Friday, February 20, 2009

Your Turn

Thinking about the economy today got me to thinking about jobs I have had in the past. There have been some really great ones and some that I wouldn't wish on anyone. So, with that being said, it is time to reveal the best job you have ever had or the worst job you have ever had.


72 comments:

  1. Office PA for movies/television.

    Easily the most demoralizing job ever. Film people are crazy. And mean. Bastards.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Worst: Any waitress job I have had.
    I was really good at it but I hated it with a burning passion.

    Best: Assistant at a major recording studio in Stockholm. It was awesome. And then they closed and I moved to Canada and got married and now I do phone stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Best job: Short order cook. Morning shift. Loved it. I made better omelets for the hot or nice guys, worse omelets for the mean people. Done by 10am.

    Worst job: Associate in law firm, where big egos ran rampant, right into each other.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Worst- I worked for a Ford dealership during the tire recall fiasco. They dumped all those complaints in my lap (I was a receptionist!)and I would cry on my lunch break and the ride home.
    Best- What I do now, writing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm with you, Christine.
    Worst: Paralegal in a big firm. The attorneys were just as gossipy as the staff. Hated it.
    Best: First half of my life as a dancer. Lived abroad, great work, toured the world, made great $.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous12:08 PM

    Best and Worst Job I Have Ever Had: Working as a MAC makeup artist for three years, right out of highschool. I've always loved makeup, especially when given the chance to use someone else's face as a canvas, but damn I hate working with the public... people in general can be so rude/stupid/incompetent/tacky/trashy/all of the above.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Worst was also my first - I cleaned outhouses in my dad's orchard. What people will do in a place they need to use is mindboggling.

    Best - working as a bookkeeper at DID Electrical in Dublin. I loved my manager because he was a sweetheart and I loved all the guys I worked with and I loved Ireland. It wasn't challenging or special - I just loved it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous12:12 PM

    Best: my job as a meat cutter's apprentice. I liked being in a "man's" field and being knowledgeable about a variety of meats and seafoods. Seattle is a good place to be a seafood expert! I've considered going for a job at the Pike Place Market with those famous fish throwers we're known for. That'd be a blast!

    Worst: Housekeeping. My bosses were militant, cheap ass Koreans that found every way in the book to bilk employees out of overtime and lunch breaks.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've had so many, but-

    Best-Was a gas meter reader. Worked outdoors, wore shorts, slapped on my walkman (before iPods). Was in great shape, done by noon.

    Worst-Same job. Add 4 feet of snow. Still stayed in great shape walking through snow up to my waist all day. But was numb for a few hours after getting home each day. Gotta love Minnesota!

    ReplyDelete
  10. BEST JOB: Being a condom tester.
    WORST JOB: Scab-peeler in the Granny section at the Institute for VD Research.

    Oops - I take that back...nothing was worse than the time I was paid to review Paris Hilton's album. I had to listen to the WHOLE THING! Made me long for the days of weeping pustules of love gone bad!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous12:13 PM

    (BTW, anyone have Twitter? Apologies for asking here but I was pretty sure it'd be high traffic and it IS a "your turn" post. Anyway, you should add me and I'll add you back! www.twitter.com/winnersusedrugs I just want some more Twitter friends/fiends! lol)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I once had a job at the circus- circumsizing the elephants.

    The pay was lousy, but the tips were big.

    ZING!

    Worst: sandwich maker at Wawa
    Best: The job I have now, or the job I will have in the future as a zombie bounty hunter (World War Z reference)

    ReplyDelete
  13. This one is hard.

    Best job: Reporter for a local newspaper. I worked long hours, but I felt like I was doing something productive. A close second would have been delivering pizzas, because it was such easy money, and I was young enough to not mind the crazy hours and wear and tear on my vehicle.

    Worst job: I don't know, really. I've had several craptastic customer-service-type occupations, from managing a restaurant to managing a clothing store, to managing payroll accounts for a third-party payroll company. They all were nearly equally soul-crushing.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Worst job: I lived in NYC for awhile after college and did some temp work in between jobs. I was assigned to be one of three personal assistants to the wife of a man who owns a fairly well-known clothing company. To say that she was a crazy, narcissistic, paranoid mess is an understatement.

    On my first day, she asked me how I felt working for "someone so wealthy" and did I feel "comfortable." I did not feel comfortable, but it had nothing to do with their money. She made marrying for money an art form and had three different kids by three different husbands - clothing company owner was #4 and she basically told us that she was trying to get pregnant to keep #4 (and then sent us out to buy "every" pregnancy test at Duane Reade).

