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.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 June 2017 source ↗
I’ve never had a terrible job. I’ve been a cook, waitress, bookseller, teacher, freelance writer. I know what the bad jobs are and I haven’t done them.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 April 2017 source ↗
I was what I call a “nut lifter” in a factory in Enfield. I had to get nuts and bolts from the production line into big tins.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 June 2018 source ↗
I was a secret shopper and had to do a lot of bookies – Coral and William Hill – all around London. For 18-year-old me looking all fab it was quite scary going in and saying: “Hiya, can I put £4 on No 7 horse, please?” But you got to keep the money when you won.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 December 2024 source ↗
I left the army and got a job with Unilever in Northern Ireland. They were very strict and you had to have a hat, and when you went into a shop you had to raise your hat to the shopkeeper and then sell your wares. I was selling margarine.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 March 2025 source ↗
When I was doing my gold swimming badge. I had to get undressed in a swimming pool and had forgotten my gym kit, so the teacher gave me a kit two sizes too small. In the water, I got my arms up over my head to get the shirt off and they locked. I sank to the bottom of the pool and sat there until a girl jumped in and dragged me back up again.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 June 2017 source ↗
When I heard John Noakes had died.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 June 2017 source ↗
A television. I don’t care for things. When I moved, I downsized and threw away most of my possessions.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 June 2017 source ↗
My older sister, Jeanne. We fought when we were kids, but she is so entirely capable.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 June 2017 source ↗
I’d have made more of my education.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 June 2017 source ↗
Like hunger, which feels like anxiousness, which feels like fear, which feels like excitement.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 June 2017 source ↗
Adam Kay, Adeel Akhtar, Adjoa Andoh, Adrian Dunbar, Adrian Edmondson, Aidan Gillen
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