OT: Your worst job ever...

[Guy Fawkes]

Writing this for my girlfriend:

When she was 14 she worked in a restaurant washing dishes. The third day the owner screamed at her for throwing away left over pasta from customers plates. He said it was meant to be saved and re-sent out to customers. She quit that day and never worked in a restaurant again ...

The restaurant was shown on 'Restaurant Impossible' a couple years ago and has subsequently closed. Thank god.

 

[tee1222]

Notes to self:

I worked for a member of the Greek "mafia" in Ithaca installing in ground swimming pools. The work was fun but not the owner. He took a lot of shortcuts and did a lot of shoddy work. My job ended up fixing his errors from previous years and putting the best face I could on the foolish things he did to save a few bucks. He'd add extra water to concrete when he hadn't ordered enough, insist on starting a stage of construction before defects from previous steps had been corrected, hired drunks for day labor by offering them beer as we drove by, and generally made it difficult to feel anything but bad about our quality of work. He was a crook and I worked for him. I quit after a few months but 35 years later I still feel guilt over having participated in his business for even a small fraction of my life.

Never go swimming in Ithaca.

Writing this for my girlfriend:

When she was 14 she worked in a restaurant washing dishes. The third day the owner screamed at her for throwing away left over pasta from customers plates. He said it was meant to be saved and re-sent out to customers. She quit that day and never worked in a restaurant again ...

The restaurant was shown on 'Restaurant Impossible' a couple years ago and has subsequently closed. Thank god.

Watch Restaurant Impossible before I eat another plate of spaghetti.



Seriously, thank god they closed that place down.
And thank god I don't own a swimming pool in Ithaca.

 

[AirForceOrange]

When I was Staioned in Leximgton KY part of my Duties was a Cauality Assistance Officer. I would have to go to the parents of a Marine who was killed or severely wounded and deliver the news to them. I had to do this nine times. The single hardest thing I have ever done in my life.

Thank you Jim!!

 

[AirForceOrange]

I have not held many jobs...worked at McDonald's and Wendy's before entering the AF. Also, worked at a Sam's Club for a couple years to make some extra money. Overall my jobs in the AF have been pretty good. Probably the hardest (worst?) jobs I have had to do were while I was in the AF:

1. Was acting First Sergeant during a weekend and received a call from the base command post that one of our squadron members had been in a motorcycle accident. He was at the ER and was in bad shape. He had severe brain/head trauma. That was his only major injusry, although that was enough. He had only scrapes and bruises on the rest of his body...no broken bones, nothing else other than the injury ot his head. The hardest part was having to contact his wife of two weeks (they had just gotten married two weeks prior) and inform her over the phone (she was AF , but stantioned at Elemendorf AFB, AK) what had happened and the condition he was in. When she asked if we was going to be ok, I told her the truth that he was 50/50 and what his injury was and what the docs knew at the time, which was very little. Really hard telling a loved one something like that. The rest of the story: He ended up recovering, lost approx 18-24 months of memory (basically most of the time he and his new wife were together, getting to know each other), had speech, concentration and motor skills issues. Some have gotten better over time with different therapies. He and his wife are together and she has stood by him the whole time. Last I knw he was looking at being medically retired from the AF do to his injury and effects of that injury.

2. Was deployed to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia at Khobar Towers in the Summer of '96. Was there when Khobar Towers was bombed. The other worst/hardets job I had was the next day after the bombing. Next to the building I worked in was a dormitory, which was a few hundred yards away (at the most) from the bomb. I was tasked to a multi-person detail to go to that building and help clean up. Part of the clean up was cleaning handprints off the walls (bloody ones from injured Airmen) and dried pools of blood. Really tough knowing that approx 12 hours prior, there were Airmen in that building who were hurt and scared trying to get out of that building in the dark not knowing what had just happend to them. Wasn't sure if I wanted to tell this story, as I thought it would be kind of depressing. To try to end this on an uplifting note...I did witness extraordinary acts of courage and comraderie as saw/heard about numerous other Airmen running to the site and helping injured Airmen to clinic to receive medical attention. Although there was chance of another bomb, they still ran towards the area to help their injured brothers and sisters. The group I was with tried to go and help but were stopped by security and told to go back to our dorm. I was on the opposite of the compund...those who helped were much closer and within that perimeter set up by security. Also, saw our Army Soldiers in action. My group evacuated to a more secure building, so did some Soldiers. Most AF personnel were not armed, however the Army Soldiers were. They would go by twos and fours back up to their rooms, grab their gear and weapons and setup security posts/DFPs (defensive fighting positions) on as many building as they could. They were definitely well trained and did what they do best!! Although I make fun of the Army and other services, seeing that proved to me that we have the best and most well trained military in world!!