    She also made us (three young women) wait down in the lobby of the building every day until after her husband had left for work because she said that it made him "uncomfortable" to have us around when he was there. Funniest part about it is that when I answered the phone one day he said something to the effect of "wow, it's strange I haven't met you yet. How are things going..."

    I got enough crazy stories out of those couple of weeks (until I quit) to write a short memoire. I guess this naive midwesterner didn't really understand how that whole world worked, but I learned pretty quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Worst job? A phone sales job where the business owner required you to sound mentally disabled in order to guilt the called party into buying. Lasted less than 2 hours there.
    After quitting, the next day I did call back anyone who'd ordered from me during my brief shift and informed them of what I'd done in order to get their sale.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Worse job: preschool teacher at a private center owned by an eccentric lesbian couple. They routinely told the kids that their fathers were a-holes and that they were better off in daycare because their parents were idiots. Employee turnover was so high that some people would leave for lunch and never return again.

    Best job: substitute teacher. Decent pay. Flexible schedule. All the good things about teaching with none of the bad stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Worst: a temp job where they didn't think it was worth it to train me in since I would only be there a few weeks, then got mad when I didn't do things exactly right. I cried every day at that job for two weeks until I finally got up the nerve to ask my agency to reassign me.

    Best: Still hoping to find one of those someday. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Best job - dance teacher. I used to teach pre-school and 1st graders. I loved it.

    Worst - D'Angelo's sandwich shop (like a Subway). I made sandwiches, cleaned the grill, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Bad Fish, do you watch Hell's Kitchen? I caught an episode last night, and I couldn't believe how freaked out the chefs were at handling unprepared beef. What a bunch of p*ssies. Now that I've started watching Top Chef, I don't think I'll be able to watch H.K. any more. They're just so completely incompetent by comparison.

    LOL Marisa!!! And I LOVE World War Z! So freakin' awesome. Everyone here should read it asap.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Worst: Had to wear the Chuck E. Cheese's costume for a month as punishment by my boss when I was 15. The older kids kicked and spat at me.

    Best: Jose Cuervo girl when I was 18-19. Drank tequila, flirted with me, free trips to Mexico (x5) and paid for a huge chunk of university with the proceeds.

    It's all about letting men ogle your goodies for money.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Best job - Marketing Director for a 22-theater, multi-state movie theater company. I worked 80-90 hours a week, but the experience was amazing and worth it. It lead to a lot of offers from several big film companies, but I happily turned them down...and don't regret it at all.

    Worst job - working for a 10-person health care consulting firm where I was basically mentally abused for 3-1/2 years by my 5 bosses, all who had serious mental issues. What's more upsetting is that while I did a kick-a** job, it was never appreciated and yet I stayed around for almost 4 years. I blame the crappy economy in Ohio for my limited options! I am so appreciative to be out of there and in a job I enjoy, though it's not my #1 job...more like tied for #2.

    ReplyDelete
  22. SnowCherries, your story reminds me so much of a friend who worked as an assistant for a couple who ran an art installation company in Chicago. It was her first "real" job after getting her work papers in the US. Instead of channeling her stress into a memoir, she created a series of sculptures using rice paper, thread (to signify lifeblood running through everything) and embedded needles (to stand for the stress she carried from the job that laid underneath everything).

    Such a bad job turned into a great source of creative energy for her.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Worst:
    Detassling
    in Iowa cornfields
    as a teenager wearing a scoliosis brace, having to wrap the back parts of the brace in material to keep the metal from burning my back on hot days.
    Hey, someone had to cough up money for that Catholic education!
    Best
    Paid medical leave while my ACL knee surgery heals, slowly.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Worst Job- working in an office for a very remote contruction company. alone. all day. in a fricken trailer. in the bush.the boss was an asshole to boot.
    one day i typed up a bid for a job and hid "my boss is a jackass and is highballing your bid" midway through the quote.
    Paid the courier, picked up my mug and never went back.

    Best Job- I was a merchandiser for a big department store. at christmas we used to spend days decorating the store and our famous trees for the window display.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Kara: You win for Worst!

    Worst:16 years old working at a nursing home after school. Saw my first nekid man and he was 86 years old, wiping asses, feeding poor old souls bland/grey food, watching people die on a regular basis.

