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.
What was your worst lowly job?
- Thread starter Lsbcal
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LOL!
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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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.
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.
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Sarah in SC
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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.
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Lsbcal
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I think that this thread has boosted my respect for fellow forum members. Not that it really needed a boost. 
jollystomper
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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.
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.
Funny- That was a VERY sought-after j*b around my HS. As a straight-A student I kept applying but never got any call-backs. Best w*rk I could get was busboy at a local mom-&-pop short-order joint. At literally 1/3rd the pay of McD's
ccourt9283
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I worked a summer just out of high school in a cotton mill boxing "seconds". It was good incentive to work hard in college.
Mine is a tie between orderly giving baths to men who were incontinent and severely disabled, houseman at the Ramada Inn and maintenance worker at a golf course.
On second thought, maybe the bathing was the worst (the smell)....but the people seemed to appreciate it even though they could not express it, so there was some rewarding aspect to it.
On second thought, maybe the bathing was the worst (the smell)....but the people seemed to appreciate it even though they could not express it, so there was some rewarding aspect to it.
cj
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This morning I went to my volunteer gig - taking care of the rescue cats at our local PetSmart. I was laughing to myself almost the whole time I was there, recalling the posts on this thread while I cleaned up after a couple of poo-flinging kittens! Usually the messes aren't too bad, but this morning, YUCK! And then I got one of the cats out of the cage and he was freaked out. He jumped on the step stool I use to get to the upper cages and had diarrhea all over it. Oh, the smell! And I do this for *no pay* LOL!!
LOL!!
me too!
I did that testing job for five summers...16 hours a day four days a week. The next summer we pumped liquid sludge from the plant into tanker trucks so they could take it out and spread it on farm fields. I remember sitting on top of the tank truck by the open manhole and making sure we didn't put too much sludge in the tank. My ability to smell was affected for years.
Two ways for me to look at this one. What MOST people would consider my worst job was working for the city during high school summers (small town). Part of the job was working at the sewer plant...involving testing, and more importantly using pitch forks to dig up the human waste that was dried in big flat holding areas and loading into dump trucks. I actually didn't mind that job. The one I hated the worst was working for Weyerhaeuser one summer during college where all I did was stand next to a conveyer belt with a weird glue gun that I used to fill in the knot holes in plywood as they came by. MIND NUMBINGLY BORING......and there was a clock on the wall in front of me. Great pay for a college student though
I did that testing job for five summers...16 hours a day four days a week. The next summer we pumped liquid sludge from the plant into tanker trucks so they could take it out and spread it on farm fields. I remember sitting on top of the tank truck by the open manhole and making sure we didn't put too much sludge in the tank. My ability to smell was affected for years.
Arifriekinel
Recycles dryer sheets
This morning I went to my volunteer gig - taking care of the rescue cats at our local PetSmart. I was laughing to myself almost the whole time I was there, recalling the posts on this thread while I cleaned up after a couple of poo-flinging kittens! Usually the messes aren't too bad, but this morning, YUCK! And then I got one of the cats out of the cage and he was freaked out. He jumped on the step stool I use to get to the upper cages and had diarrhea all over it. Oh, the smell! And I do this for *no pay*
Taking care of the cats would be so scary to me, all those claws! Our PetSmart and shelters just had a 'mega adoption event' that my boyfriend and I volunteered for, but we were dog handlers. It was tough work, getting very excited and anxious dogs in and out of the cages for walks, but it was more physically exhausting than yucky. I had no sickly dogs so picking up the poo wasn't an issue, and luckily no flinging!
I came home with a beautiful dog too! I saw the cat section of the fairgrounds it was held at, but I was too scared to even go in there. Good job!
Bestwifeever
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I can't even post on this thread; reading yours about McDonalds and stuffed boys' toilets and sludge and such makes me realize how lucky I was to have just boring menial office jobs. I bow to you.
ohyes
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If not for my lowliest job, I would say it was my very first job. In a shoe factory. Singeing loose threads off the back part of shoes...shoes for Sears. My aim was sometimes poor because the hairs on my fingers were always burned off. That was my summer job for three years.
No way I realized then that my uber-lowliest job would come in my mid-20's. I was ecstatic to land a job in an art museum after three interviews. The last interview was with the museum director and one of the questions was, What is your sign?
Most of the salaried employees and, most especially, a good number of the museum biggest financial supporters had egos, elevated self-worth. Some of them were just plain snots.
I met some very nice folks, but also learned a lot about snootiness. You never forget how folks treat you. As a newlywed and fairly young, I needed the job more than I needed to straighten their attitudes, If they hired me today.....I have some cool comebacks ready.