 

[Frozen]

"According to the U.S. News & World Report 1997 Career Guide, the best job in the United States, for the second year in a row, is Interactive Business System Analyst. However, last year's worst job, Assistant Crack Whore, has been replaced by a new worst job: Crack Whore Trainee."

 

[Eric15]

If Rahm Emanuel was taking part in this thread he would say, "my job at Arby's as a teenager when I sliced my finger off."

 

[tee1222]

I have not held many jobs...worked at McDonald's and Wendy's before entering the AF. Also, worked at a Sam's Club for a couple years to make some extra money. Overall my jobs in the AF have been pretty good. Probably the hardest (worst?) jobs I have had to do were while I was in the AF:

1. Was acting First Sergeant during a weekend and received a call from the base command post that one of our squadron members had been in a motorcycle accident. He was at the ER and was in bad shape. He had severe brain/head trauma. That was his only major injusry, although that was enough. He had only scrapes and bruises on the rest of his body...no broken bones, nothing else other than the injury ot his head. The hardest part was having to contact his wife of two weeks (they had just gotten married two weeks prior) and inform her over the phone (she was AF , but stantioned at Elemendorf AFB, AK) what had happened and the condition he was in. When she asked if we was going to be ok, I told her the truth that he was 50/50 and what his injury was and what the docs knew at the time, which was very little. Really hard telling a loved one something like that. The rest of the story: He ended up recovering, lost approx 18-24 months of memory (basically most of the time he and his new wife were together, getting to know each other), had speech, concentration and motor skills issues. Some have gotten better over time with different therapies. He and his wife are together and she has stood by him the whole time. Last I knw he was looking at being medically retired from the AF do to his injury and effects of that injury.

2. Was deployed to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia at Khobar Towers in the Summer of '96. Was there when Khobar Towers was bombed. The other worst/hardets job I had was the next day after the bombing. Next to the building I worked in was a dormitory, which was a few hundred yards away (at the most) from the bomb. I was tasked to a multi-person detail to go to that building and help clean up. Part of the clean up was cleaning handprints off the walls (bloody ones from injured Airmen) and dried pools of blood. Really tough knowing that approx 12 hours prior, there were Airmen in that building who were hurt and scared trying to get out of that building in the dark not knowing what had just happend to them. Wasn't sure if I wanted to tell this story, as I thought it would be kind of depressing. To try to end this on an uplifting note...I did witness extraordinary acts of courage and comraderie as saw/heard about numerous other Airmen running to the site and helping injured Airmen to clinic to receive medical attention. Although there was chance of another bomb, they still ran towards the area to help their injured brothers and sisters. The group I was with tried to go and help but were stopped by security and told to go back to our dorm. I was on the opposite of the compund...those who helped were much closer and within that perimeter set up by security. Also, saw our Army Soldiers in action. My group evacuated to a more secure building, so did some Soldiers. Most AF personnel were not armed, however the Army Soldiers were. They would go by twos and fours back up to their rooms, grab their gear and weapons and setup security posts/DFPs (defensive fighting positions) on as many building as they could. They were definitely well trained and did what they do best!! Although I make fun of the Army and other services, seeing that proved to me that we have the best and most well trained military in world!!

Thanks for sharing those. Both were tough stuff. So glad it worked out for your squadron member and that he recovered!

 

[rrlbees]

One summer during college working on a garbage truck from 530am - 2pm.


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[mark79]

Mine is a tie between working at Kimmel dining hall at SU and working as an usher in a movie theatre.

Cleaning dishes as a freshman at SU was SOOO gross and disgusting I quit after two days and worked in the Arents Library instead. MUCH better!!

