Four jobs I have had

When you are a woman my age, and have a kid or some kids, you suddenly have access to an employment status that would not have previously been acceptable: unemployed. I'm not saying it's acceptable for YOUR household-- that's between you and your partner-- but, in society at large, no one seems to be thinking I'm a loser even though I don't have a steady paycheck. Now people ask me IF I work, not WHERE I work. And, if we've just met, and they ask WHERE I work, I say that I have a kid and I'm writing a book. I don't know if I'm adequately explaining the weirdness of this, but what's happening is that I am trying to get used to my work situation and the uncertainty of what it will be over the next year.

My friend Sunny sent me an email asking me to list four jobs I've had in the past. This is not my resume, but a more interesting random assortment of jobs, none of them related to the $8 million slice of LeapFrog's business that I worked on most recently.

Four jobs I've had for more than four weeks

1. Sales girl at upscale sporting good store - GO Sport, in the Century City Shopping Center, where I learned about Gor-Tex and clothing that wicks, several years before Patagonia became all the rage. Fun because friends and celebrities would come in the store.

2. Gymnastics Teacher - I got this job about ten minutes after landing in the Bay Area and it paid about a dollar more than minimum wage. I am great at this job, but cannot support myself this way.

3. Receptionist - At the Salem Lutheran Home in Oakland, a multi-level care facility. Scariest moment - I almost had to say "grace" for about 100 residents at breakfast one morning, and I don't know the first thing about Jesus and appreciating his gifts for us. Finally the pastor arrived and saved me.

4. Copy Chief - At WineShopper.com, I was responsible for proofreading and editing two-sentence descriptions of wines. I sucked at this job and quit after six weeks.

If you leave a comment, please share four of your past jobs.