    Best: 14 years old at Canada'a Wonderland as a ballon girl for $2.85/hr. Dressed in full Raggedy Ann gear in scaulding heat, selling ballons & other non-sensical shit. Got hauled away by the York County cops after jumping into the pool at'Wonder Mountain'to cool off after the park closed. Full costume, soaking wet, back of a cop car. Awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  26. B26-
    I detassled corn also. I grew up in Iowa. Getting up at 3am, working in the rain, mud, humid hot summer days. Good times.

    First day on the job my lunch contained a thermos of Screwdrivers! LOL. I was 12 or 13.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Worst job: personal/business assistant to a has-been actress who thought she was still the fashizzle! Not to mention she was bi--polar, arrogant, rude, narcissistic, over bearing, incompetent, and downright rude. I wanted to quit on the first day when the girl I was replacing was left shaking and almost crying from a beat down given because she actually sent a fax this women told her to and then changed her mind later. I stayed 3wks, 1day and 4hrs.

    Best job: working at a dot.com in SF

    ReplyDelete
  28. Best job was actually volunteer work, but it was as hard to get as it was to get into college: I was a volunteer at the Torino Olympics (I speak 5 languages and did "medical" work; really just handing out band-aids and aspirin). Even though I was dealing with the public, which is often hellish, most people were in good moods and really grateful for any assistance that was a free service. I met some really interesting and nice people from all over the world, including the families of the athletes. The media people were by far the most obnoxious and self-important; the athletes I met were all great.

    Worst job might be what I do now; I'm an editor and writer and deal with people who have massive egos and think they are good writers but aren't, and don't like my editing/re-writing their stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Worst Job: Big law firm -- the lawyer I worked for used to yell and throw things on a daily basis. Apparently his long time secretary had retired and that is how they got a long.

    Best Job: The one I have now managing a plumbing & heating firm. I have been there 17 years and love working with all men.

    ReplyDelete
  30. The worst: it's a tie. There was the answering service, where I'd answer after-hours calls for realtors, lawyers, doctors, funeral homes ... you name it, I answered it. It was a high stress, high volume, minimum wage job that would routinely have me work 19 days in a row.

    The other worst job was working as a proofreader for a major electronics retailer. The job was easy but my boss was absolutely crazy and micromanaged everything I did. I ended up taking a month of stress leave, then quitting.

    The best: working at a newspaper! I ran my university newspaper for a couple of years and now work for a weekly in Vancouver. It is by far the most friendly, least micromanaged environment in which I've ever worked. I actually wake up in the morning and am excited to get into the office!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous1:20 PM

    best job: current one doing training and development and multi-media projects! YEAH for me!

    worst job: working as a data entry drone in a trust company for an uber-c*nt

    ReplyDelete
  32. best job - being a mom

    worst job - vp of finance for a fortune 200 company that didn't know people are allowed to sleep and have a life outside of work

    ReplyDelete
  33. Best: web marketing at a dot com back in the heyday. I woudl still be there if I hadn't gotten laid off (and the company went under 4 months later!)

    Worst: "technical" associate (aka data entry) at a not-for-profit educational organization on 14th St., NW in Washington, DC. I won't name names, but it's the Institute for International Eductaion. Worst. Boss. Ever.

    ReplyDelete
  34. @Molly: "best job - being a mom"

    Now that is possibly the best thing I've heard all day!

    ReplyDelete
  35. well the pay doesn't come in dollars, miranda, but it honestly is the most rewarding, fun job i've ever had. thanks for your comment. :)

    ReplyDelete
  36. Worst job: Doing tech support for a company run by a couple of jerks that would promise things their software couldn't do.

    Best job: The one I have now and always wanted: stay-at-home mom.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous1:54 PM

    worst job: dishwasher at Ciatti's (chain Italian restaurant). Lasted a week, every night I drove half the speed limit because I had a retching sensation in the back of my throat and never knew when it'd all come up. Couldn't eat Italian food for 2 months. Standing next to slop buckets for 6 hours at a time will do that to ya.

    best job: can't say I've had one yet.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous2:06 PM

    @Mooshki

    Seriously? I took a job as a meat cutter's apprentice at 18 because my parents had kicked me out once and for all, before graduation. They wanted someone young and female to round out the demographics. I guess finding someone who wasn't squeamish was difficult for them. For some reason its just never bothered me. I can still quarter a chicken in 15 seconds, fillet a salmon, or butterfly cut a tri tip any night of the week! :) Pussies is right!

    ReplyDelete
  39. I am currently working in my favorite and worst job!!

