Sheryl Crow
American singer-songwriter
I’ve been lucky. When I was a kid, I babysat and was a lifeguard, which I didn’t hate; and then I was a teacher, which I liked.
What is the worst job you have done?
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's long-running Q&A repeatedly asks this standing question, with minor tense variation.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Bedpan emptier in a hospital.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 June 2024 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 229 →
Chris Hoy
British track cyclist, 1994–2013
Delivering papers in the freezing cold for my granny. I got paid in Panini football stickers, so it wasn’t all bad.
Victoria Derbyshire
British broadcaster
Working in a furniture factory in Warrington when I was 17. It was a summer job, and I had to cover the studs in the back of Chesterfield sofas with leather.
Kiefer Sutherland
British and Canadian actor
I’ve been lucky enough to act for 35 years. The only other job I had was as a cook at a drive-in restaurant, and I enjoyed that as well.
More from Kathy Lette
View profile →Raising two children. If you can get your kids to adulthood and they’re not voting Tory, doing drugs or collecting Nazi memorabilia, then you deserve a medal.
Hitchhiking across Australia as a teenager, relying on the kindness of passing serial killers.
My own books being discounted. Oh, and sharks. The reason we Aussies swim so fast is because something much bigger is always trying to eat us.
Worrying about the faux pas I made earlier that evening. I tend to suffer from foot-in-mouth disease.
Not winning any literary prizes.
People who pretend to have perfect marriages. Perfect marriages are like orgasms – many of them are faked.
More on craft & work
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- What do you do when you feel creatively blocked or stuck? 66 answers
- How does a new work begin for you? 61 answers
- How much rewriting or revision do you do? 46 answers
- What is the part of your job that people would be surprised is most of your job? 40 answers
Also answered this · A–Z
Adam Kay, Adrian Edmondson, Ann Patchett, Anne Enright, Bernadine Evaristo, Cressida Cowell
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