List your worst-ever jobs here. What horrible stuff have you done to pay the bills?

[Lang Syne Boardie]

Spouse's jobs can also included. Perhaps your worst ever was a Rowe-style "Dirty Job," or maybe you spent purgatory in Dilbert's cubicle, or maybe you paid your way through college cleaning up roadkill from the highways.

 

Feel free to add descriptions of your godawful living situation that you enjoyed while working your worst-ever job.

 

We have some struggling people here, and the job market is awful in many parts of the country. Let's encourage our WTM friends going through hard times by telling how we've BTDT and lived.

[Chris in VA]

Wellll,

Ok, I'll play.

 

Once, I let medical students practice giving exams on me. At the time, I felt I was doing a service for women these people would eventually treat. Now it makes me go, "WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!" Have to say it was strangely satisfying to tell them what they did well and what they needed to change.

[tammyw]

Mine was actually a job I did when I was in high school, so technically I wasn't paying the bills with it, but I worked at a meat packing plant - where they made frozen meatballs, sausages, etc. It was freezing all the time, and so incredibly disgusting. Absolutely horrible job!!!

[newlifemom]

I sold books office to office. That was pretty awful. Of course it taught me how to look people in the eye and give a firm handshake. :tongue_smilie:

[elegantlion]

I've worked for a veterinarian who did a lot of boarding. I loved many aspects of the job, but I didn't have pet hair, urine, blood, or feces on me by 8:30 a.m. it was a really slow day.

 

I worked as an insurance underwriter. I hated putting individuals into neat little statistical boxes. Insurance agents despised us. The running joke was if you needed a heart transplant go to an underwriter, they don't use theirs anyway. So much the opposite of who I am.

 

Quit that job to go clean houses with my spouse. Horrid, I hate cleaning (dh is the cleaner). I hated doing these cookie cutter homes in JoCo while the suburban mommies would complain if we left a water spot on their kitchen faucet. We were good, we were cheap, but I never felt good doing that job. I always felt like less than, "hired help", with the exception of a few clients. Yes, I have stories that are going into a book someday. Including the frantic call we got from the adult children of one wealthy client. Apparently the grandkids had had an alcohol free-for-all while the granparents were out of town. We spent 8-10 hours cleaning off barf from flocked velvet wallpaper, beer rings from antique furniture, rearranging the Staffordshire dogs, and cleaning carpet. It was a load of fun, we charged a huge sum, but it still wasn't worth it.

 

So, now, as a unpaid homemaker, I still am the only one who will clean up pet/people barf or pet poo. :lol: Joy. At least I get to enjoy the good days with these critters.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

I once cleaned mansions for Cruella deVille. Cruella wasn't the homeowner, she was the cleaning agency boss. She raked in the cash and paid us slightly less than minimum wage. She had no trouble finding work for us to do, because we were absolutely the most thorough cleaners in town. I've looked up Merry Maids' list and it only covers about half of what we did weekly.

 

Working for Cruella, I learned to clean an eight-bedroom mansion by myself in three hours. This included scrubbing all trim and woodwork and hand-mopping all floors. At that rate, I could clean two of those in a day and also a two-bedroom apartment if she could find one to schedule on the same side of town.

 

All floors were hand-mopped, even brick floors between kitchens and porches. I once wore through my knee pads and jeans and shredded my knees, finishing a floor.

 

The living situation at that time was tough. I had a one-bedroom apartment in a very dangerous part of town. The doors and windows wouldn't lock. I was only 17 years old. Even though I was working an incredibly physical job for 8 hours per day, I didn't make enough money for adequate food. Breakfast was 1/2 cup oatmeal and an apple. Lunch was a small can of tuna or a can of soup. Supper was an egg and frozen vegetables. Once a week I bought one loaf of bread, 1/2 gallon of milk, and 1 pound of deli roast beef.

 

I had no idea at the time that this was all preparation for my first year of marriage at age 20. That's another hard-times story, but that one involved 10 mile walks to work and scrubbing laundry on a washboard in the sink. But we made enough for full meals of beans and rice and could afford tea, so I was on the way up.

