Darryl Cressman’s previous jobs

About 9 years ago, Darryl Cressman, assistant professor in in philosophy, moved from Canada to the Netherlands with his wife. They got married in Maastricht and are currently expecting their first child.

He seems all settled in now, but I wondered about his life before he came to Maastricht, and I was not disappointed by his story.

“My colleagues always find it funny that I have worked so many different jobs,” Darryl says. When he was in high school, Darryl worked as a cook. “It was hot and sweaty and in my mind I always connected being a cook with high school, so when I went to college, I decided to become a radio DJ. From my radio DJ’ing I landed a job as a DJ at a bar.” After college, Darryl started working at a law firm as a clerk. “I didn’t really fit there but I did notice that when I put files under my arm and walked up and down the corridor really fast, it looked like I was very busy and people would leave me alone,” Darryl says jokingly.

“When I grew tired of clerical life, I decided I wanted to work in agriculture. So I started working at a greenhouse with cactuses to make some money and pay my rent. But I grew tired of that too and started working at a theatre. I didn’t really have to work hard there and was pleasantly surprised when I found a secret closet filled with top hats. I spent my time at the theatre wearing different top hats every day and hiding from my boss.” In between the work at the greenhouse and working at the theatre, he worked for a moving company. “Just one day. That’s how long it took me to find out I was not qualified for the job,” Darryl explains.

Let’s say that Darryl has now finally found out what he likes to do in terms of employment. And the added bonus is that he got to move to the Netherlands for his job, though the language barrier can be a bit tricky at times. “When I first arrived in the Netherlands I was warned about Dutch bluntness. In Dutch class, I learned – or thought I learned – that ‘afspraak’ meant conversation. So when I at some point walked past a hair salon and saw ‘met of zonder afspraak’, I thought ‘well I knew the Dutch were blunt, but to go to a hair salon and be like ‘one haircut without the small talk’, that’s something different,” Darryl laughs.

All jokes aside, Darryl now is in serious business since his wife is 7.5 months pregnant with their first child. They’re expecting a girl and he’s totally excited about it but also “completely aware that I have no idea of what’s coming at me. It’ll be a wild ride and I’m just glad I’m not working at a theatre or a farm while this is happening.”

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