It’s time for another installment of YOU MUST CHOOSE! 🙂
What is You Must Choose?
Well, the idea is to choose between two or more seemingly impossible, or at least disturbing, choices.
Things like…
Finally, after years of toil and trouble, you land your dream job! You nail the interview, and the company calls you the next day to make an offer.
It’s a pretty good salary, and there are lots of perks, too, including a generous holiday bonus, a gym membership, five weeks of vacation and a casual dress code (people wear pajamas to work!). You can even bring your pets to the office, and they have free on-site child care.
Only thing is…you’d have a two-hour commute in the car every day. Each way. And public transportation and carpooling aren’t viable options (no, you cannot take a helicopter or small plane either, you goofball!). Neither are telecommuting or moving closer to the office.
Do you take the job? YOU MUST CHOOSE.
Speaking of airplanes, you’re on a packed 8-hour flight to give a huge presentation at company headquarters, and you’ll have to be “on” the moment the plane lands.
On the flight, would you rather…
- There be an obnoxious child behind you who relentlessly kicks your seat, touches your ears and screams at the top of his lungs the entire time (you also forgot to bring your noise-canceling headphones and, sorry! — you can’t switch seats.)?
- Or have to take a special chartered party plane with nonstop booty-shaking music, drunk people grinding and shouting in the aisles, and filthy restrooms? To top it all off, there’s no food service. Just free drinks. And you haven’t eaten since yesterday.
Which flight do you take? YOU MUST CHOOSE.
Bonus question for the cat ladies (sorry, this one is tough): would you rather work as a pet assistant for a cat who absolutely adores you but sadly departs to cross the Rainbow Bridge after only five years (*tears*), or land a gig with a cat who lives for 25 years but mostly ignores you, except when food is involved? YOU MUST CHOOSE.
Leave your answers in the comments, babe! I can’t wait to read ’em. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Ashleigh says
1) Unless the salary was HELLA GOOD, no, I would not take the job. And if it was HELLA GOOD, I’d only do it temporarily. I hate commuting, there’s no way I could spend 4 hours in the car every single day and not go mad.
2) The party plane. And order 1 (one!) bloody mary 😉
3) The loving cat for 5 years. Better to have loved… (though that is very sad to think about)
Suki says
1. Definitely take it!! I could easily entertain myself with some awesome music or audio books, and with the great dollah I’d need to get massages because ouch 4 hour daily drive!
2. Ooothis is hard, but I’ll take the party since I can be mean to drunk adults if they annoy me and I don’t mind some booty shaking to release the tension!
3. Moody mare all the way! I know my kitty loves me even though she acts like she doesn’t, 25 years of being a cat servant please!
Kelly says
1. That basically describes the job I had before that one. I did it for 10 years and it was FAR from my dream job, lol!
2. I think I would have to take the party plane, screaming children + me do not mix.
3. Moody cat for 25 years!
Kelly says
Before *this* one rather.
Grace says
1. I would ABSOLUTELY take the job. 5 weeks of vacation? Pajamas? Bring my cat to work? Hells yes!
2. Party plane :p Could make for some interesting stories to tell at cocktail parties. Also I have 0% patience for screaming kids.
3. Number 2. I get soooo attached to my cats and it absolutely kills me inside when they leave. I couldn’t do number 1.
Erin says
1. Take the job. I’ve done the same commute for way less! It’s all about perspective!
2. I’d take the party plane!
3. I think I’d rather take moody kitty with a long life span.
kristen @ glambunctious says
1. NO! Part of my dream job includes it being close to home so I can spend my non-job time enjoying the things I’ve worked hard for instead of stuck in a car, wishing I was home. I’ve definitely had a 1 hour commute (one way – so 2 hours total) before for several years and even pajamas and fat Christmas benjis couldn’t make up for losing 10 hours every week of my life stuck in traffic!
2. Party plane. I could deal with the screaming kid, but ear touching? No, that I couldn’t condone. At least the party plane would be upbeat and get me in the mood to be “on” when it landed. Crank up the Ke$ha!
3. Aw, this one is horrible and I hates! I guess the loving peach for 5 very short years.
Stephanie says
1) As long as it’s really my Dream Job and I can do WHATEVER re: bringing my cat with me to hang out, the gym membership is nearby, and *five weeks* of vacation, did I hear that right? Ladies, I grew up in the Bay Area. A two hour commute each way is, granted, something to blink about but not THAT big a deal. (Though in reality the thing I’d worry about would be the impact on the environment!)
2) I can’t not eat and be okay so I’d have to go with the child. I may get angry enough to have no qualms about being rude and mean to the child, though…
3) My current cat’s nickname is Snuggles, and since I’m so used to her now (she’s, what, 10 years? whoa), I don’t think I could get used to not having my snuggle buddy! I’d take the 5-year cat even though I would be really really sad when the cat died… but then I’d adopt another. Love ALL the cats!!
Bella says
1) Pets and pj’s at work…not my dream job! I’d turn it down. If it really were my dream job though (ie all that and no-one brought pets and pj’s to work) I would take the job and move to live closer. Your dream job doesn’t come around too often.