[NotSoObvious]

My husband lasted 3 days at the cheese factory when we were in college. Think hair net, irrigation boots, and a hard hat mixed with the smell of spoiled milk. :thumbdown::thumbdown:

[Parrothead]

I had great jobs when I worked for pay. Unfortunately I saw some of the worst humanity has to offer doing them.

[kalanamak]

Waitress at a truck stop (all night). Drunks, mean-old-biddy waitresses with a sharp tongue, a cook who chased me all over with a sausage, getting called "broad" (I had 32 inch hips), being asked to perform acts for money out back, etc. Got me ready for being a medical intern in the Bronx, however.

[UnsinkableKristen]

I worked at a funeral home cold-calling people to make pre-arrangements. It was AWFUL.

 

I finally realized my boss was scum when he asked me to bring in my church directory so I could start calling "the older ones". :ack2:

 

I quit the same day.

[KungFuPanda]

I once taught public school. :lol: OK, it wasn't horrid, but there are so many easier jobs out there with better pay, a higher level of appreciation, and more professional autonomy. Homeschooling may have spoiled me to the point that I'd never be happy in a classroom again.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

DH once worked for a desperate plumber who was trying to make money on a bad contract. The land was improperly surveyed and didn't drain correctly. I don't know the ins and outs of residential plumbing, but I remember what DH's job was:

 

He had to dig ditches and trenches without stopping for 10-12 hours per day while George did his absolute best to get the pipes installed before the ditch refilled. He barely stayed ahead of George. If he rested for 5 minutes they'd have to start that section all over again. George hired him because he knew DH could work like a horse and help him save the job.

 

He would come home to our little travel trailer and fall on the floor to sleep. He'd get up halfway through the night to take a shower and go to bed.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I was a housekeeper at Red Roof Inn during a summer to make money for college. One summer was enough for me. People are nasty pigs in motel rooms. :ack2:

 

My most recent horrible job was in the corporate office of a pizza franchise company. I was supposed to be a bookkeeping assistant, but I was really the owner's personal servant. I had to pay his household bills, sign his kids up for camp, sit on hold with Continental to turn his frequent flyer miles into stuff, and get screamed at by his wife if I didn't pay the credit card bill fast enough. She was always maxing it out and then wanting me to pay immediately so she could charge more stuff.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

I worked at a funeral home cold-calling people to make pre-arrangements. It was AWFUL.

 

I finally realized my boss was scum when he asked me to bring in my church directory so I could start calling "the older ones". :ack2:

 

I quit the same day.

 

What a ghoul! (But that is very funny.)

[Mrs Mungo]

I worked at a video arcade. :glare:

 

DH is in the military and he has done quite a lot of crazy stuff. But, in college he worked at a fishing lure company and got the tip of his middle finger cut off in a machine.

[DawnM]

I loved working most of the time other than a bad boss or two. That was with almost 17 years working in public education.

 

One thing I did in college to put myself through was to donate Plasma. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't the greatest. It was a dark, dingy clinic and some of the people in there were not the cleanest.

 

Dawn

[littlebug42]

When in college, I worked for an hour and a half at a local fast food place. The orientation was enough for me. I decided to find something else.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

Since spouse's job can be included...

 

My DH served as a medic in the war in Iraq. He's still dealing with PTSD. 'Nuff said.

 

Oh, Kinsa, I'm sorry. :grouphug: My dear BIL and sis are going through that, too. So many thanks to you and your DH for your sacrifice and suffering for our country.

[annandatje]

Husband: Baling hay and harvesting fruits and vegetables for local farmers. Working at state university dairy breaking down, cleaning, and setting equipment back up. Donating plasma but that is not exactly a job. Paper route - this was job he hated most. Working in a dirty warehouse that had no air conditioning and little heat. Having to sink to bottom of barrel professionally and accept job with firm that he was embarrassed to say he worked for.

