When you’re growing up, one of the questions most often asked is: Do you know what you want to do/be when you grow up? Or, possibly, do you have a career path in mind?

It can get pretty annoying after a while, because whatever your age is, but particularly if you’re under 12, how would you know?

Maybe your folks are farmers. Do you want to grow into their shoes? Maybe your mom is a poet. Do you have the knack for putting ideas or sentences together in the succinct way she does to form a poem? Or your dad works in retail — are you a people person, too, or would you prefer to hike into the mountains on a solo trek?

So many questions, and what are the options these days? I don’t know. However, I’m happy to list 10 reasons why I would not like to be president of the United States.

1) I would not be able to get up in the middle of the night to go find a bag of potato chips in the kitchen, without being escorted. Where in fact is the kitchen?

2) I wouldn’t be able to walk my dog or ferret on the sidewalk in Washington D.C. by myself. There would be dog or ferret walkers employed.

3) If I wanted to play a game, someone would already be chosen to play with me: cards, shuffleboard, darts, dominoes, Scrabble or Monopoly.

4) My cat would not be allowed to sleep with me (just guessing).

5) No one would be allowed to come just for a visit to say hi. There wouldn’t be impromptu visits of people just passing through; they’d have to make an appointment first.

6) I couldn’t write my own letters without approval. I could either only sign my name or pretend I’d written the letter to whichever numbskull had written to me in the first place. And would I really know what they said, since all my mail is read by someone else first?

7) There would always be lights on at night, even if I had those room-darkening shades on the windows. (Would there even be windows in my bedroom?) So, even if it pretends to be dark, it really isn’t, and if I wanted to open those shades, I wouldn’t be able to see starlight or the moon because there’d be so many outside lights.

8) I would not like to start something I couldn’t finish, namely a war. Because even when you’re president, things can go haywire and not turn out the way you thought or wanted them to. As president, someone will eventually hold you accountable.

9) My dog would not be allowed to sleep on the divan. Especially if it has dirty paws.

10) Family might or might not like me any more. I don’t think being president is a very likable position. I love my family.

That’s why I would not like to be president of the United States.

Diana Roberts lives in Greenfield.