Are you, or do you know, a "former ..... " of any kind?

[Stinky The Clown]

Our favorite wine store owners, father and son, are both former lawyers.

I saw a Cooking Channel show about another former lawyer who is now baking cakes.

I have a professional associate who was an engineer and is now a Very Famous Person in the restaurant biz. I know another Reasonably Famous Restauranteur who is a former anthropoligist.

Our Congress has former doctors.

Are any of you "former?" Do you personally know any "formers?"

Do you know why they're formers?

[ZombieHorde]

1. I am a former smoker because I woke up coughing every morning. nt

[Cleita]

2. Yes, former teachers who also became

entrepreneurs for financial reasons. It's a shame too because we need our teachers teaching.

[Faygo Kid]

3. Does a former wife count?

I haven't practiced law in many years, Stinky, but I worked too damned hard to get that degree to be a "former" lawyer. I expect to remain licensed until my death - hopefully not for many more years.

[mike_c]

4. I'm a former day laborer, delivery driver, construction worker, retail salesman...

...printer, and graphic artist. Also a former appliance repairman, and a former undertaker's assistant. A former spouse. A former inmate, albeit briefly. A former hospital technician. A former student.

Everyone who has lived more than a couple of days is likely a former SOMETHING.

[EFerrari]

6. Ha! Former actress, telephone operator, Shakespearan

& Lit critic, comedy writer and real estate site facilitator. In between there was English teaching, waitressing, translating and producing.

:rofl:

[stevedeshazer]

5. Former banker here.

When I realized how we were screwing people, I couldn't do it anymore. I threw up every day before going to work. Then I quit.

Now I drive a truck. At the end of each work day, at least I can look back and say I accomplished something honest instead of moving electrons around to benefit wealthy people.

No, I don't make as much and I don't get Columbus Day off paid anymore, but I sure feel better about what I do.

[napi21]

7. I don't personally "know" him, but Norman Goldman is a former

practicing attorney who ow has a talk show & he says he quit lawyering because they were all dishonest as were most of the judges.

[Blue_In_AK]

8. I think my daughter is about to become another

"former lawyer." Becoming a lawyer was all she ever talked about during high school, and it's what she did with flying colors. Now after seven years of it in two different pressure-cooker Los Angeles firms, all she wants to do is stay home and play with her little boy.

She and her little family are taking a six-month Sabbatical in Costa Rica starting in November, so maybe she'll feel more up to it afterwards. I always used to tell her she should get into an honorable profession, something like long distance truck-driving, for instance, and she always used to laugh, but now she's thinking maybe I was right. (I say that after working myself for 25 years with and around lawyers and fully appreciating the hard work they do and the pressure they are under.)


I know another former lawyer who quit and became a woodworker. He's much, much happier now.



I'm a former legal secretary/paralegal, legal transcriptionist, a three-time former wife, and a former resident of the Lower 48.

[Cleita]

27. Maybe she should think of going into politics.

Her law experience would be handy there. Or she could think of moving to a smaller place like where I live around San Luis Obispo further up the coast. They still need lawyers here but the pressure cooker is off and the pace slower and more relaxing. I would never live in Los Angeles again now that I know you can still have it all in a smaller place with less traffic and pressure on the job.

[Blue_In_AK]

28. Funny you should say that

because initially that's why she wanted the law degree, to go into politics. She was a really hot-shot debater in high school and college, where her debate team was in the final four nationwide. But somewhere along the line, she decided to do straight law. Actually, her interest was in securities (bo-ring, at least for me), but somehow she's gotten caught up in all this litigation stuff, and she really doesn't care for it.

I'm sure while they're taking a break, she'll have a chance to really think through what she wants to do. Politics would be fine with me. She's a strong Democrat, smart, and can be very convincing when she wants to be.


ed. By the way, I really like that area around San Luis Obispo. It's beautiful.

[MineralMan]

9. I'm a former young guy.

I'm a former software programmer and shareware author, and software company owner.
I'm a former magazine writer.
I'm a former mineral specimen dealer.
I'm a former auto mechanic.
I'm a former handyman.
I'm a former furniture and woodworking project designer.
I'm a former USAF Russian linguist.
I'm a former professional oboist.