 

Wife: Having to work in an environment of rather extreme sexual harassment. Petsitting untrained unhousebroken huge dogs. Handing out flyers. Telemarketing.

[sassenach]

Me: Telemarketing sales job, selling circus tickets by cold-calling my way through the phonebook.

 

DH: Car sales.

[justamouse]

I was a telemarketer. It was horrible pissing all those people off and getting screamed at all day, but the worst part of it was talking for HOURS to the elderly people who had no one to talk to. Those made me cry.

 

I've picked berries (under the table) waking up at 3 am so that we could get our quota filled before it got too hot.

 

I was a personal care assistant at a disabilities hosp.-it wasn't a bad job, but I was a single mom and buddy and I were homeless. I would take all the double shifts I could until I found out that the babysitter wasn't caring correctly for him (not changing him at all and him getting impetigo) and not being able to find a babysitter that could watch him during the hours I needed, I had to quit. He was being too neglected. I was throwing up at work worrying.

[swellmomma]

I've been a maid, delivered flyers and newspapers, bottle picked (incl dumpster diving for them), worked in a plastics factory (my dad was my boss, I quit half way through a shift, he was worse than any boss I have ever had).

[Desert Rat]

Oh, between dh and me we've had a slew of terrible jobs....

Animal shelter (the less pc kill kind), delivering food, K-Mart (enough said), dh has worked outside in the summer in the desert for 10 years. The jobs we both have right now are pretty rotten. Dh changes filters in commercial buildings...on the roof...in the desert. I clean OPTs (That's Other People's Toilets). It's all good. We're happier now than we've been in a while and it sure beats unemployment!

[Firestar Academy]

Am I terrible because I laughed at almost all of these?? Except the ones that made me cry.... I must be..

 

I once worked at a lightbulb factory. I had to sodder(sp?) a computer chip on the the wires sticking out of the end of the lightbulb. for 10 hours a day.

 

then after they were baked in an oven we had to test every single friggin light bulb.

 

not very gross, but incredibly boring and it was for entire summer with no airconditioning.

 

Robin in NJ

[sassenach]

Wellll,

Ok, I'll play.

 

Once, I let medical students practice giving exams on me. At the time, I felt I was doing a service for women these people would eventually treat. Now it makes me go, "WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!" Have to say it was strangely satisfying to tell them what they did well and what they needed to change.

 

Oh. my. word. What were you thinking?! :lol::lol:

[Impish]

Cutting up pig skin for pork rinds.

 

The smell will never be forgotten.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Let's see - worked at Dunkin Donuts overseas for a lech of a boss who gave me (but not the native workers) a mini skirt to wear - I wore pants under it;)

 

Worked as a cook for a wealthy couple. They knew my name but never used it. They called me "Girl" and treated me accordingly.

 

Worked as a housekeeper for a world-renowned interior designer who treated her staff (about 20 of us) like scum. Everyone else said that it was ok because she was a genius. I developed this strange case of selective hearing where I would only do things if she actually said "please". We got along surprisingly well, actually, until I gave notice to go to another job. She then refused to talk to me and would yell downstairs to tell someone to tell me something while I stood right next to her.:001_rolleyes:

 

Worked as a nanny for a woman who tried to give me her kids the first time she saw me. She was serious. She was also in a psych ward the first time I saw her so I didn't take her up on it. I worked with them until she was able to move on to being a mom on her own.

 

Worked as a guardian ad litem with child abusers etc. I had to supervise the court ordered visits while the Dad (usually) tried to get me to leave.

 

Did childcare for parents who were ordered by the courts to have parenting classes. Needless to say, the kids were very challenging esp. since we had all the challenging kids together at one time.

 

Worked as in a Japanese hospital where all the adult patients were bathed in an assembly line with no accommodation at all for modesty. It wasn't embarrassing for them to be bathed by other Japanese but it was extremely hard for them to have me do it because I was a foreigner.

 

Dh took care of monkeys in medical school. He still shudders if you mention monkeys. . .

[Bang!Zoom!]

