I am in the process of trying to break my terrible habit of saying someone’s name in conversation without a qualifier when the person I am talking to has never met - or heard of – the person I am mentioning.  Instead of saying, “My good friend, MK…” I constantly say, “So, MK…” and continue at a rapid fire pace relaying something about MK.  This morning I successfully brought up my best friend and (triumphant music playing) put her name into context by mentioning her job.  What has struck me in this habit breaking process is that the people I know have some pretty cool jobs. 

1. My best friend, Missy, is a meteorologist with the Air Force.  She has what I consider a really cool job because she has traveled the world, forecasting so many different types of weather, and she is kind of like a scientist.  Missy is the person who I called and emailed furiously during the 2006 World Series because I knew she would tell it like it is – rain or shine.  Plus, when weird things happen with the weather, she can explain why.
2. My friend, and fellow blogger, Rebecca is a nanny.  She has a really cool job because she is being paid to hang out with and take care of a baby all day, but she is able to go home and sleep through the night and/or go out on Friday without paying a babysitter.  Plus?  Politics, I would assume, are at a minimum since the baby… well, can’t talk - much less talk about you or your potential.
3. Another friend, J., is an attorney.  I think this is one of the coolest jobs ever – for obvious reasons.  She recently passed the bar and graduated, but the job she took after graduation has allowed her to actively participating in trials since her first month - something very rare for a first year attorney.  She is one of the few people that when I ask, “How is work,” I love hearing the response.  On a related note, I also know a paralegal, fellow blogger Kim, and I have to say her job rivals J.’s in coolness.  She gets to work with Intellectual Property – how cool is that?
4. My friend, Susan, works in Public Relations.  I find her job fascinating.  She gets to read and write all day long, plus she gets to attend really neat events.
5. Blogger extraordinaire, Dana, has been writing and working in media for.evah.  Her job rounds out the list for obvious reasons.  She is a mother of two who answers to no one.  She runs her blog about parenting during the week, and is also on the radio on Sunday nights, talking political.  I think it is great when someone can turn their passion into a profession.

So, I have been thinking about the coolest jobs in St. Louis, and I wonder – what do my readers do to support their shoe fetish?  What makes a job tha coolest?  To me, creativity and freedom are key elements, but there are some jobs that aren’t creative but still cool.  I don’t know that I would be successful at them, but I know many people who are, and who inject creativity into them.