All my life I’ve loved reading and writing. My interest in words and their ability to capture emotion, change feeling and inspire imagination prompted me to hide underneath my comforter with a flashlight after bedtime in elementary school, reading away even though I knew I was supposed to be sleeping.
It also sparked an interest in a variety of career paths, some more unusual than others.
I want to write greeting cards. I want to write the limericks at the end NPR’s Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me podcast. I want to write product descriptions on boxes of food. I want to write the informational plaques that appear in front of displays at museums or along hiking trails.
This morning a new writing-related job intrigued me as I made breakfast.
I want to be the person who comes up with the catchy phrases that may be found on the Chiquita banana stickers.
How does one get a job like that?
Breakfast
I sliced the creative little banana on top of a batch of overnight oats that I prepped yesterday after dinner.
I’m not sure what I did differently, but this batch tasted doughier than normal. I was quite a fan!
Workout
Today’s workout began with 20 minutes on the elliptical before I assembled free weights and a mat on the open floor of the gym to knock out a circuit workout designed by Tina through the Best Body Boot Camp program.
I’m on the final two weeks of the boot camp and if the workouts planned for the next two weeks are anything like today’s, I’m in for a treat. I loved the fast-paced tempo of the workout. The circuit made the time pass so quickly and before I knew it, my workout was complete.
My favorite exercise in the circuit was the 180-degree squat jump.
I’ve done squat jumps many times before (like in my jumping jacks circuit workout or no nonsense circuit workout), but I’ve never done 180-degree squat jumps.
Turning my body around added a whole new challenge to the jumps. These will definitely be popping up in my workouts in the future.
I love discovering new-to-me exercises the kick my booty!
Questions of the Morning
- Is there an unusual job out there that intrigues you?
- Do you have a job considered “unusual” by many? How did you get into it?
- Do you write the captions on the stickers of Chiquita bananas? If so, may I be your new coworker?
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I used to do the same thing when I was younger. I would read books by the light of my nightlight. I wish I wouldn’t have done that though when I was younger because I ruined my eyesight. I used to have a perfect vision and within a few years after reading by nightlight, I needed to wear glasses.
I always wondered who writes the captions on the stickers too!
Hahaha to the third question! I’m a year away from being a lawyer, which is certainly not unique, but I’ve always wanted to be a Professional Matchmaker! My sister and I would always pretend that we had developed computer software that could perfectly match up anyone, and our jobs included taking down their information and finding their soulmate! So that may be a little out there, but would that not be the most satisfying job EVER??
that sounds like it would be a BLAST!
Totally makes me think of the book Matched. lol
Hahahah Julie, you are hilarious!!! That catchy phrase is quite amazing – I’ve never seen that one. Makes total sense though ;).
I wouldn’t say that my job is WEIRD by any means, but a lot of people seem to have a hard time grasping what I do. I’m in major gifts fundraising for a not-for-profit organization (means basically that my team is focused on raising larger donations from personal relationships rather than phone call/mailing solicitations) and a lot of people didn’t realize that lots of charities/not-for-profits employ people full-time.
3rd grade teacher? nope, not so unusual. it would be fun to come up with the fro-yo flavors… and taste them! 🙂
I had a feeling you would like this one! 🙂
I know what you mean! While working at a breakfast restaurant, and rolling silverware, we fastened the napkins with sticky tabs that said funny thinks about menu items, or breakfast in general. Sometimes they made me laugh because they were funny, while other times they were cheesy and I thought “I have a degree in advertising…why aren’t I creating stuff like this?”
I’m not sure how one gets to be a Chiquita banana label-er, but I’ll tell ya I haven’t put it past me to apply for the corporate advertising/marketing department just to help create sayings and sticky tabs! 😉
yes! my degree is in advertising and public relations and i always loved copywriting and creating the phrases or slogans in ad campaigns in school. creating slogans and memorable sayings is fun!
something tells me that turning my body around while squat jumping….
well, let’s just say it would be entertaining for anyone in eye-sight.
And by entertaining, i may mean that whole “train-wreck” type situation 😉
i looked like a fool. like a FOOL. and it was glorious. 🙂
I wanted to be a librarian when I was little because I read so much…. ha!
