What was your worst lowly job?

[drb391]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marita40 Same as gumby, except I stated at McDonald's at 15 (lied about my age). Disgusting job--would come home after the shift and stink of crappy grease. Could not get the grease smell out of my hair. Terrible polyester uniforms. The good news is that it pretty much killed me on fast food: I still gag when I think about McDonalds.

I'm pretty hung up on MickeyD's. mind you, not all fast food; will have BK or even Taco Bell once in a great while. but am pretty proud of the fact that I haven't eaten McFood in 45+ yrs

[GalaxyBoy]

My very first paying job was clearing rocks from a 20-acre field before it could be disked. It was pretty hilly, making for hot and dusty work. Then, I accidentally broke out the back window of the old pickup truck we were using.

Then I got a job mucking out horse stalls and doing odd jobs around a small horse farm. Now that I look back on it, I really should have been enjoying being in the great outdoors, getting my exercise. I like to say that my first job was shoveling horse cookies, and that it still is. It's just that now, I shovel it from one pile to another, where before I got rid of it.

[Keim]

Executive Director of the local Chamber of Commerce. The job itself was great. But, the Board of Directors was highly dysfunctional. Dysfunctional to the point they had nearly run themselves of business before I was hired. When officer elections came around they elected the most dysfunctional member as president. I resigned shortly thereafter. He had treated me like ****.

I also worked at a local homeless shelter as thrift store manager. The store was used to teach program participants a useful skill. They say postal workers go crazy because the mail never stops. Thrift store managers must be a close second. Crappy donations never stop. Day after day of sorting trying to find the needle of good stuff in the hay stack of junk. Why in the world would someone donate dirty underwear? Broken console TVs? Used dentures?

[chief04010]

Dishwasher at a cafeteria, Loaded trays full of dirty dishes and put them on a conveyor to run through a big steam cleaning machine. Then remove the super hot trays and handwash any dish or utensil that didn't get completely clean.

[Sarah in SC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keim I also worked at a local homeless shelter as thrift store manager. The store was used to teach program participants a useful skill. They say postal workers go crazy because the mail never stops. Thrift store managers must be a close second. Crappy donations never stop. Day after day of sorting trying to find the needle of good stuff in the hay stack of junk. Why in the world would someone donate dirty underwear? Broken console TVs? Used dentures?

I ran a Habitat store. You aren't kidding. I practically had PTSD after working there. The shoppers were crazy (at one time I had 5 restraining orders out on customers), the help was all community service "volunteers" working off their fines, and the stuff coming in could be totally disgusting. Ugh! You have my sympathy. I lasted 3 years and still reflexively duck when I drive by the place!

[MuirWannabe]

Grew up near Houston. Had a summer job doing maintenance work at a company that disposed of chemical wastes from the many chemical refineries in that area. Many chemical sewage ponds, etc. We would dredge them sometimes. I liked most of my summer jobs. But this one I hated. Always worried me about what I was hanging around when I'd see insects and things like frogs jump into one of those ponds and then never see them come out again.

[Keim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC I ran a Habitat store. You aren't kidding. I practically had PTSD after working there. The shoppers were crazy (at one time I had 5 restraining orders out on customers), the help was all community service "volunteers" working off their fines, and the stuff coming in could be totally disgusting. Ugh! You have my sympathy. I lasted 3 years and still reflexively duck when I drive by the place!

You have my sympathy. I only worked there for a year, and my customers were great (except the weird guy that was always buying womens shoes).

Working with the homeless was quite an education, though, for this solidly middle class young man. Had to teach one woman that yes, you do call in when you won't be coming; and, no, hot pants and a really tight halter top aren't appropriate. Ever. That was a tough one. She was about 40 and over weight. Mentally she still thought like a 16 year old. As she explained it to me that was when she started taking drugs.

[Amethyst]

I'm from an earlier era than you, so I didn't get outright abuse when calling folks, but I remember being scolded for waking up old people who'd been napping, etc. (This was in Florida, I was calling during the day, and few people had answering machines).

Amethyst

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arifriekinel I Worst job by far was telephone-based customer service. I'm surprised the terrible things people would say to a teenage girl because they were behind a phone. I couldn't handle the abuse, so I ran as fast as I could.

[Arifriekinel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst I'm from an earlier era than you, so I didn't get outright abuse when calling folks, but I remember being scolded for waking up old people who'd been napping, etc. (This was in Florida, I was calling during the day, and few people had answering machines). Amethyst

I was lucky enough not to have to cold call out, but unlucky enough to only get customers who were calling when they were already angry or upset about something that was happening with their service or bills.

