog75

(676 posts)
Wed Jul 9, 2025, 10:58 PM Jul 9

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up

I know a lot of little boys wanted to be a fireman or policeman and little girls wanted to be a nurse or mommy. I had watched a show on TV in the mid-50s about trains. In one scene, they showed a hopper car was being filled and that fascinated me to to the point where I wanted to be the guy sitting up in the tower controlling the filling of the cars.

37 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up (Original Post) LogDog75 Jul 9 OP
I had two big ones when I was little.. FirstLight Jul 9 #1
Superman. NoMoreRepugs Jul 9 #2
Retired enid602 Jul 9 #3
For awhile I wanted to be a pirate - an odd goal for a little girl, Ocelot II Jul 9 #4
Lol JMCKUSICK Jul 10 #31
F16 pilot purple_haze Jul 9 #5
Me too! Nt leftieNanner Jul 9 #8
weatherman, being in texas where things got wild. way to much higher math skills needed tho nt msongs Jul 9 #6
I wanted to be here today, to watch the ...... calikid Jul 9 #7
This message was self-deleted by its author Silent Type Jul 9 #9
Ballerina!!! elleng Jul 9 #10
In order: Astronaut, Soldier, "Scientist", Mathematician, Astrophysicist, and finally Musician LudwigPastorius Jul 10 #11
I wanted to be a seamtress. Figarosmom Jul 10 #12
when I was 8 I wanted to be a Greyhound Bus Driver gopiscrap Jul 10 #13
First a ballerina oberle Jul 10 #14
i be t u make lovely music whilst at it . thanks for your gift. AllaN01Bear Jul 10 #17
Baseball player sakabatou Jul 10 #15
train engineer , airline pilot , well u know . but due to eyesight and dexterity issues . couldnt. didnt have a clear AllaN01Bear Jul 10 #16
Large animal vet sinkingfeeling Jul 10 #18
I wanted to smoke cigars and drive a Harley Davidson Emile Jul 10 #19
Caboose occupant, lighthouse operator, Zamboni driver. Harker Jul 10 #20
I wanted to be a marine biologist and do research like Jacques Cousteau. lark Jul 10 #21
A lawyer or a book editor. I work in Luciferous Jul 10 #22
A dancer! Nittersing Jul 10 #23
An actress, which I did all through high school; but when I got to college, Sogo Jul 10 #24
Originally, a pilot Oeditpus Rex Jul 10 #25
A school teacher. LoisB Jul 10 #26
Oh, a glamorous movie star! I wanted to be Elizabeth Taylor because she was so beautiful! CTyankee Jul 10 #27
My most consistent area of interest was biology/science, even in elementary school. 3catwoman3 Jul 10 #28
Movie stunt man Danascot Jul 10 #29
A writer llmart Jul 10 #30
I wanted to be a cab driver. JMCKUSICK Jul 10 #32
A Chinese chop suey maker. greatauntoftriplets Jul 10 #33
Hegemon Solly Mack Jul 11 #34
A doctor and an ice skater berniesandersmittens Jul 11 #35
A cardiovascular surgeon. I was a child when Michael DeBakey became famous. NNadir Jul 11 #36
A scientist bif Jul 11 #37

FirstLight

(15,553 posts)
1. I had two big ones when I was little..
Wed Jul 9, 2025, 11:00 PM
Jul 9

I wanted to be the first woman president of the United States! LOL (I think that was a control issue because I didn't feel like I had much say in my family dynamic being the youngest..)

....and I wanted to be a long haul trucker cuz I thought it was so cool driving and talking on a CB...!
My Dad put one in the family station wagon and we used to try and talk to trucks when we were on road trips 😁

Ocelot II

(126,284 posts)
4. For awhile I wanted to be a pirate - an odd goal for a little girl,
Wed Jul 9, 2025, 11:02 PM
Jul 9

but I was an odd little girl.

msongs

(71,874 posts)
6. weatherman, being in texas where things got wild. way to much higher math skills needed tho nt
Wed Jul 9, 2025, 11:08 PM
Jul 9

calikid

(696 posts)
7. I wanted to be here today, to watch the ......
Wed Jul 9, 2025, 11:09 PM
Jul 9

change from this disgusting patriarchy to a more humane and loving society.

Response to calikid (Reply #7)

LudwigPastorius

(13,024 posts)
11. In order: Astronaut, Soldier, "Scientist", Mathematician, Astrophysicist, and finally Musician
Thu Jul 10, 2025, 12:16 AM
Jul 10

...and I did become a musician...and, sort of, lived happily ever after.

Figarosmom

(7,222 posts)
12. I wanted to be a seamtress.
Thu Jul 10, 2025, 12:17 AM
Jul 10

I had every intention of having my own little shop making clothing and other linens to order and alterations.

gopiscrap

(24,433 posts)
13. when I was 8 I wanted to be a Greyhound Bus Driver
Thu Jul 10, 2025, 12:45 AM
Jul 10

until I found out that they went from point A to point B over and over

I thought they hnded you the keys and you went where you wanted and just picked up people as you went along

My first real ambition was to be a politician and a pastor and I have gotten to do both I ran for US Congress in 1990 and was the co pastor of a United Methodist Church for 3 years

oberle

(129 posts)
14. First a ballerina
Thu Jul 10, 2025, 12:52 AM
Jul 10

Then a school teacher. And finally an organist. I became an organist and at 77, still am one.