I’m a librarian and I love LOVE love my job! However, we librarians tend to be too busy to read (on the job at least). But I love being surrounded by books all day…the smell of the books, just everything about it is exciting. I’m in acquisitions which basically means I shop all day long and buy the books that go on the library shelves…and it also means all the books that are shipped come through my department and we open them up…so basically it’s like Christmas every day! 🙂
180 squat jumps are one of my favorite exercises—but I always feel like such a tool when I do them at the gym!
I teach 135 middle schoolers every day. Does that count as unusual? ; )
yes. absolutely. middle schoolers are ALWAYS unusual. 🙂
I love that 180 degree squat jump- way to take squats to a whole new level! I’m with you on the slogan writing…talk about a fun job!
You need this (if you don’t already have it!!)—
http://www.etsy.com/listing/89780809/peanut-butter-print-poster
i love etsy! that would be a lovely addition to my home office. 🙂 thanks for sharing, susie!
I would love to come up with those captions! They make me smile.
thats like the people that come up with the funny sayings on the Heins Ketchup bottle. lol who gets that job?!
I always want to be the person who names nail polishes, at a company like OPI where they get to be so creative!
YES!!!! I’ve thought about that, too. What a cool job.
This was exactly what I was thinking too! How fun would it be to name OPI nail polish?! I am wearing Lucky Lucky Lavender today and last week was Yes I Can Can! Lol
I love Yes I Can Can! And I would love that job!
i work for OPI’s PR agency and even though i don’t get to come up with the names (wouldn’t that be cool?!) i know the group of people who do and they are all so funny and creative! it’s just one part of their job but a pretty awesome part, i think!
no way! kate, that’s so cool! i know this is kind of “out there” but do you think one of them might be open to answering some questions from me for a potential blog post? it seems like so many of us think coming up with the nail polish names would be such a fun job and i’d love to learn more about what their job entails. 🙂 if not, no big deal, but i just thought i’d ask! and woohoo for PR!
LOVE doughy oats!!! I would love an unusual writing job, but they are so hard to find! Let me know if you end up finding out about the Chiquita banana’s! I’ve got a million of ’em too 🙂
I want to come up with the names of nail polish and paint colors. Think that would be fun.
There is NOTHING unusual about my job.
The Kidless Kronicles
I would love to invent new ice cream flavors!!!
YES and be the official taste tester!!!
I have to agree with Katie … inventing new ice cream flavors would pretty much be the best job EVER!
I found this Red White & Blue dress….not sure if its out there enough for your cruise!! 😉
http://us.asos.com/Religion-Stars-And-Stripes-Twist-Side-Dress/xzsrv/?iid=2221073&cid=5235&sh=0&pge=0&pgesize=200&sort=-1&clr=Red%2fblue&mporgp=L1JlbGlnaW9uL1JlbGlnaW9uLVN0YXJzLUFuZC1TdHJpcGVzLVR3aXN0LVNpZGUtRHJlc3MvUHJvZC8.
You know the escalator voice? Yeah I always mimic “her” and wish they hired real people to record the caution/warnings. haha
Ha, I love clever writing like that! Yum, yum, potassi-yum!
I never thought my job was that unique, but it’s impossible to explain well to anyone and the title is so vague (but awesome in a way) — I’m in “Knowledge Management” 🙂
LOL! Maybe I’m not very observant, but I’m about 99% sure that we don’t get fun sayings on our bananas up here in Ontario – they just say Chiquita! When I was little, one of the games that my family would play in the car had to do with coming up with the worst jobs- things like screwing the lid on the toothpaste tubes, and being a ‘Nib cutter’ (ie the person that cuts the long liquorice pieces into Nibs). It kept us amused for hours!
Yum, yum, potassi-yum! Ha! That totally made my morning 🙂
I always admire creative-writing types because, as a technical writer, catchy titles and slogans are pretty much the opposite of my job. I’d probably want to kill myself if I had to be creative all day, but I really wish I was!
those squat jumps look a bit similar to a move the instructor of my fave HIIT class at my gym showed us called surfers. you start facing one direction in a crouched position holding your arms up at your sides, like you’re mimicking a surfer, and then jump and switch 180 degrees to face the other direction doing the same thing. it’s HARD!
Those little slogans crack me up! Maybe at one time they wrote them in my city, but Chiquita just relocated. Boo.
I want to be the person to design super bowl commercials. I sometimes wonder how they get approved by so many people and still are terrible? I figured I could do just a good of a job as them and it looks like a ton of fun!
