It's this "what do you want to be" thing that I don't like. What do you want to be when you grow up? Comfortable, happy, and preferably alive, I'd say. I don't really see why my job has to be such an important part of that . . . I know that I go to work mostly so I can get money so I can live, not because I particularly enjoy it. I don't hate my job. But if I had a choice, I would not go. I would be writing. (Or, of course, on the Internet wasting my life.)

And I can write because in the daytime I put in my hours and make the money that keeps the roof over my head and the computer on. I don't mind losing that time because it allows me to get paid so that after work I can go back to my apartment and do my real business. My brain is mostly off during the day. It wakes up at night. NOT the other way around.

I don't understand the concept of climbing the corporate ladder. Sure, you get more money as you go up, but once you're working more than eight hours a day at something you honestly don't care that much about, when the hell do you have the time to spend it? You have the money to get that big screen TV and home theater system, which you're too tired to enjoy when you get home. You have the cash to purchase that giant comfy bed, in which you spend many hours unconscious. You even have enough wealth to attract (or keep satisfied) that special someone, if you can find some time away from work to make that date. This is your life and you won't be here forever. Don't be stupid. Work to live. Don't make work your life, unless it's work you love.

Setzer: I agree completely. This is why I'm never very interested in the Navy's advancement exams. It simply leads to more work.