Children’s underwear department at Marks & Spencer, Oxford Circus. I was 16 years old, earning money in my summer holidays.
What is the worst job you have done?
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
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.
A holiday job as a chambermaid at the Scratchwood Travelodge on the M1. The state some people leave their rooms in was a revelation.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 April 2024 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 235 →
Cheryl Strayed
Author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things
And then I tired of waiting tables. It made me feel diminished and sad, but it was a great way to earn a living for a while.
I’ve done some acting jobs where everybody’s gone out of their way to make sure that you feel annoying and easily replaceable.
Erin O'Connor
English model
Shooting hosiery on top of an iceberg and getting my backside stuck to it.
More from Caroline Lucas
View profile →Picnicking on the Downs with my family and dog – birds singing, sea sparkling, and mobile switched very firmly off.
Today’s children and young people – we’ve let them down by not doing more to prevent the nature and climate crisis, and left them such a huge responsibility.
Following the Zen proverb: you should sit and meditate for 20 minutes; if you’re too busy, then you should sit and meditate for an hour.
For making a difference.
Being on my deathbed and realising I’d forgotten to treat each day as the miracle that it is.
People remember how you make them feel more than they remember what you say or do.
More on craft & work
- What do you consider your greatest achievement? 202 answers
- How does a new work begin for you? 80 answers
- What do you do when you feel creatively blocked or stuck? 79 answers
- How do you know when a piece of work is finished? 74 answers
- How much rewriting or revision do you do? 57 answers
- What is the part of your job that people would be surprised is most of your job? 54 answers
Also answered this
Robert Peston, Gloria Steinem, Keir Starmer, Louis Theroux, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Jon Sopel
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All craft & work questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject