Matt Nable
The Age
Saturday July 11, 2009
MY FIRST JOB was on a concrete pump. I filled big holes with concrete, six days a week from 6am to 5pm. The pay was great - I was just out of school and had never seen so much money; I was getting around $600 a week. I always thought I looked pretty cool and tough in King Gees and gumboots. Plus I was always spattered in concrete. I felt more like a man than I do now. I've still got the gumboots and shorts - I like to put them on while I'm mowing the lawn.MY WORST JOB was as a sales rep for a transport company - I had to cold-call customers to talk about the beauty of logistics. I was horribly overpaid but I just couldn't get excited about it. I knew I was a dreamer well before I started there and that, left to my own devices in a space where I wasn't motivated, I'd only be able to cover up my reverie with words for so long. I knew I'd screw it up eventually. --MEGAN BYRNEMatt Nable's debut novel, We Don't Live Here Anymore, is out now.
© 2009 The Age