2) I’d choose the plane with the child. Drunk adults and dirty toilets? Not for me. Besides, I am a mom and I work with kids so I’d know how to handle that one!
3). Tough one! I would love my cat to live 25 years, I am not good at goodbyes. Besides, just because a cat uses and ignores you doesn’t mean they don’t love you ;).
Shannon says
1) Totally take the job. Especially if it’s you’re dream job – I mean, if it wasn’t, it obviously wouldn’t be worth the time! But if it is…
2) I think I’d go with the screamy kid. I can’t stand not eating!! haha 🙂
3) hmmm… I think I might go with the 5-year cat. …but I dunno. This is really a tough one!!
Eileen says
1. Of course I’d commute. I would never have applied for that position if I was not willing to do so.
2. I’d take the bothersome child. Perhaps the kid would fall asleep or get tired of tormenting me and pick on someone else for awhile.
3. Five years of love is better than twenty-five years of indifference whether you’re talking about cats or people for that matter. Quality in relationships is more important than duration.
Sylirael says
1. I’d take the job 😀 With a great salary I could get myself a chauffeur, maybe? ;-P
2. Definitely the kid. I CANNOT STAND drunk people. At least if nothing else I might be able to try and engage the kid or play with them or something. Drunk people are good for nothing.
3. Never having owned a pet, I’m not sure here… but I think probably the 5 year cat.
Amy says
Take it. With a great salary my whole family could come with me on Monday, stay with me at a luxury hotel all week with a pool and room service, then return home every weekend.
The kid, hands down. A kid who does that is only one or two, and they’ll respond to all kinds of games and then fall asleep mid-flight. The parent obviously is at the end of their rope, and pitching in to help out would be unselfish and keep me in he moment, which would prepare me for the meeting. ANY child, cranky or not, can be engaged and calmed and loved. Besides, my child has been that child on a few rare occasions! (Ear touching aside.) There are always sympathetic parents nearby who totally get it and help out. I would just be thinking, “I am so relieved I only have to sit nearby for a few hours instead of having to parent a toddler 24/7 again!!”
Chelsea says
1. Take it! Figure out the logistics later!
2. I’ll take the party plane. Screeching kids = heart attack for Chelsea. (my resting heart rate is really high, it’s a weird condition. My normal heart rate is what a normal person would be if they were up and walking. So anything that raises your heart rate… mine’s even higher!)
3. My initial instinct is the 5 year cat. Quality vs. Quantity. In reality, being a cat lady, I’ll take all of ’em.
Rachel P. says
1. This one was tough, but I would not take the job! I can’t imagine spending 4 hours of my life commuting every day- in my mind, commuting is part of the job (after all, you’re doing it because you work there). Too much car time, too much wasted time, no way!
2. The filthy party plane. I can definitely zone out in the presence of a rave scene, but as much as I love kids, 8 hours of relentless, up-close screaming would drive me to murder. I was on a flight like that once (only 6 hrs though) and it. was. the. worst.
3. The aloof 25-year cat! I love pets/animals but get annoyed by the overly affectionate ones. A long-living, independent kitty would be perfect for me!
Iris says
You always come up with the greatest dilemma questions.
1. I would not take the job. I don’t drive (yet) but even if I did, I wouldn’t like to spend four hours total of my life each weekday in a vehicle. Podcasts and music or not, it’d be a drain. I also don’t have pets and don’t want children, so pet and child care wouldn’t appeal to me. I also really like my current job.
2. Despite my not being fond of children, I’d take the plane seat in front of the screaming child. Better one unruly human being than a potential many. I think I could purchase booze or in-flight headphones from the flight to better cope with the noise. At least the bathrooms would be clean and I’d have food and in-flight entertainment. Maybe the child could enjoy documentaries about cannibalism with me (actual film shown during a flight I was on).
3. I’m a more bird person and will think about this in terms of avians since some of them do live for 25 years or more. I’d choose the pet who’d live for five years. It’d be really sad when my companion animal left, but I’d know he or she would be happy in the years with me. For the more… cold companion, I’d always wonder if he or she was happy and if they liked me or was highly annoyed and only tolerated my presence.
Alison says
1. You’re kidding, right?
Hell, yeah, I’d take it! I have the most insane determination and if it was my dream job along with all those perks, you’d bet I’d commute two hours there and back just to do it. If I loved it enough I’d just find a way to spend the two hour commute on my laptop doing something or find a way to make it manageable. If it was a job I loved and was passionate about, yes, I would take it.
2. The child, definitely. That doesn’t sound far off the way most of my airplane trips go.
3. 5 years with a cat who loved me. Unfortunately, my cat was a combination of “actively despises me” (scratches, bites, ignoring me completely) and she departed over the rainbow bridge within five years. I think five years spent with a loving companion is worth it. You never know how long your pet is going to live. Actually, if I had a cat who loved me that would just be amazing.
Karen says
Aww, Alison! Tabs will be your virtual kitty. Despite his reputation he’s actually really sweet and loving. 🙂