Mike Perry, Public Clinic Coordinator
L.L. Bean's, Freeport, Maine

The more people get out-of-doors and do exciting things like skiing, sea-kayaking, fly-fishing, and winter camping, the more likely they are to want to buy some equipment for those sports. That's the reasoning behind the clinics put on by L.L. Bean, the Maine sporting-goods giant, in which employees like Mike Perry teach prospective customers how to have fun in the great outdoors. Mike told us that his qualifications amounted to enthusiasm and "dumb luck -- I was in the right place at the right time." Even dream jobs have their shortcomings, though. "We spend all our time getting people excited about going outdoors and having fun," he reflected, "but we're so busy that we don't get very many chances to do that sort of thing ourselves."