I was fired working as an usher in movie theater growing up because I used to sit down and watch Chinatown for about the 100th time and I fell asleep to be awoken by my boss. Oops. Nuff said. I was 14 it 15. What did I know!!

My best was an usher for all of the shows at war memorial in the late 70's early 80's. A fraternity brother was well connected. Saw Aerosmith, Bob Marley, Kinks, Santana and many many others.

 

[jekelish]

Try as I might, I'll never be able to fully block out that summer I spent working as a fluffer for a donkey show in Tijuana.

 

[JarHeadJim]

One summer during college working on a garbage truck from 530am - 2pm.


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Cool free lunch everyday!

 

[Rocco]

Had to do an investment internship for a Georgetown grad (the bad part). I ended up taking the Georgetown grad's job within 6 months (the good part).

Syracuse peeps are more talented than GTown peeps in every job, let alone every sport.

Boom.

 

[ImperialOrange]

Around 20 years old I worked landscaping which also entailed pouring concrete and stone work. Despite the low pay and lack of insurance I needed a job and it was there. I don't mind hard work although it is trying when those around you are painfully lazy. The owner was a young guy that fancied himself a foreman aka his parents gave him the money, he did no work aside from driving between job sites to watch others busting their hump. Think I was making $11/hr and as I was learning to cut and cobblestone for a $17 million home I decided I needed to be out asap. Doesn't sound that terrible but the kicker is at $11/hr without insurance I'm learning to cut stone from the owners father who wasn't particularly skilled and equally lazy and was missing 3 fingers from a prior accident. Toughed it out and finished the job and then moved on, thankfully with all my digits still in tact.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

When I was Staioned in Leximgton KY part of my Duties was a Cauality Assistance Officer. I would have to go to the parents of a Marine who was killed or severely wounded and deliver the news to them. I had to do this nine times. The single hardest thing I have ever done in my life.

After reading this, any complaints I have about any job seem petty...

 

[cto]

Reading the posts here:

1) It's amazing how many of these jobs involved excrement, blood or garbage.

2) Most of them were jobs when the posters were students ... suggesting things get better as one gets older.

3) The posts by our servicemen and veterans show the unsung things servicemen do for us on a routine basis.

 

[SUMBA]

My worst job was working in a diary while I was in high school. Raw milk came in to the plant and we turned it to cheese. We stored the milk in tanks and then pumped it into long rectangular vats. We added chemicals (if I remember correctly, it was called rennet) that separated the mild into curd and whey. We cut the curd with rectangular "knives" that were strung with wire similar to small guitar strings (yes, we were literally "cutting the cheese"). Once it was cut, we started rotors that separated the components. The mixture was then pumped into shallower vats and the why was run gradually pumped away, leaving only the raw cheese.

The work wasn't bad but the smell was freaking awful! I smelled like spoiled milk for weeks after I quit the job to go back to school. Once in a while the whey had to be taken out in trucks and dumped on country roads. When they brought the trucks back, I had to clean them. I had to crawl down into the tanks of the milk trucks and was them with a broom. They smelled awful and were about 125 degrees when they got back. Ugggh, this was real motivation to get to college and be able to work in an office.

 

[orange79]

Try as I might, I'll never be able to fully block out that summer I spent working as a fluffer for a donkey show in Tijuana.

I think I saw that on the internet. Alledgedly.

 

[sendithome]

During the original Carousel construction, a temp agency assigned me and a friend to do late night clean-up. I had a wrench dropped on my head from two stories above, while we were getting assignments. Thankfully, it hit my hard hat. To add insult to injury, my friend and I were never paid.

Moral of the story: don't rely on a third party to look out for your interests and always wear a hard hat at construction sites.

 

[DNABB5]

During the original Carousel construction, a temp agency assigned me and a friend to do late night clean-up. I had a wrench dropped on my head from two stories above, while we were getting assignments. Thankfully, it hit my hard hat. To add insult to injury, my friend and I were never paid.

Moral of the story: don't rely on a third party to look out for your interests and always wear a hard hat at construction sites.

Robert Congel by any chance? Shocker.