    Worst -I have 2 jobs M-F i work at and Accidental Death and dismemberment Insurance place. I have to listed to Ignorant people complain about not having there premium paid. Have to deal with death all day, and try to stay professional about it.
    IT SUCKS!

    Best - On Saturday and Sunday I Host birthday parties for little kids. Not only is it in wealth location But i get Massive tips!
    Love working with kids and nothig is happier than a birthday!!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Best job: any and all acting jobs I've had.

    Worst job: Working in a call centre for yellow pages. 8 hours of people calling up and screaming abuse at you because their ad wasn't laid out correctly OR the YP sales team had promised them the world but had instead screwed them over in some nefarious way. We had to take at a minimum 100 calls a day and were not permitted to hang up on abusive callers. I lasted three months and hated every second of it.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Worst job: Telephone surveys

    Windowless, wood panelled room with too small cubicles, trying to balance a phone book and a circle a questionnaire on my knee while convincing the poor person on the other end that there were just a few more questions.
    It was twenty years ago and we had to dial a 10-12 digit access code for the long distance company before we dialed the actual phone number.

    My friends and I were so bored we used to make up questions at the end just to amuse ourselves.
    "And finally, which of the following best describes your opinion on the subject of taxidermy?
    a) I approve for all animals
    b) I approve for all animals, but not my pet
    or c) I disapprove for all animals.

    Lots of interesting reactions to that one.

    We never got caught asking extra questions, but tons of people got fired for calling 900 numbers.

    Our company did the preliminary surveys for the Carmel area before Clint Eastwood ran for mayor. We used the area phone book, but randomized the calls by adding a number to the last digit of the phone number. One night while doing the survey, I was convinced
    I called Clint himself. He declined to do the survey in an annoyed tone, but his voice is quite distinct. I sat there dumbfounded for a few minutes afterwards.

    ReplyDelete
  42. I also detassled corn one summer when my parents sent me to my aunt and uncles house in Illinois for a couple of months. In spite of the spiders and snakes that wasn't really my worst job, because I made a lot of friends and had fun. My worst job was for 2 summers during college I worked in a Libby Owens plant that made glass bottles. It was the most dirty, hot, sweaty, tiring and dangerous job I have ever had. They paid pretty well so that is why I did it for 2 summers. It paid for my cothing habit and social ife in college. My parents would only pay for the needs not the wants.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Mooshki- Let's team up when the zombies get here. I have no real skills that could help us with anything, but we'll need a chick to help propogate the species. I guess I'll take that bullet for the team.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Worst--call centre customer service/tech support...people would call screaming that their service was out when all they needed to do was plug the damned modem in, or scream that their bills were wrong and insist that you credit that extra 2 cents, plus an extra $40 for the 'inconvenience'....I couldn't take the petty bullshit anymore, with these people screaming and crying like they were trying to cure cancer instead of causing me nothing but grief and anxiety.

    Best/Current--trying to cure cancer. :o)

    ReplyDelete
  45. Worst job-I worked as a copy editor for a company that did surveys. They were family run and were terrible to non-family. What a nightmare that was.

    Best job-I have had several. I worked in a bookstore, I was an editor for a weekly newspaper, I worked at an amusement park for a summer, and now I am an editor for a monthly business-to-business magazine. It's pretty great and I get to work from home!

    ReplyDelete
  46. I once did Sales for a company owned by an NYC "socialite" who took serious cues from Anna Wintour and/or The Devil Wears Prada.

    Not only did she throw pens at us and call us horrid names if we did anything "wrong" (ie. couldn't get her a flight within the hour during a blackout/snow storm/911/etc) but demanded her assistant come in the day after 911 where BOTH of them had lost a loved one that day. The assistant lost her brother and the Devil lost her husband. She also ended up with a greater portion of his fortune since the impending Divorce had yet to go through. Then she became the liason between the 911 victims and their families and the Mayor, since she once went on a date with him....

    All true.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Miranda, you must have worked for the same dickhead I did. I was an editorial assistant who did mostly proofing, but my boss was such a misogynist micromanager who got off on abusing anyone he out-ranked. The work itself was fine, but working for him was pure misery.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Best job: My college internship -- I was in charge of the marketing/pr for a city arts festival and even got to do the announcements the day of the festival. They loved me, I loved them, it was an amazing experience all around. I think what made it amazing is the fact that the people I worked for TRUSTED me, supported me, and taught me so much. I've never had that kind of experience since.