Mostly, though, I'm a former young guy. Currently, I'm an old, and aging guy.

[gels]

10. I'm 'formerly' employed, be nice to have a job, nt

[EFerrari]

11. Welcome to DU, gels.

I hear that!

[rurallib]

12. Former Catholic - and special thanks to Benny for reminding me why.

[HockeyMom]

31. Yep, me too

12 years of catholic school cured me.

[Greyhound]

13. Former ruling class scion. n/t

[w8liftinglady]

14. don't kill me-I'm a former Libertarian...and not a good kind

a Randian Objectivist...until I got my shit together(at 22) and saw the real world.I've been trying to make up for it since then(1982)

[TBF]

15. Former trial paralegal,

worked very long hours on quite interesting cases in the 1990's (washington dc firms) - did it for 10 years. I did do a master's degree in human resources when I left Washington in 2000, but I haven't really had a chance to use it.

Now I am on a sabbatical, as I call it, staying home with my young children.

[FLyellowdog]

16. I'm a former beauty queen from 45 years ago.

:cry:

[MorningGlow]

17. I'm a former teacher

Tried it for one year--hated it. Not the kids, not the teaching, but tussling with the administration was pure hell.

My more traditional relatives are still lamenting the fact that I abandoned the profession. Sometimes I'm sorry. Most of the time I'm not. It wasn't my path.

I'm also a former 9-to-5-er. Freelancing now.

[Capitalocracy]

20. Freelancer doing what?

I'm a freelancer too, translation and transcription mostly... it's pretty tough but if it starts going better for me I'll be happy I'm not doing the 9-5 thing

[MorningGlow]

22. Writing and editing

But I'm open to transcription as well--I'm pretty fast with the keyboard. ;)

Yeah, it's tough finding enough gigs to get a decent income going. I have a pretty steady job with a trade magazine, but it's a drop in the bucket for the family income.

[HockeyMom]

18. Forner Independent

since 1968. Five years ago I decided to end the charade. I had NEVER voted for a Republican. Both my grown daughters were Democrats. Independent? No, I was not an Independent. I was a DEMOCRAT since casting my first ballot decades ago.

[MoonRiver]

19. Have always pretty much done the same thing. BORING.

But, I'm looking forward to being a former public school employee at the end of this year! YEEEHAAA! :woohoo:

[SidDithers]

21. I know a bunch of former Democrats...nt

Sid

[old mark]

23. I am a retired social worker who formerly was a draftsman in factory planning.

We weren't building a lot of factories in the US for some years there, so I went back to school for the social stuff, and retired from that 3 years ago. Before I was a draftsman, I drove a truck, worked construction and did various factory shit that kept me alive and in beer money. Oh, yeah - I don't drink of smoke any more, either...

Shit, no wonder I'm so tired...


mark

[nevergiveup]

24. I am a former redneck,

a former teacher, a former Republican, a former drinker, a former wealthy fat cat, a former church goer and a former pretend I am heterosexual person. Don't tell me change isn't possible.

[Warpy]

25. Yes, quite a few

Some of them floated nursing school education on the money they made as stock brokers. An artist friend is a chef at an upscale hospice. Another who managed one of the big hotels in Miami is also a nurse.

In fact, a lot of nurses started out doing something completely different, usually because their parents insisted on it. They tried it for a few years and many were very successful at it, but it just didn't satisfy them on that deepest level. Either they had to continue to go through the motions until they retired, or they had to take a flying leap into the unknown, chasing both meaning and satisfaction.

I'm a former whole lot of stuff and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but it's been a hell of a time.

[Blue_In_AK]

30. My mother was a nurse for many years

but went back to school to get an education degree in her 50s and then taught kindergarten for 20 years. I always really admired her for that.

[LWolf]

26. I'm a former financially solvent and healthy citizen. nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

29. I am a former child.

Also a former wife and a former lawyer (moved on to another career about 10 years ago). And also a former thin person. ;)

[pepperbear]

32. I'm a former pole dancer for the CIA. n/t