Is There Anything You Couldn’t Do?

Growing up, my parents (the world’s best) made it clear that there is nothing you can’t do. Something may be difficult, inconvenient or exhausting, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Mom often reminds me of how hard she worked at multiple jobs to get through college, while maintaining great grades. Dad had to walk uphill both ways (with no feet!) to get to school, but he did it. Well, that may be an exaggeration.
But the point is that, when I’m thinking about being grateful for my job, I often feel grateful to have a job that I can do. There are a million jobs out there that I could do (because I could do anything) but it would be a struggle. For example:
Dental Hygenist, Shampoo Assistant, or Nurse
Being in other people’s personal space for a living would take some toughening up. While I used to think it would be awesome to be a dentist — inspired by my own mandibular ups and downs — I’ve come to realize that I may just not have the stomach for digging around in strangers’ mouths. The idea that my parents used to deal with Dylan and me wiggling, pulling and yanking out our teeth makes my skin crawl. I admire nurses who are fine with finding veins and poking them with needles, but my skin crawls again. A shampoo assistant is probably the most feasible in this list for me, but I’d still rather not scratch scalps other than my own.
Veterinarian
Having my own pet that I love, I can’t understand how people are able to do things to animals like take their temperature, hold them forcefully to clip their nails or — I hate to even say this — put them down. I think my heart would be broken every day.
CPA
Excel spreadsheets? Numbers? Formulas? Rules and regulations? 90-hour work weeks? I’m sure I could learn the very basics necessary to be an accountant, but the four-part CPA exam would probably take me years and many, many attempts to pass. I admire those of you who have framed CPA licenses hanging on your walls. I admire you and I do not envy you. And I thank you for being so financially intelligent.
Truck Driver
I love driving, and I even love driving large vehicles. But I don’t think I would last months on the road. Well, maybe with a good passenger? And maybe if my truck was full of grilled cheeses and chocolate?
Lawyer

While I respect what Elle Woods did for blondes everywhere, and I happen to be a Reese Witherspoon fan, and I can enjoy a good argument here and there, I couldn’t see myself arguing when someone’s livelihood is at stake. And defense attorneys? No way I’d be able to defend someone I knew was guilty — even if all they did was flick someone on the forehead.
Picturing myself in jobs that I would not enjoy has helped my Lenten commitment to stop complaining. (Yes I realize it’s only day 2). I can imagine how much complaining I’d want to do if I flossed 56 dirty sets of teeth every day and it’s not a pretty thought. It also brings much needed perspective to this formative era of twentysomethinghood in which career development is a constant hot topic and often an open-ended question.
What are some jobs you couldn’t or wouldn’t want to do?