Why Madonna's Career At Dunkin' Donuts Only Lasted A Week

For many of us, as tragic as it is, there are certain dreams that seem destined to remain just that: dreams. Budding writers, musicians, artists (even paleontologists, for those of us who watched "Jurassic Park" in awe at a young age) and more find that careers in these arenas, for whatever reason, can be very elusive.

Perhaps you were an enthusiastic young soccer player growing up. Talent or not, the chances of rising to Cristiano Ronaldo levels of success (the Portuguese icon has a net worth of $500 million, per Celebrity Net Worth) are very low indeed. How many people wanted to be astronauts or rock stars when they grew up, only for it to simply never happen? Far too many.

Even so, the celebrities we so admire have certainly had their share of setbacks and broken dreams. Long before Madonna became famous enough to eschew such trifles as last names, it seems she took a short-lived job at Dunkin' Donuts. Thanks to her behavior, she only lasted a week.

Today, of course, Madonna is known around the world as one of the greatest and most influential artists ever. Speaking on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (via OWN on YouTube), her sister Paula Ciccone explained how alienating this level of fame can be in a sibling. "Whenever they come home there's always this barrier," Ciccone said. "You have to get through the barrier, then you can start talking to them."

Achieving 335 million album sales and being declared a best-selling female recording artist (via Guinness World Records in March of 2015) can, presumably, have that effect on people.There's something almost ethereal about Madonna, something that makes her spotlight dazzling even to those closest to her.

Her music career to date, certainly, has been nothing if not stellar. Her career with Dunkin' Donuts, however, was markedly less so. In a March 2015 interview with Howard Stern (via The Howard Stern Show on YouTube), Stern emphasizes that Madonna's rise to fame was a hard-fought battle. "So you get to New York ... I want to make this point, because people think this ... happens overnight and it ... it doesn't. It's hard" Stern says. This leads the conversation to the various jobs Madonna took while in the city prior to her fame. Dunkin' Donuts, in particular, sticks in the mind.

Just prior to the turbulent decade that was the 1980s, per Britannica, Madonna was a student at New York City's Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and in quite the pinch for money. As Howard Stern succinctly put it (via The Howard Stern Show on YouTube), "so you come to New York to be a dancer, you're living on some guy's couch."

As well as auditioning and enjoying a partial scholarship to the aforementioned school, Madonna explained to Stern that "I just started making little bits of money," from various jobs. Denying Stern's claim that she was fired from Dunkin' Donuts in a single day, she stated (via YouTube) "I think I stayed there for maybe a week." What went so wrong? The Girl Gone Wild got a bit too silly with the donut-making equipment, it seems.

Stern asked, "were you fired because you squirted jelly over everyone?" Madonna responded that she had indeed been "playing with the jelly-squirter machine." Donut making, in short, is a noble and respected pursuit, and Madonna appears to have swiftly lost the job for making light of it. On the plus side, music worked out super, super well for her.