He is in the Hall of Shame.

http://gettingourmoneysworth.org/a-deal-is-so-great-its-literally-a-steal/

 

[ForeverOrange]

Wow, some good stuff, I don't even know if mines are so bad after reading some of these, but here goes one. I was 14, and it was summer in Miami (not south beach which is usually the only part people talk about). I signed on to work with a clean up crew. I was no stranger to hard work so thought nothing of it. Until we got to the apartment complex that they decided was capable of being "cleaned". Here we are moving furniture out this place so we can sweep, and I found myself stepping on these huge flying roaches and every time I would step on them they would make this popping noise and white stuff would come out. It was disgusting, this place had them all over and it got worse when they started flying and landing on us. This place really was nasty, it had 6 units, and smelled like piss and crap, and it was probably about 95 outside but inside with no air on it must have been close to 105. With just two people doing the work, this was a form of torture that lasted about 10 hours. Ironically after all that, they still ended up boarding the place up and condemning it. Worst $40 I ever worked for in my life.

 

[Shenexon]

During the original Carousel construction, a temp agency assigned me and a friend to do late night clean-up. I had a wrench dropped on my head from two stories above, while we were getting assignments. Thankfully, it hit my hard hat. To add insult to injury, my friend and I were never paid.

Moral of the story: don't rely on a third party to look out for your interests and always wear a hard hat at construction sites.

I worked for a while cutting timber for a sawmill. I was working with another guy and was done for the day and heading out of the woods. He and I were about 6 feet apart walking parallel to each other when a large branch that had been caught in another tree came down, hitting him on the head and knocking him out. He had just taken off his hard hat.

 

[VaBeachOrFan]

My worst job was working in a diary while I was in high school. Raw milk came in to the plant and we turned it to cheese. We stored the milk in tanks and then pumped it into long rectangular vats. We added chemicals (if I remember correctly, it was called rennet) that separated the mild into curd and whey. We cut the curd with rectangular "knives" that were strung with wire similar to small guitar strings. Once it was cut, we started rotors that separated the components. The mixture was then pumped into shallower vats and the why was run gradually pumped away, leaving only the raw cheese.

The work wasn't bad but the smell was freaking awful! I smelled like spoiled milk for weeks after I quit the job to go back to school. Once in a while the whey had to be taken out in trucks and dumped on country roads. When they brought the trucks back, I had to clean them. I had to crawl down into the tanks of the milk trucks and was them with a broom. They smelled awful and were about 125 degrees when they got back. Ugggh, this was real motivation to get to college and be able to work in an office.

Those who lose their whey will find their way.-VBOF

 

[gocraz4dasu]

The worst job as far for me, in terms of manual labor, is when I worked for a cable contractor in the North Carolina heat during the summer between my junior and senior year of high school. It paid well, $80 a day. That said, I would work 12 hour days sometimes and I essentially just dug holes and put in cable boxes (more labor intensive than I had originally thought). It would be around 105 and 100% humidity and I'd ask how far down this time, they'd say, oh, only about five feet. Of course it never rained so the ground was essentially rock. Despite all that, I actually enjoyed working outside and I had a good lunch break and was allowed to leave whenever the work was finished so some days I'd be off in 4 hours. I also worked with my cousin so I enjoyed that. I learned numerous expletives in Spanish. Only one day was really bad and it was when I had to pull 1200 yards of cable through conduit that went up and all-around due to the rock underground so pulling it was almost impossible. I had to call in help for 7 other guys just so we could grab the end and pull with all our might just to slowly move it. And it was in front of Time Warner so we had to do it all flawlessly. Never heard more expletives in a 4 period than then. I did like the job for the most part though.

The job that I hated the most was McDonalds during the summer of my sophomore year in high school and the beginning of junior year. My managers were the dumbest SOB's ever. It was a brand new place and it opened off a populated road. I worked my arse off and it was disgusting. I still refuse to eat McDonald's food. I saw my manager drop a burger on the floor, pick it up 20 seconds and send it on its way and she just turned and said you saw nothing. A couple times they made me take the burgers off before they were fully done. They were still raw in the middle and bleeding and they would slop it on the burger and give it to the customer. It's truly a repulsive place. I avoid most fast food at all costs. Not to mention the burgers frozen double as hockey pucks. I never quit or was ever fired. I asked off for Thanksgiving weekend because I'd be out of town and gave multiple notes of notice a couple weeks leading up to it. The town idiot, my manager, put me on the schedule every single day. I told him I wouldn't be showing up and he was like you have to! it's on the schedule. All I said was you better find someone to come in because I will not be in town. The next week I had no hours when I showed up to check and I never went back in that store. I still cringe driving past the place when I come home and haven't been in it. NEVER EAT MCDONALD'S!

