This one is more than just a little indicative of how I struggled as a teenager. Low confidence issues meant that this job was one that there was just no way I was going to take.

But how did it come about?  Well, it was during the summer between my first and second years at University. For the summer before my first year I had worked in a local, wait for it… cottage cheese factory. So, this time I fancied a change.  One of Mum’s friends worked for the local council in the waste disposal department.  So, she arranged an interview for me – as a bin man.  I quite fancied this job, so I was happy to turn up for the interview.

What I was offered when I got there was something just a little different.  What they actually wanted was for me to operate as a street sweeper and picker-upper of rubbish off the streets.

As I look back on the debacle now, I am more than a little regretful.  My decision to say no thanks and walk out was the wrong one. What benefit would it have given me?  Well, it would have made me a stronger, tougher person; that much is undeniable. Dealing with the general public on a day-to-day basis in such a role would have made elevated my self-confidence to a level which may have had changed my whole life.  Plus, imagine some of the stories which which I could have regaled my mates both immediately afterwards and ever since.

But I turned the opportunity down and got a job at last year’s factory, this time dealing with Munch Bunch yogurts. Confidence remained unchanged and another chance to voluntarily push myself out of my comfort zone had gone.