I worked at a funeral home cold-calling people to make pre-arrangements. It was AWFUL.

 

I finally realized my boss was scum when he asked me to bring in my church directory so I could start calling "the older ones". :ack2:

 

I quit the same day.

Whoa.

[Pippen]

The summer before I went to college I worked third shift in a gasket factory. Most of the time I was picking out gaskets from the material they were cut from and stacking them in boxes. It was hot, dirty, boring work and being an early-to-bed, early-to-rise person made it so much worse.

 

The flipside of that is it really helped motivate me to work hard in college.

[SunD]

I've only had two jobs in my life and I'm not sure which was worse. One, I was pregnant and had terrible morning sickness. Why was it bad? Well ... it was a convenience store and bait shop. :glare: Yep. Cleaning bathrooms that truckers used, making four different kinds of coffee at 4 am (and WOW did the smell of coffee make me sick!), sticking my hand into a bucket of raw shrimp to weigh them for a customer who then decided they didn't want them after all, OH and I also had to boil some of the seafood on weekends. Awesome. I was throwing up all day long.

 

The second was at an animal shelter. It really wasn't that bad, as far as jobs at an animal shelter would go, but it was NOT what they said it was. They hired me to be an adoption counselor ... fill out and file paperwork, interview people, help them figure out which animal would be the best fit for their household and lives, etc. It actually involved things like doing intake paperwork on stinky, aggressive stray dogs (while trying to keep them under control when they had NEVER been on a leash before and were freaking out), "helping" the cage workers get feral cats and other wild animals out of humane traps, fielding calls from irate people whose animals had been confiscated (sometimes being physically threatened by them, if they came in person), quickly cleaning out a poop-and-urine-filled cage for people who wanted to see a certain animal if the cage workers hadn't cleaned theirs yet, etc, etc. When I was actually, you know, in the office, I would get reprimanded for being dirty. We were supposed to dress nicely for the public coming in, but then they'd tell us to go help the vet vaccinate a poop-covered feral cat. :confused:

[annandatje]

My husband lasted 3 days at the cheese factory when we were in college. Think hair net, irrigation boots, and a hard hat mixed with the smell of spoiled milk. :thumbdown::thumbdown:

 

Oh, my husband did that kind of work! He would be knee deep in boiling water in the boots while cleaning stinky equipment.

[forty-two]

I've had jobs that weren't my fav, but they were all nice places to work, in that the management was competent and actually cared about their employees.

 

Now poor dh, otoh, worked 18mo at this horribly dysfunctional non-profit, counseling drug addicts for a salary at the poverty line. (And at 18mo he was the longest lasting employee, too.) The ptb hired him to do two jobs, drive the bus to pick up their clients (started his route at 5am; finished dropping them off at 5pm) and then counsel them in between - all *without* exceeding 40 hours a week :001_huh: (heaven forbid they pay overtime :glare:). And yelled at him whenever he missed something miniscule b/c he had no time to do his paperwork without going over (and *no way* was he working off the clock for these *&&%#$#). Even though the job was inherently stressful, and they probably couldn't afford a higher salary, with the right attitude they could have had a decent work environment, instead of the dysfunctional hellhole it was :glare:.

[JFSinIL]

Worst job - in an ad agency, assistant to one of the account executives. She had our desks arranged so she could stare at me every second of the day while snapping her gum. 2nd worse - delivery person for a florist...driving a full sized van. What was I thinking???

[Amy in NH]

Paper route - this was job he hated most.

 

That's my worst job too. Five hours per day with my kids in the car, including when ds#2 was 6 weeks old. Demeaning and exhausting, 364 days per year. But it paid the bills.