I am black-- One customer called in asking for something the company wouldn't let us do. He went on a rant about how I was refusing to help him because 'my people thought we had some clout now that one of us is president.' And continued on with a few things I'd never repeat.

[steelyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arifriekinel I am black-- One customer called in asking for something the company wouldn't let us do. He went on a rant about how I was refusing to help him because 'my people thought we had some clout now that one of us is president.' And continued on with a few things I'd never repeat.

That's unacceptable. (the customer behavior)

[SumDay]

Selling trinkets for our local MLB team, during the games. I was in high school, drunk guys hit on me all evening, I got a beer dumped down my ugly little uniform, and my two "partners" and I had to pay the stadium because our cash box was short at the end of the evening. I did it one night and quit. Burger King looked quite attractive after that.

[Jackanory]

Laborer at a copper refinery. Showed up in a pair of cotton overalls first day and although many smiled nobody said anything. Next day, went to put them on and there were more holes than fabric - Terylene is definitely the thing to wear there! Stuck it out for the summer though, as the pay was good and it counted as summer work experience for my ChemEng degree. The lunches were huge, greasy and free and came with 2 large bottles of pop - didn't put on an ounce!

[GLM]

None of my jobs were demeaning but I greatly disliked working the counter at McDonald's. I could never get myself to suggestive sell. " Would you like fries with that ? " Makes me cringe to this day. I also had a bad stutter back then but they wanted me on the window as I could memorize prices and make change - way back before the register did that for you .

Later, working the grill cooking in college was a blast. Bless Genny for never making me do the register. She also took pity on my overly skinny boyfriend . (Now DH) She gave him free food which of course just brought him back more often. Treatment nurse at a long term care facility was a good condensed education while in college getting my BSN. (naive) Shocking at age 20 at times but a job where I did some good even though I was part time.

[Wds0410]

I loaded a UPS truck one night and quit the next day while in college. It helped me value my education.

[rodi]

I had several unpleasant entry level jobs.

- My dad hired me to dig post holes for a fence - in rock hard clay. I was very buff and tan by the end of the summer.
- I did one winter holiday season working in a gift shop at Sea World in high school. The management was terrible, the uniforms were powder blue double-knit polyester horrid things. And we were required to ask every single customer if they wanted to buy a souvenir plastic bag to put their purchase in. The bags cost 50cents - and we were required to ask even if the purchase was a 25cent bumper sticker. We were chewed out if we didn't ask.
- My closest brush with fast food was cashier at a community college cafeteria - that job was ok.
- I didn't like working at the discount dry cleaners - toxic fumes, rummaging through people's dirty clothes looking for pens, etc... All for minimum wage.

[Nodak]

I worked for a farmer for about 5 hours when I was in high school. He needed old grain shoveled out of the bottom of a silo. For the first 6 inches of grain everything was fine. Then I got to where the grain was wet and had been for a long time. The smell is as bad as rotting flesh; I could do about 8 shovels full then had to stick my head out of one of openings for fresh air. After the job was done I got $5 for the work; minimum wage at that time was 75 cents per hour. I never went back for any more farm work.

[LOL!]

I worked as a Nurse's Aide one summer at minimum wage in a rural private hospital. I was responsible for all the "soap suds enemas until clear" given to male patients before they did lower GI stuff with the radiologist. One patient had no legs, but most patients were bed ridden anyways.

Also, I had to clean up the fresh dead. One surviving spouse started beating on me when she found out her husband died. I will always, always, always remember her grief.

I was also responsible for the pre-op shaving for all bladder surgeries.

I was the only male on the staff during the hours that I worked.

During the school year, I was a janitor, but that was always a piece of cake compared to working in that hospital.

[Sarah in SC]

Omg LOL, that is awful. I think at least in my mind you get the chicken dinner. No way no how not on a bet. I'd walk the streets before I could manage to do that job. Yikes.

[Lsbcal]

I think that this thread has boosted my respect for fellow forum members. Not that it really needed a boost.

[jollystomper]

Growing up the way I did, if a job paid money I never found it lowly. Cleaning toilets, bagging groceries, sweeping out a 6 floor apartment building, picking up trash... I just focused on getting it done as quickly as possible.

Doing a lowly job well can get you noticed. I have observed more than a dozen instances of folks doing "lowly" jobs so well that it has been noticed and it lead to something better. Personally a job considered "lowly" by some at my Megacorp that I did when I was young ended up getting me promoted and greatly widening my network to help my career.