It's Career Day at Third Street School; several alumni have come to talk about their professions, including inventor Pat Patterson (No, not that Pat Patterson). While this inspires the main gang to talk about their careers, Spinelli just wants to focus on being a kid. Her friends warn her that not planning for a future can mean not having one. She then has nightmares about lacking a future while her friends are all successful.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Actually Pretty Funny: When Principal Prickly says that "the future is now," Spinelli snarks that by that logic, it's time for recess already. The kids around her giggle in agreement.
- Afraid of Blood: Pat Patterson tells Spinelli that he wasn't thinking of being an inventor when he graduated school; far from it, he wanted to be a doctor originally. There was just a problem; the sight of needles and blood made him gag. When he tried to change jobs and become a fisherman, he got seasick easily.
- An Aesop: Kids aren't obligated to think about their future or decide right away what they grow up to be. Even when you reach the point you're grown and ready for a career, your future isn't set in stone.
- Anxiety Dreams: After fretting throughout the day about what she wants to do with her life, Spinelli has a bad dream about growing up to be a homeless lady, and all her friends have gone on to bigger and better things.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Spinelli thinks that worrying about your future cuts into the fun of being a kid. She says that a bunch of older people doesn't understand what the future will be, and Pat later agrees with her on that. Her friends say that it doesn't hurt to think about it.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Spinelli's worries about what she'll grow up to be are assuaged when Pat Patterson tells her that it took him a lifetime to figure out what he wanted to do. He didn't even invent his shoes until he was all grown up. The irony is, he backed out of saying his speech during Career Day because he was struck with stage fright.
- Everyone Has Standards: Miss Lemon snarkily calls one alumnus a showoff for saying she mastered two-sided forms by the time she was eighteen.
- Future Loser:
- Spinelli worries that since all her friends have taken the good aspirations, that leaves her without a future career to pursue. By that logic, she fears she'll grow up to be a homeless vagabond with no future.
- Mikey could also be seen as this. It's difficult to see how he makes a living singing in restaurants, especially since he apparently refuses tips.
- Irony: Spinelli is portrayed as a future loser, but except for Gus, she's the most level-headed of the six. The others have all chosen something highly unrealistic (cloning yourself isn't possible, even for Gretchen; TJ would have to win several elections and/or achieve something else to become president and the odds of playing professional sports are slim, even for Vince) or something where making money is virtually impossible (how exactly will Mikey make any money from his singing?). Gus is the only one who chooses the Boring, but Practical option of picking a realistic career by following his father into the military.
- Nice Guy: Pat Patterson is revealed to be this. When he runs into Spinelli while she has a panic attack and lashes out at him, he invites her to sit on the sidewalk with him. Then Pat reveals that he had no idea what he wanted to be when he grew up, and his plans went awry. He reassures Spinelli that she doesn't have to decide on a career in the now; he certainly didn't, and he's at least fine.
- Performance Anxiety: Pat Patterson is afraid of public speaking. He sees the kids staring at him and realizes that he can't do that.
- President Superhero: T.J. wants to be president when he grows up and Senõr Fusion.
- Self-Duplication: Gretchen contemplates cloning herself in the future to solve the world's problems. In fact, in Spinelli's dream, she encounters multiple clones of Gretchen. One is a news reporter interviewing sports star Vince, one works at a ticket booth to Mikey's sold-out concert, and one is a police officer. Spinelli tells the officer she looks familiar.
- Your Television Hates You: Spinelli tries to keep her mind off what her future career will be by watching television. Unfortunately, every channel she turns to has something related to careers.