[elegantlion]

 

The second was at an animal shelter. It really wasn't that bad, as far as jobs at an animal shelter would go, but it was NOT what they said it was. They hired me to be an adoption counselor ... fill out and file paperwork, interview people, help them figure out which animal would be the best fit for their household and lives, etc. It actually involved things like doing intake paperwork on stinky, aggressive stray dogs (while trying to keep them under control when they had NEVER been on a leash before and were freaking out), "helping" the cage workers get feral cats and other wild animals out of humane traps, fielding calls from irate people whose animals had been confiscated (sometimes being physically threatened by them, if they came in person), quickly cleaning out a poop-and-urine-filled cage for people who wanted to see a certain animal if the cage workers hadn't cleaned theirs yet, etc, etc. When I was actually, you know, in the office, I would get reprimanded for being dirty. We were supposed to dress nicely for the public coming in, but then they'd tell us to go help the vet vaccinate a poop-covered feral cat. :confused:

 

Feral unneutered male cats. :ack2: the poop may wash off, but the scars last forever. Even a good cat can be a pain in a shelter. I have so many scars from cat and dog bites and scratches. We had to wear white at the animal hospital. After I quit that job I didn't wear white for years. :lol:

[eternalknot]

My worst "job" was selling my plasma. I'm very petite, and had to sell more times per week to match what my average-sized friend was earning. They didn't initially restrict how many times per week you could sell (other than to ask on a form, on which I'd lie), but after a few years of doing this they'd swab us with whatever ink you can only see under the blacklight. That meant I could no longer sell at multiple places, denying that I had sold earlier in the week. I still have the scars in both arms.

 

It wasn't a hard job, and certainly not "worse" in the sense that some of these others are (yuck!), but it was my worse in terms of: I can't believe I'm this desperate for cash. At the same time I was going to college full-time and working two jobs, but every time I got back from the plasma center I'd be totally physically drained. It made for challenging times, but it was quick and easy cash.

[amo_mea_filiis.]

I worked as a waitress in a strip club. Worked in the same club, not as a waitress. I worked for a carnival for a while as well.

 

Those were probably the worst.

 

The not so terrible; Walmart, mulitple times. Kmart. Tagging clothes at a dry cleaners. A pizzeria. Jiffy Lube.

[LauraGB]

I worked at a fast food restaurant when I was younger - that stunk.

 

Just before kids, I worked a factory line, 3rd shift, anodizing (I think) gears or something of the sort, for cars.

 

Neither lasted long because the pay stunk and I hated every minute of it. But, I waited and looked (and looked and waited...) until I found a better paying job. After several of those, we started our own businesses doing something much more enjoyable.

[AnthemLights]

I haven't worked that many jobs, but one I hated was working at a vegetable processing factory. My part of the job was cleaning string beans. Standing for hours on end staring at a conveyor belt of beans gliding by and picking out anything that wasn't a bean (twigs, leaves, pebbles....a little green snake once :tongue_smilie:)

 

Long hours, very monotonous....I remember getting dizzy from trying to concentrate so hard and feeling awful when something flew past too fast for me to snatch out.

 

The good part was that it was only one summer. :D

[LauraGB]

Oh my - I can't believe I forgot working for the parents. Okay, when I was a teen, my parents owned two taverns - I helped clean them in the mornings during the summers. No words. Also, my dad is an independent truck driver; I have loaded and unloaded trailers full of hay and watermelons, and other most fragrant and itchy and heavy things. Numerous times. Once dh and I were married and Dad needed a worker, I just handed the phone over to dh (for some character building ;):tongue_smilie:), and he couldn't exactly say "No, Dad," :lol:

[twoxcell]

Y'know when the college football team changes in the locker room and throws all their sweaty, nasty uniforms in the big cloth laundry basket on wheels?

 

Now picture the poor girl down in the basement of the gym washing those clothes. And OHMYWORD they stunk to high heaven! The worst part was the sweaty jock straps. (GAG!) That was my claim to fame on that South Texas college campus. :glare:

 

My dh runs the wash room at a local linen business, and let me tell you he hates football season:ack2:!

[Jennifer in MI]

Did anyone else detassel seed corn?????? I did that throughout middle and high school. It paid VERY well!!! HORRIBLE work conditions though!!!

[Aubrey]

Teaching. I'm sure it was partly the district, but you know all the movies they make about hard teaching situations that brilliant teachers overcome? Piece. of. cake.