AllaN01Bear

(26,675 posts)
16. train engineer , airline pilot , well u know . but due to eyesight and dexterity issues . couldnt. didnt have a clear
Thu Jul 10, 2025, 02:47 AM
Jul 10

carrear path and glad i am now retired . lovin it.

Emile

(36,150 posts)
19. I wanted to smoke cigars and drive a Harley Davidson
Thu Jul 10, 2025, 09:26 AM
Jul 10

motorcycle, just like my uncle Herbert.

Harker

(16,639 posts)
20. Caboose occupant, lighthouse operator, Zamboni driver.
Thu Jul 10, 2025, 09:31 AM
Jul 10

I didn't fully realize how much work these people do.

Nittersing

(7,425 posts)
23. A dancer!
Thu Jul 10, 2025, 01:30 PM
Jul 10

Lived just outside of NYC and thought it would be so cool to dance in a show on Broadway!

In hind sight, I think Broadway would've eaten me alive. Not enough self confidence to stand up to the constant judging.

I ended up fixing HVAC stuff.

Sogo

(6,488 posts)
24. An actress, which I did all through high school; but when I got to college,
Thu Jul 10, 2025, 01:42 PM
Jul 10

the people in the theater department were too weird for me. I did acting because it was fun; they were in it to "find themselves."

So, I did a fair amount of teaching and writing and finally ended up in the business world and never really thought about acting again.

Oeditpus Rex

(42,150 posts)
25. Originally, a pilot
Thu Jul 10, 2025, 02:02 PM
Jul 10

Then, at about 9, I became a cartophile -- fascinated with maps. I collected dozens on our summer vacation trips and soon began to draw them myself.

At 10 or 11, I wrote a letter asking for a job to the Goushā company, second ònly to Rand McNally in production of road maps and located just up 101 in San Jose. I got back a fatherly, two-page letter from a vice president, encouraging me to stick with it and to contact him when I turned 18.

I studied mechanical drawing (drafting) from junior high into college, but for reasons I can't recall, got kicked out of my college class by the instructor. That made me abandon the thought of being a cartographer. I took a year off from college and returned to major in journalism, which became my career.

CTyankee

(66,648 posts)
27. Oh, a glamorous movie star! I wanted to be Elizabeth Taylor because she was so beautiful!
Thu Jul 10, 2025, 03:51 PM
Jul 10

I posed as her in front of the mirror.

3catwoman3

(27,249 posts)
28. My most consistent area of interest was biology/science, even in elementary school.
Thu Jul 10, 2025, 03:59 PM
Jul 10

I liked lab equipment - test tubes, Florence and Erlenmeyer flasks, Bunsen burners. I graduated from nursing school on 1973, and worked until March 31st, 2021, so a long career in human biology.

llmart

(16,663 posts)
30. A writer
Thu Jul 10, 2025, 09:45 PM
Jul 10

By high school I was writing for the school newspaper and then was chosen to be editor. I really wanted to be an investigative reporter for the NY Times. Now I just write posts on DU.

I did always want to be a mommy though and that much I did accomplish. My career was in human resources management.

JMCKUSICK

(3,276 posts)
32. I wanted to be a cab driver.
Thu Jul 10, 2025, 10:18 PM
Jul 10

From the moment at 17 when I got my D L.,, I would call the cab companies in Minneapolis every year around my birthday. Red&White Cab Co. Was dumb enough to say yes when I turned 20.
Spoiler: Never hand a twenty year old the keys to an ex cop car that really does have the souped up engine, transmission, suspension etc...
I love love love love driving to this very day, and my absolute passion to be great was probably what saved my life, because I was insane lol, but drove every mile like it was my first. Always learning, and yes, pushing.
My next fun job was driving an emergency ambulance for a living. For another day....

greatauntoftriplets

(177,992 posts)
33. A Chinese chop suey maker.
Thu Jul 10, 2025, 11:33 PM
Jul 10

I have absolutely no Asian ancestry, just liked Chinese food. Still do.

NNadir

(36,209 posts)
36. A cardiovascular surgeon. I was a child when Michael DeBakey became famous.
Fri Jul 11, 2025, 01:58 PM
Jul 11

My aunt was one of the earliest patients to receive an artificial heart valve, and lived more than a decade with it.

I didn't come close to becoming a surgeon, particularly because I'm far too squeamish and in any case would have never developed the "hands."

(My father-in-law was a doctor and rather thought the profession sucked.)

Chemistry is far more fun, so I'm glad to have changed my mind.

Latest Discussions»The DU Lounge»As a kid, what did you wa...