Actually, I was that weird kid who wanted to work with the dead. My mum taught history, and for as far back as I can remember I've been fascinated with mummies and the rituals surrounding death. I fell into EMS in college, and I love it, but it's an exhausting career. 24-hour shifts, no holidays, and constant stress are great for young folks or serious adrenaline junkies, but take a huge physical and mental toll. Keeping the living alive means crazy hours and my husband is a 9-5 Monday-Friday type, so I wanted a career with similar hours, so off to mortuary school I went. Fortunately, the dead typically require less immediacy, and working for a large funeral home means I only work standard business hours these days.
And I thought I had bad days at work.
Wow, seriously, thank you. I genuinely appriciate the insight. That "grandma's jaw" comment made me chuckle.
If you'd indulge me with one more question... why did you eventually choose these professions? I could be completely off the mark, but I'm guessing most kids don't say "I can't wait to be...". I'm just grateful there are brave souls like you out there. Thank you for what you do.
I'll start a thread soon to detail some more of the reasons I do what I do, but I hope this is satisfying for now.
And thanks, it's nice to be appreciated. <3