    Worst job -- echoing the others, working for a mortgage company, which was basically being a telemarketer. I hated it so, so, much that to gracefully quit, I told the boss I was pregnant and couldn't take the stress anymore. I'm going to hell for that lie ...someone weave me a handbasket.

    ReplyDelete
  49. @ ambernyc -- former MAC artist myself, can completely sympathise.

    Bad Fish - I'm going to add you on twitter!

    ReplyDelete
  50. I'm a little sad that I don't have a best job. On the other hand, I'm grateful that I don't have a worst. From my first job waitressing to my so-called "career," they all pretty much rank the same: Meh.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Best job - network technician for a large, now bankrupt company.

    Worst job - lady wrestler in the 90's.

    ReplyDelete
  52. best job(s) my first job ever was for six flags over georgia. that job should really have sucked, but i was raised with a good work ethic, and i had good people to work with. didn't hurt i was one of the youngest to make manager and i enjoyed the rush hours.
    my other was being trained as a computer operator, with no computer experience (other than some very minor computer entry and being married to everybody's favorite programmer), just because one of the guys went out with a burst appendix. i was trained and left on my own in two weeks, because i'm a fast learner, and being the only girl in OPS, the scientists loved me. plus i got to go to work with my husband everyday!
    i have a lot of worsts, most of which were during my divorce (the asshole, not mr. bunny). there's not the space here to talk about the credit/collections job i worked for rose hills cemetary/mortuary. i'd write a book if i'd worked there longer.
    so i guess cleaning houses was to me the most humiliating. the company trained us and promised that if a house was impossible, to call and they'd send a rep out to relieve us. uh, no. i was sent to clean a house for a family bringing home a new baby, and EVERYTHING on the list that we weren't supposed to do was in this home. obviously, dad and the other 5 kids hadn't washed a dish or emptied the training potty since mom went to the hospital (@ 4-5 days back then). i called for back-up, was told "do the best you can". i cried for half an hour, called back, said i had the flu and was leaving.
    last time i cleaned a house professionally.
    but someday, i have to tell you about the rose hills job, the lecherous boss that would be busted now days (and you guys thought it was the collections part that was bad), ..... maybe a novella is in order.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Worst: My first job ever. I was 16 and worked in the Guidance Office as an office assistant in high school. That wasn't the bad job. That's coming up. Anyhow, one of the guidance counselors knew a guy that owned some company and asked me if I wanted a job filing some paperwork after school. Of course I did!
    Well, when I got there I was told that the lady handling AR & AP had quit and had left the place a mess. My job was to go into this room filled with boxes and file each and every last piece of paperwork. Took me weeks. The pay?
    Five bucks an hour...

    Best job ever: Being a mom. I've stayed home with my 2 youngest for the past 4 years and will certainly miss it when I go back to work in the fall....
    But, then again, maybe I won't, lol....

    ReplyDelete
  54. One of the best jobs I had was working customer service in a call center for a sattelite programming company.I had just graduated from college and needed a temp job until my real job came along. Every day I could plan on getting at least one stupid customer that would totally make my day. One lady called in complaning that her bill showed that she ordered the playboy channel 3 times. She swore up and down that was impossible. I asked her if she lived alone and she said no, she lived with her husband and teenage son. I almost started laughing she was so delusional I told her to have a little talk with them. Never heard anymore from her. Another guy told me to take his dish and shove it up my ass, I told him that could be arranged but there would be $25 access charge. That made him even madder and hung he up on me. Idiot wanted to get his programming for free, that is why he called and got all huffy when I wouldn't agree to it. Another lady called upset that she couldn't get her programming anymore. After talking with her awhile, I figured out she had her son take the dish off the house because she thought it was ugly. I thought the apple doesn't fall far from that tree. There are a lot more and I only worked there 3 months.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Hey B626 -
    I did the Iowa cornfield gig too! thrown in the back of pickup truck at 6 am and dumped in a field God knows where... may days the temp was way over 100 degrees. It sucked. I got paid $2.01 and hour (I was 14). The next summer I got a job at Baskin-Robbins. The best!!

    ReplyDelete
  56. DNfromMN-
    I worked at a Ciatti's in Loring Park many, many years ago. I didn't hate it - I just remember beng "in the weeds" all the time and feeling completely out of control. At the end of the night I would, without fail, get stinking drunk in a futile effort to suppress the inevitable waitressing nightmares.
    The "stray and hay" pasta gags me to this day.
    Ah, good times.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Anonymous8:34 PM

    Having been a Managing Director for Citigroup for many years, after I was accused of a white collar crime, in order to bring closure to things I allocuted to a crime I didn't commit.