This wasn't the worst but I didn't like umpiring like I thought I would. I made $25 a game so it wasn't terrible pay. The parents just sucked beyond belief. It made me hate all adults at sporting events. I'll never heckle a referee in any youth sport as long as I live because of it so I guess it was a nice lesson of sorts to learn. I had parents threaten me and call me every name in the book and tell me they wanted to fight me. And I have always been a big guy so I was about 6'4 and 240 then (I was in high school) and they would tell me to see them in the parking lot and all I could do was just laugh at them. I wanted to knock so many of those yuppy parents out. It made me feel bad for the kids especially. I had an incident where the kid on the mound (probably 7, 8 or 9) was pitching really badly. He was the coaches son and he was visibly distraught because I can't call a bouncing pitch a strike and he was walking everyone, all the while his dad was berating him. The kid wet himself, on the mound, and burst out crying. I had to call times and the kid went to the port-a-john and came back. The dad got a tub of water and poured it on the kid and said, yup you're ready, go back out and pitch. The kid was having a full-blown panic attack, it seemed, while pitching and the father did nothing. That specific incident ruined it for me, I did a couple more games but then quit due to the insane parents and some of the inept other umpires who had no grasp of the game that I got paired up with. Every parent thinks their kid is the next amazing athlete.

 

[suttree]

I've had a lot of jobs that involved humble work, including cleaning up after hours at my own high school for "work-study" compensation to help pay the bills at Bishop Ludden. While this might seem to summon thoughts of embarrassment, ridicule, or other John Hughes-depicted teenage angst, I can't recall ever feeling self-conscious about any of that. Same goes for working with a bunch of fellow townie kids hacking weeds on the old Erie Canal through Camillus, bridge demolition work, etc.

Easily the worst job I ever had was during college, working as a dishwasher at a small restaurant on Church Street (main drag) in downtown Burlington, VT. I hated that job at least twenty times as much as any other I've had. Incredibly, I had the sense to save my last few paychecks and turn that steaming-pile-of- job into something good by buying a nice, Raymond Weil watch from a shop just down the street. I still have that timepiece today, almost 25 years later. you, dishwashing job.

Don't get me talking about restaurant jobs. I've served tables and endured the unremitting impatience and thoughtlessness of customers, but it's friends of mine who also worked in restaurants who horrified me the most. Thanks to two sociopaths that I knew who worked at that old TJ's Big Boy across from Fairmount Fair during the mid-80s, I will never trust a buffet island again.

Funny to see Mark79 naming movie theater usher as one of the worst. I did that for about three years in high school and thought it was a dream. Granted, my boss was the head of the local projectionists' union, and he got me and multiple pals or dates into free movies just about anywhere I wanted, and I was dating a cute girl behind the concessions counter, so I felt like a king. If I saw the pictures now, though...

Reflecting back on my working history has been interesting. One job that really stands out is the one I had for about three summers from the end of high school through the first two summers during college. I loaded small, medium, and large packages onto about twenty-one conveyor belts within the P&C grocery store warehouse out 695 near Baldwinsville, moving anywhere from 2,500 to 3,500+ cases of goods every day. The shift was 6:00 p.m. until 2:30 a.m. every Sunday through Thursday, and I slogged my way through while the lifer Teamsters got baked out of their gourds (and probably enjoyed harder stuff, too) during breaks. Lost 24 pounds of beer weight and got into the best shape of my life during the first two summers. Was always glad to have a job.

This thread has been a real treat, and my hat is off to Joyce for creating it. The humble, low-paying, and/or physically-demanding work did nothing so much as emphasize the value of education and perseverance. I worry that my twin six-year-olds won't have to walk the same road, but I hope to instill some of the same values in them, somehow.

 

[OttosBestFriend]

Does husband count?

I kid... I kid.