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Thu 11 Dec, 2003 08:12 am
I ask this question because of a movie I was watching the other day. It was one of those cheesy Cleopatra movies and in one scene she was sitting on her throne while a couple of muscular guys stood on either side and cooled her with palm fronds.
I thought to myself, "What a shitty job!" But then it occurred to me that, back then, that was probably a pretty decent job. The rest of the boys were busting their asses hauling around rocks the size of small houses to erect some pyramid or bending over in a field all day, sweating in the hot Egyptian sun, as they tried to get something to grow in the sand.
So now, some of you might say your worst job ever was working in a Burger King while to others... maybe that was their best job.
But let's concentrate on the worst jobs for now. I'll start.
My worst job was in a toy factory. I was assigned the task of whitewall tire inspector. I'd sit at the end of a conveyor belt that was about the length of a football field. The tires would relentlessly advance toward me. At the midway point they'd pass under a paint roller and get their "whitewalls." By the time the tires got to me, the paint was dry and I'd have to give them a quick inspection. Toss the good ones in a box, the bad ones in another.
I lasted three weeks. Any longer and I would have killed myself.
So, that's my worst job. What's yours?
Gus- Tires? MY worst job was selling recapped truck tires. I had to cold call, did not know what I was doing, and really didn't care about the job. I had had it after two weeks. I just left, and did not even pick up my last pay check!
But I did learn something there. Now when I see pieces of tire tread on the road, I know that it was from a recapped tire that failed!
I was a theatre usher for less than a week. Not only did the uniforms smell from lack of proper washing, on the second day, the Uber-usher said: "Hey, junior, some kid just puked in theatre 4. Get a mop and clean it. You're the newest member of the team, so it's your job." <insert mean-spirited laughing here> Yep, I quit that day. I pissed myself watching theatre worker scenes in two movies: Ghost World, when Thora Birch is forced to "supersize" people, and Wayne's World, I don't recall if it was 1 or 2, where he describes the usher job, and makes reference to cleaning up "hurl and lung butter."
I feel your pain, people. Keep them coming.
This is therapy.
Oh, I tried telemarketing for a single day. Just a list of names and numbers. It was boring, but hey, liveable. Then I put in a call to a male name, and a woman answers the phone. According to policy, I ask, "may I speak to your husband?" She says "What?" I repeat the question a bit louder. Then she says "What are you talking about? My husband is DEAD!!" Never went back to that job.
Cav, you weren't thinking! You should have made a beeline to her door.
Lonely widow and all that.
Well, aside from the fact that I thought the product was shite, she was over 80, and a man has to draw the line somewhere.
Well, that's the worst part with octogenerians....they tend to be quite dry.
I was 16, and got this job going out to collect money from people who were behind paying their newspaper bills or something. I'd be handed a huge list of addresses, a map, and see-ya. I couldn't find half the houses...it was suck-ass. Not to mention I think they paid me a % of the money I collected.
And, one job was one of the best and worst, at the same time. Summer job while in college. No sales experience, and at the time I lacked the confidence+skill even to properly speak in front of a group...so I did door to door sales. Worst job becasue I made only about $1500 all summer, best because it helped me break out of my shell, public speaking+confidence wise.
I worked in a petrolum company - packing grease into tubes - on an assemble line - mindlessly patting the little swirl down for hours on end or putting lids on before they went into the press.
When they needed I worked at the 2cycle oil machine - they found I could run the entire operation by myself (1 person) on that assembly line, it was hard as hell but I thought it beat the crap out of sitting on the assembleline.
1. load empty cans
2. load lids
3. assemble case boxes
4. load 2 cycle oil
5. run assembly
6. check for leakers
7. load cans into cases
8. glue cases closed
9. stack on pallet
10. do about 8 to 10 cases at a time (recycle leaking cans)
Slappy Doo Hoo wrote:I was 16, and got this job going out to collect money from people who were behind paying their newspaper bills or something. I'd be handed a huge list of addresses, a map, and see-ya. I couldn't find half the houses...it was suck-ass. Not to mention I think they paid me a % of the money I collected.
And, one job was one of the best and worst, at the same time. Summer job while in college. No sales experience, and at the time I lacked the confidence+skill even to properly speak in front of a group...so I did door to door sales. Worst job becasue I made only about $1500 all summer, best because it helped me break out of my shell, public speaking+confidence wise.
Slappy I loved doing that - door to door thing - I have 150 papers I delivered on a Sunday and 50 on the weekdays. Tips were the best part.
I had a mailroom job in an ad agency which completely sucked. Aside from delivering mail, we filled the photocpoiers with toner, brought coffee to executives, and cleaned their friggin' basement. There was one plus, however, that summer. A completely HOT German exchange student working as a temp on reception. I asked her, "Hey, I'm interested in learning some German, can you teach me some phrases?" She looked me in the eyes and said "Ich liebe dich." I said to myself "Hoo ya, she loves dick!" so I had a great bang. I took it as "one for the Jews."
Worst temp job ever was unstapling papers, scanning them, and re-stapling them. Some documents were upwards of three inches thick - getting out the staples without shredding the paper was the tough part. I told people that I was unstapling paper for a living. I lasted six weeks until I got some bills paid.
Husker, I did paper deliviering too...but I was talking about door to door sales, shirt+tie, selling restaurant promotions, getting doors slammed in your face. Good times.
McDonalds. I lasted 3 days.
Worked one summer as a mover in Boston. We did odd jobs that the better known companies wouldn't take, or that the customer wouldn't trust them to. Lots of four story walkups with huge heavy stuff. Long hours, poor pay, sore back.
I lasted one morning cleaning a barroom. I thought I would be able to tolerate it until I saw the men's room - somebody had vomitted and missed the bowl.
Telemarketing. I was there for three months. The same thing happened as with cav but instead of phoning a widow and asking to speak to her husband, mine was a widower. It was a mortifying moment. Thank God he didn't cuss me out.
I ended up being fired from that job for asking, during a company meeting, about commission. I couldn't believe it. It was a major struggle to get up and go there but I needed a job so every morning, I swallowed my pride and went. Only to get fired.
One of life's funny little ironies.
cjhsa wrote:Worked one summer as a mover in Boston. We did odd jobs that the better known companies wouldn't take, or that the customer wouldn't trust them to. Lots of four story walkups with huge heavy stuff. Long hours, poor pay, sore back.
I know about that also - my Father-In-Law had a moving and delivery business - I hate refers, freezers, washer, and dryers
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