[Wheres Toto]

I did stock work at Sam's Club on a 3am to 11am shift, full time.

I delivered newspapers at 3am, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Driving around in the middle of the night with the windows down was scary, rain or shine, regardless of temperature brought my first ever severe asthma attack and pneumonia.

 

Worst job I ever had was CNA. I worked in a psychiatric ward on a 11pm to 7am shift, got a death threat from other CNA's for reporting patient abuse.

[bairnmama]

My worst job was as a telephone market research person. I called number after number trying to get people to give me their opinions about just about anything. There was actually a 45 minute long survey about mouthwash! Not many completes on that one, lol. It was just after they had passed a law about separating smokers from non-smokers, but the whole place still stunk to high heaven from about 20 yrs of chain-smoking from all the previous workers. I would walk to work after classes through the very not nice part of town, and xdh would pick me up for supper. He would crash and I'd take the car back since I didn't get off till almost 2 am (I called the west coast), and I definitely didn't want to walk back at that time of night!

 

I've also done fast food, valet parking in Dallas (running alone with a pouch of tips under some really creepy underpasses for various parties), bowling alley attendant, and dry cleaner work.

 

ETA: I almost forgot selling $2000 vacuums door to door. Only sold 1... and it got returned!

[BarbecueMom]

I've only worked at Wal-mart and police departments, so nothing that bad. DH worked one summer during college for the university physical plant, ripping out and replacing the insulation from the walk-in freezers in dining halls and doing HVAC stuff. He came home every day smelling like moldy onions. It was absolutely disgusting.

 

I guess this really wasn't a job, but DH was unemployed/temp employed for over a year after college graduation. Before he got a job, we took everything that wasn't essential and sold at tailgate sales and flea markets to come up with grocery money. DS3 was less than 2mo old, I was covered head-to-toe in breastmilk all day and constantly trying to find places to nurse or change clothes/cloth diapers. I was so embarrassed, two young parents with bachelor's degrees and no job, selling nice gifts we'd received and college textbooks just to stay afloat. Someone at one of the sales came over and gave us some baby clothes they were selling. Both boys wore that outfit, and it's in a box waiting to be passed on to another family.

[Audrey]

Musical theatre. There are no words to express how deeply I loathe musicals, especially 6 months into a run. Perhaps a song....

 

No.

 

No. I would rather have my eyes removed with a spork by a toddler with palsy than do another run of musical theatre.

[prairiewindmomma]

I've detassled seed corn. Hot & itchy. :(

[Denise in Florida]

One of my very first jobs post highschool was working in the 'locate' department of a student loan collection office. When I finally had the chance to go back to school myself, I watched those student loans like a hawk. :glare: I continued there as a work study student. HA

 

My dh worked as a work study student in for the Medical school and ended up photographing autopsies.

 

When we both graduated from the unveristy ANY job looked great. :lol:

[Lang Syne Boardie]

Did anyone else detassel seed corn?????? I did that throughout middle and high school. It paid VERY well!!! HORRIBLE work conditions though!!!

 

Yup. And I also worked cooking for farm hands one summer. The house wasn't air conditioned, and I thought it was easier detassling the corn! At least a breeze might come through the field, but it never came through that farm kitchen!

 

My other job that I remember now as a 'dirty job' was working as a medical assistant for an inner-city doctor. He took only the worst Medicaid situations that other doctors would refuse to see. He was a saint! We also cared for men and women from the local prison who could travel with a warden to the clinic. I cleaned bullet wounds. I removed stitches. I lanced and cleansed boils. I vaccinated babies and taught mothers that antibiotics were more effective than amulets, formula was better than koolaid. I learned much more than I ever wanted to know about HIV/AIDS, STDs, and abortions. I also worked in the front office and dealt with the utter inability of insurance companies or anyone else to give a d*mn about these miserable situations. I used to ache (physically and emotionally) and cry over that job, but doing it is one of the best memories of my life.

Edited August 17, 2011 by Tibbie Dunbar