Rant #1,363: My Back Pages

Have you ever looked back and wondered to yourself, "What if?"

"What if this happened, what if that happened, what if I went this direction, what if I went that way?"

Well, that is what Bob Dylan did in the upcoming issue of AARP Magazine.

He said that if he did not become a musician, he would have become a teacher, one who taught history to kids.

I cannot for the life of me imagine Dylan as a teacher, and I guess he would have been Mr. Zimmerman to the kids who he taught, not Mr. Dylan.

But everyone, even celebrities, let their minds wander at times, and wonder "what if?"

I guess that many consider Dylan a teacher, anyway, as his music taught a generation how to think outside the box.

But Dylan as a teacher? I don't think he would be able to get away mumbling as he does now, but I am sure he would have had lots to offer the teaching profession.

Anyway, have you personally thought "what if?" at any time?

I know that I have.

When I was in high school, I had absolutely no confidence in anything I did. I yearned to go to film school, but never really made that desire known to anyone but myself, so nobody really knew what I wanted to do.

My fault, for sure. I think I could have been a good filmmaker, but we will never know.

When I went to school, I really didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, but then, during my last year of college, I figured that teaching was the way I wanted to go.

I went to graduate school, got my degree, and went into teaching.

With no connections, and too much schooling, I found that the profession had basically locked me out.

After about three years of substitute teaching--the worst job in America, for sure, second to none--I had to leave the profession, because I wasn't getting anywhere.

So yes, I do wonder what if I did this or what if I did that, but I don't constantly think about it.

I guess things happen for a reason; Dylan became a musician for a reason, I became a writer for a reason.

Some people know what they want to do literally from day one, and they do it.

Others have a bumpier road, and their direction isn't as solid, or direct, as others.

But we all seem to get to an end point, and I guess that is where Dylan got to more than 50 years ago, and it is a point where I got to probably 30-plus years ago.

Some would call it destiny; I call it simply what I ended up doing because of circumstances beyond my control.

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