27. Insurance. Sophie writes about a conversation she had with Uncle Stew; she asked him about what he did for a living (before he was fired), and he explained that he worked in insurance. Sophie asks him if he likes selling insurance, and Stew says “Not really.” Sophie then says that, now that he’s fired, Stew can do what he really wants—but Stew says that he doesn’t have any idea about what he really wants to do. Stew says that this is pitiful, and Sophie agrees.
Stew’s inability to say what he really wants to do with his life is—incontrast to Sophie’s youthful idealism about finding one’s passion in life—a sobering, sad example of how a person’s excitement and enthusiasm about the possibilities of life can diminish in adulthood.