Where?

Have you ever been asked this lame-ass job interview question?

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

I always struggled to answer this one. Also why would a 22 year old, applying to be a press op or a barely-above-minimum-wage print shop customer service rep, be asked this?

I get that the HR folks want to find out if my long-term plans and dreams align with those of the company. They probably also want to be sure the company’s investment in training me will be worthwhile.

Still, what was I supposed to say? Would "I want to rule the known universe" be the right answer? Maybe "I will become a fear and poetry inspiring cheetah, terrorizing the East coast." How about "in ten years I want to buy the company and kick your sorry ass out for asking such a weak-ass, incongruous question." 

I wasn’t some fresh outta law school attorney applying to a big State Street firm. "In ten years I see myself as a partner in the firm." Not a newly minted MBA looking to break into the world of high finance. "In ten years I will be CFO and all will bow down before my fiercesome math powers."

Nope. At 22 my major goals included getting the rent paid, paint and canvas bought and having employer paid health insurance (back in the ‘80s that was a possible thing, even for low wage workers). I was focused on immediate independent survival (and art) and getting through my next surgery. Thinking ten years down the line? Phbbbt, that was a luxury outside of my means. I just hoped to still be alive and painting at 32.

I’d dreamed of moving to Berlin, finding some community of warehouse squatting artists to join and living happily ever after. My neurologist and first neurosurgeon (AKA Doctor God) strongly suggested that moving away from my health specialists was NOT a good idea—not if I wanted to continue living and shit.

So, my ten year plan at 22 was to do whatever was needed to remain amongst the living. How, at the august age of 63, would I respond? Same. I hope to still be here at 73. The average death age for us neurofibromatosis type II-ers is 65 though. Sometimes I feel like I’m racing against a doomsday clock or hurtling toward a black hole.

What I’ll do, to dodge imminent demise, is continue working at being as healthy as I can be. You know, rehab exercising, challenging myself to do more, to grow and expand on my strength and abilities. Also…chilling. All work and no chill makes Donna a cantankerous old shrew. A heinous harpy, in point of fact!

Where would I like to see myself in ten years? Painting, snapping pics of the beach at dawn and traveling again. Maybe even taking long, meditative walks once more. Wouldn’t it be nice. 

How have you answered the where do you see yourself question? How would you answer it now?