This Is My Real Job
In Wes Anderson’s hilarious and poignant coming-of-age film “Moonrise Kingdom,” one of the most memorable characters is Scoutmaster Randy Ward, a somewhat bumbling but earnest Khaki Scout troop leader played by Edward Norton, in charge of a fictional summer camp set in New England in the 1960’s. In one memorable scene in the movie a young Khaki Scout corners Ward and asks, “What’s your real job, sir?” Confusion floods Ward’s face as he struggles to understand the question. “My real job?” he asks. “Yes, your real job.” With a blink, Ward finally replies, “High School Math Teacher.” The scouts clustered around him frown with disappointment at such a mundane answer to the question. Later in the scene, as Ward scrambles to organize a search party for a missing camper, he announces to his assembled group, “I’m going to change my answer. Scout Master Ward is my real job. Math teacher is something I do on the side.” With huge appreciation for actual math teachers (you folks are awesome! #mathlife) That scene from Moonrise Kingdom highlights a phenomenon that is likely familiar to anyone who has worked at a summer camp: “Summer Camp Counselor is not a real job.” Refuting this