Checking my rarely used Yahoo email today, I encountered this humorous “news” article: “Great Careers with Long Vacations.”

Naturally, educators rank at the top of this list:

Quoth Yahoo News: “The notion that teachers have the entire summer off is a myth. They work after the students leave to complete grading, additional training, and class preparation. However, many American teachers have ten paid holidays, spring and winter breaks, and at least a month off in the summer … Secondary school teachers earn on average $52,450 a year, but time off is invaluable.”

Okay, I give them credit for acknowledging that “the entire summer off is a myth.” I don’t know about you but I am working my ass off this summer — although not on “grading, additional training, and class preparation” but on research and writing. A friend just said to me yesterday, “We should get together before classes start and you have to go back to work” — and I did a practical double-take. What does she think I do all summer long?

I particularly like the tone of this follow-up comment: “Secondary school teachers earn on average $52,450 a year, but time off is invaluable.” What the author means to say is, “school teachers make ONLY 52 grand BUT they get some time off.” As someone who does not make 52 grand but significantly less than that — yes, it’s true — and whose “time off” is spent, apparently, working for free … well, I’m thinking that being a “freelance game designer” (another one of the totally viable career tracks identified by Yahoo News) is sounding better and better.