Those jumps are killer, for sure!
It isn’t unusual in DC, but I am a Legislative Assistant for a member of Congress so that’s a pretty rare job profile nation wide, anyway!
Oh Julie, what about Cuties? Do you have those in Florida? Clementine with the most adorable stickers.
When I was in 8th grade we watched a video about scientists who lived with a pack of wolves for a few months. They studied their behavior and interactions.
I thought that was so cool and wanted to live with the wolves. I learned that zoologist was pretty close to someone who would do that, but all the science and math meant that was a no go for me!
Do you watch Mad Men? That show would be right up your catchy phrase alley 😉
I think the label writing job you are looking for Julie is a copy writer! I’m a merchant for a large brand’s children clothing line online and our copy writing team literally names every single dress, pant, shoe, sale and trend that we market. Their job is pretty fun! Working for a clothing company is great becaue you get to wear jeans every day and get a clothing discount 🙂
I save the funny banana stickers and they are displayed at my desk. The other one I have says “Appetite a Peel”. 😀
the job is called “texter” in Europe- it involves developing slogans, claim, brochure content and much more. Maybe you could look up advertising agencies to see if they have any freelance vacancies? If you are good, it is pretty easy to get at least a part-time job.
And I will def look up these jumps 🙂
Hahaha! Love that phrase. Would also love to say I came up with me it … but not so much.
I just posted about the 180 squat jumps today too. They’re a killer, but I love ’em! 🙂
I want to write the Bazooka comics.
that squat jump would break my ankles.
I’m a librarian…not unusual but even still I always get odd, surprised looks from people when I tell them that. LOL And their eyes get even bigger when I tell them that in order to be a librarian I had to get a Master’s Degree. Haha. Anyway, it’s an AWESOME job…LOVE it! And today is National Libraian’s Day!
I think my dream job would be naming paint or nail polish colors!
I am SUCH a cereal lover, so I’ve always thought it would be fun to work at General Mills! So I could write all that fun stuff you find on the cereal boxes, while you write the sticker content for the bananas that go INTO the cereal 😉
deal!
I’d loooooooooooooooove to be a yoga teacher or marketing director for somewhere like Whole Foods. A lot of people think my job is unsual, although I don’t think so haha – I do social media (aka updating their Facebook Page) for one of the branches of the military. 🙂
I have a job that isn’t too unusual, I guess, but there are only a few of us per state, if at all. I always knew I wanted to do something with children and safety. When I saw the job posting from a government agency, I applied. Went through months of interviewing (with two different panels and in-home) and extensive background checks. I beat out applicants from all over the country! Love my job every single day!
whoa! that sounds really cool! and congrats on being hired. sounds quite competitive!
I’d love to be a food taste tester! Or the person who travels around to all the hotels and resorts and writes about them for Conde Nast Traveler. It would be SO much fun!
Ha, I want to be the person who finds all the random tidbits that go on Snapple bottle caps. How fun would that job be?!
An English prof once told me I should write Hallmark greeting cards. I didn’t but always keep as it as an option 🙂
I say you should do greeting cards with Sadie’s pictures on them. The great poses and facial expressions accompanied by sayings would be a big seller. Everybody loves her.
oh my gosh, that would be amazing. great idea, mary!
I have never noticed the catchy phrases on Chiquita bananas! I actually just looked at my peel from this morning (yes, I fished it out of the garbage – it’s the only thing in my can, so it’s not gross) and mine says “Cero grasa!” Apparently I got a Spanish banana. I Googled it – it means “Zero fat” if you were wondering. 🙂
haha! too funny!
haha love this post! I always wanted to write greeting cards too. I would also love to be a sign editor…do you ever notice that a lot of store and restaurant signs have grammatical errors? There is a crab shack by me with a sign that says “We sell crab’s.” With an apostrophe. It gives me shivers every time I drive by. I wish a “Professional Sign Editor” job existed, cause I’d be all over that 🙂
yes! there’s a billboard i pass when i’m coming back to ocala from my parents’ house that says “a antique mall.” a? A!? drives me crazy.
I want Samantha Brown’s job, or RIck Steves.
oh yes. that would be amazing. i think samantha brown looks so much like my mother-in-law.
The OPI nail polish namers travel all over the world for inspiration (hey, free perks…) which sounds so luxurious!
NO way! that’s amazing!