    For five months in the winter/spring of 2006/2007, I worked as a lumberjack as part of the NYS Penal system.

    I cut down roughly ten trees a day at temps of down to -10 Fahrenheit.

    In some ways, it was the most satisfying job I ever had. In others, being separated from my wife and children for eight and a half months, the worst.

    ReplyDelete
  58. @Val: "lady wrestler in the 90's."

    Too funny! Hope you have pics for memories. That is an original.

    i'm lovin these stories

    ReplyDelete
  59. I currently have the best job in the world. I'm a massage therapist. Clients are happy when they arrive, happy when they leave and just super people.

    ReplyDelete
  60. While I love the job I have now that I'll hopefully have until I retire, my other favorite and least favorite were at the same law firm.

    My favorite boss was a young attorney who loved to come in late and work late. If we had a really sucky brief and it'd get late, he'd smoke some pot to help things along. God, he was hilarious. I loved him. He moved on and unfortunately I didn't go with him but I didn't want to relocate. His replacement was an asshole right out of law school who screwed the firm and clients out of every penny he could. After I left I heard he got fired.

    Funny how alot of people said their least favorite jobs were with attorneys.

    ReplyDelete
  61. ok i have lost this message a few times... i need a foodie in kitsap county or someone willing to locate here=foodies only, no chefs-i want another tv savvy foodie We have housing for them. intrest?

    ReplyDelete
  62. ok i have lost this message a few times... i need a foodie in kitsap county or someone willing to locate here=foodies only, no chefs-i want another tv savvy foodie We have housing for them. intrest?

    ReplyDelete
  63. kimpim,

    I never, ever understood why Canada's Wonderland didn't have any shady areas. It was a horrible place to bake (probably still is). Can't believe they called the cops on you. Assholes.

    Worst job: housekeeping in a "5-star" hotel. Lasted a month. Woman training me said I had 15 minutes per room, my supervisor (one of my SILs) said I had 3 minutes. Impossible for me. Cleaned the glasses in the room with windex-type cleaner (that's how they rolled), and got to see the giant buckets of spaghetti sauce or whatever in the kitchen. Next time you go to a hotel, tip the maid. Worst fucking job ever (I worked in a cannery and even that was better).

    Best: any job I've had where there's been great camaraderie between people. You can have a great job, but if you have the coworker from hell sitting beside you (been there, TRUST me), it ain't worth it.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Best Job: Nan Duskin in Philly in the 80's. Got to put on all the expensive clothes and try on the jewelry.

    Worst job: Current one - data entry for a medical management company. Low pay, long hours and they think they're the most amazing company ever... and my boss could be my son. Oy.

    ReplyDelete
  65. best job. Poolboy Hotel Belair.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Worst job--cleaning grease traps in a industrial-sized University dining hall.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Meant to add...and I'm a petite chick.

    You should have seen me wallowing down inside those nasty-ass things with a giant steam hose flailing around.

    I did a good job, though.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Seambuster forgot to mention. It was during the Heidie fleisse days

    ReplyDelete
  69. Sacramento typically spends a week or two, sometimes more, well over 100 degrees hot in July-August, up to 108, 109.
    The State Fair hosts several weeks of horse races, berthing them behind the state fair in temporary steel and ply wood stalls with a couple feet of hay in the bottom. My job was to shovel and pitchfork the thick, dirty, moist ripe and Shit Caked hay out of the stalls, clean them, and then tear them down and stack the steel for storage. I think everyday I slaved in the brutal stinking environment was so freakin hot and pungently humid I could barely breath without gagging and puking. It was the worst summer of my life, but I did get a nice pay raise to do it, all the way up to $3.50/hr

    ReplyDelete
  70. Best: current job (working for a company like Amazon, just much smaller
    Worst: internet tech support in a call centre. Only time in my life I have ever been truly suicidal. Every shift I walked away from without shooting the place up was a victory.

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  71. Worst job ever: working at a wood moulding factory. Hot, miserable and coated with wood shavings every day. Splinters by the millions. I finally gave up after having my coworker spray me with her blood after she ran her pinky through a router. Never was so glad as to go back to college.

    And I also detasseled corn. Such is life in Indiana.

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  72. worst: a tour guide for a small cave/cavern in central ohio when i was a teenager. the most hellish was a 30-person tour and they were all amish. nice people, but no deodorant.

    best: i would say no job - i hate jobs - but one of the most interesting i've had was diamond grading. but it got repetitive.

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