I don’t think I’ve ever done a job that I hate. I worked as a temp briefly when I was out of work and it was fun.
What is the worst job you have done?
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Question
What scares you about getting older?
Time & hindsight
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What happens when we die?
Death & what remains
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
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.
Looking after the flowerbed on my windowsill.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 July 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 232 →
Bernadine Evaristo
English author and academic
On a cosmetics production line. I walked out after half a day.
Jennifer Hudson
American singer and actress
I’ve loved all my jobs, even when I worked at Burger King.
Joanne Froggatt
English actress
Scraping plates in a fish and chip cafe in Whitby.
More from Ben Okri
View profile →Composer, pirate, scientist, philosopher.
Not being there for my daughter.
Evolve or perish.
“You don’t stand a chance of succeeding as a writer in this country. The demographics are against you.” They were wrong. The only demographic that counts is the human heart.
We don’t die. We change realms. Life is eternal. Living is not. Live while you are alive.
Worrying at things.
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