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Keep the door open and don't want anything. 

[old woman, overheard]

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Here are the things I've learned from every job I've had in the past decade.

Texas, age 20, J. Wilde's: There is magic everywhere, everywhere, don't let it slide by, grab it and store it in the attic until you can figure out what to do with it.

Flagstaff, age 21, trail builder/lumberjack/general manual labor: The first thing you do after you fell a tree is start to run. Do not run backwards, ever.

California, age 22, farm intern: Too wet to plow, so therefore time to dance.

Texas, age 23, freelance writer for small newspaper: Bullriders give the worst quotes, absolutely terrible, except the man who looked me dead in the eye and said, the only thing I have ever feared in my life is God.

California, age 23, backpack guide: No matter where you are, if you can hear water, everything else will probably be fine. You're probably fine!

Colorado, age 24, horrible sales/"content creation" job at a web design firm: No one will protect you from a boring life if you decide to create one. Also, don't trust anything you read on the Internet, since it was probably written by a frightened, underpaid twenty-something like yourself.

Colorado, age 25, communication intern for veteran's organization: Do not ever sneak up behind a Vietnam vet and shout "Surprise!" on his birthday because he might have a hammer on him that he carries around with him in case of surprises.

Texas, age 26-28, nursing school: never forget the time you were in the ICU at 6 am for your nursing residency and saw a small sticker on a nurse's desk, lit by fluorescent lights, that said Never be less than your dreams, and you started to cry out of nowhere at all the strange turns life had taken and how very unhappy you were to be in an ICU at 6 am.

Oregon, age 29, public health nurse: Small dogs are the ones that usually bite, and do not let anyone squirt you with breast milk if you can possibly avoid it.