Most people say that they want to be happy at their jobs. I feel the same way. But you know what I’ve been thinking about lately? I kind of like the fact that freelancing from home allows me to be grumpy when I feel like being grumpy. I don’t ever have to put on a happy face just because I’m at the office. Now, I’m naturally not a very grumpy person but it’s nice to be able to just feel however I really feel when I’m working. Not all people are so lucky.

In fact, there are a lot of people who not only have to be polite and professional at their jobs regardless of how they feel but who actually have to outright pretend to be happy even when they are not happy at all. For example, if you were going to work as a professional clown then you would need to make sure that you put on a happy face at work even if you were having a terrible day. What kind of party would it be if the clown was all pissed off? This goes for other types of entertainment as well; someone cast in a musical can’t be very grumpy on stage and still present a good show.

I’m trying to think of some other jobs out there where you truly need to pretend to be happy even when you’re not. There are many that come to mind in which people should act happy for the sake of others but often don’t. People who work in daycares and hospitals are good examples. It would be nice if they’d act happy and make it easier on kids and patients but they don’t actually have to in order to make a living so they don’t.

Are there other jobs out there where the employee really needs to act happy to make the job work?

Tags: career, employment, happiness, hubpages, jobs, kathryn vercillo

I have held a dozen different jobs in my lifetime – maybe more. I’m always interested in trying new things and seeing what I like (or don’t like) firsthand. Before I had a college degree, I took on a lot of the kinds of jobs that you can get without an education. For example, I tried waitressing several times.

I didn’t like waitressing at all. I wasn’t good at it. My memory wasn’t great. I didn’t really serve people quickly or efficiently. It just wasn’t my thing. But there was one kind of waitressing that I did that worked for me for awhile. I worked as a cocktail waitress in a bowling alley.

That sounds funny now but at the time it was a really good job. It wasn’t as intense as serving drinks in a bar. The men who hit on me (and proposed to me) were relatively harmless so I never felt like I was being hassled or was facing any serious risks. Nobody got especially drunk but everyone was having a good time.

The fact that this went so well made me think for awhile that I might want to be a bartender at a place like that, somewhere laidback and easygoing. But there are a lot of pros and cons to being a bartender. There’s definitely the benefit of good money and decent part-time hours. But there are legal risks and social complications and other drawbacks that ultimately made me choose not to pursue that route.

Still, I can see bartending being fun in the right kind of setting. What do you think?

Tags: bartender, bartending, career choices, employment, jobs, pros and cons of bartending, waitressing, work