re: would a potential so's career ever stop you from dating them?

Maybe, but I think it's more important for the person so have a reasonable degree of ambition and some sort of goals in life. I'd rather date a service industry manager with real potential than someone who has topped out in a low-level professional job and has no plans to improve. Attorneys would be the exception to this rule, but I've yet to meet one with zero ambition.

I could never date someone in the dental industry, because having your hands in other people's mouths all day is just gross.