No way I realized then that my uber-lowliest job would come in my mid-20's. I was ecstatic to land a job in an art museum after three interviews. The last interview was with the museum director and one of the questions was, What is your sign?
Most of the salaried employees and, most especially, a good number of the museum biggest financial supporters had egos, elevated self-worth. Some of them were just plain snots.
I met some very nice folks, but also learned a lot about snootiness. You never forget how folks treat you. As a newlywed and fairly young, I needed the job more than I needed to straighten their attitudes,
If they hired me today.....I have some cool comebacks ready.rockymountainhigh
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Working at Teledyne in City of Industry CA during one summer while in college. I had to clean the CNC milling machines and remove all of the oil ladened chips around the machines that made magnesium turbine housings. One day there was a fire where the magnesium chips were stored outside the building. The only thing we could do was watch it burn.
My supervisors who were engineers wanted to hire me full time but I said no thanks. The few temp jobs I had during college helped me know what I didn't want to do later in life.
My supervisors who were engineers wanted to hire me full time but I said no thanks. The few temp jobs I had during college helped me know what I didn't want to do later in life.
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Lsbcal
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
My wife is an artist and we have had lots of discussions on the attitude gallery owners, customers, and artists have towards art and also art marketing. She also worked in a cultural center as a "secretary" long ago but she did not last long. This stuff can bring out the best and worst in people.
Sounds like a good topic for another thread -- "comebacks you have dreamed of delivering".I met some very nice folks, but also learned a lot about snootiness. You never forget how folks treat you. As a newlywed and fairly young, I needed the job more than I needed to straighten their attitudes,
MikeD
Full time employment: Posting here.
I have never, ever, worked because I had an interest in the job. I always worked as an avenue to get money so that I could do what I was interested in on my own time. So I never was a very good employee. I was polite and did what was required but I was never a good employee.
The worst job I had was when I moved from upstate NY to SW Virginia to be near to my future wife who was attending college at Radford College. In NY I had a nice indoor cushy factory job for $3.25 an hour. It was easy and heated and ACd. Then I got a job at a southern furniture factory for $2.00 an hour. No AC and no heat. I was a diabetic and was under Dr's orders not to be around fumes or dust. I mentioned this to the personnel lady and she said sure, no problem. They immediately put me on the paste pot (fumes) pasting wooden poles into holes right where they came off the sanding machine. (dust) By lunchtime I was covered with dust, light headed from the fumes and no morning break for a snack (diabetes). I quit at mid day. I got a small paycheck one month later of $4.53.
What I remember most vividly (it was in 1973) is that in order to save money I had bought cheapo bread and non name brand bolongna and had to choke that down after that half day of work. I was used to living at home with my parents and eating, literally, gourmet food prepared by my fantastic cook, my mom. It was a shock.
I got a new, much better job at the college mowing lawns. I got multiple severe sunburns (not used to working outside) and they asked me if I wanted to shovel horse manure in the college barn. I jumped at the chance! I lasted about 9 months. I was in fantastic shape. I hated every minute of being poor.
I made $63.80 per week after taxes.
One day while I was straightening fence posts some yellow jackets were disturbed in the process and stung me multiple times on the head. I went to my supervisor and told him what happened and said I Quit. He said sure take the afternoon off. No I said, I quit forever. He responded with "I was wondering how long you'd last."
I realized that my father was right, I should go to college. I enrolled in Community College, moved on to Va Tech and then U Md. I got a BS in Comp Sci, and have never really hated my job again due to my early work experiences. I have always rejoiced in the fact that I had enough money for decent cold cuts.
Mike D.
The worst job I had was when I moved from upstate NY to SW Virginia to be near to my future wife who was attending college at Radford College. In NY I had a nice indoor cushy factory job for $3.25 an hour. It was easy and heated and ACd. Then I got a job at a southern furniture factory for $2.00 an hour. No AC and no heat. I was a diabetic and was under Dr's orders not to be around fumes or dust. I mentioned this to the personnel lady and she said sure, no problem. They immediately put me on the paste pot (fumes) pasting wooden poles into holes right where they came off the sanding machine. (dust) By lunchtime I was covered with dust, light headed from the fumes and no morning break for a snack (diabetes). I quit at mid day. I got a small paycheck one month later of $4.53.
What I remember most vividly (it was in 1973) is that in order to save money I had bought cheapo bread and non name brand bolongna and had to choke that down after that half day of work. I was used to living at home with my parents and eating, literally, gourmet food prepared by my fantastic cook, my mom. It was a shock.
I got a new, much better job at the college mowing lawns. I got multiple severe sunburns (not used to working outside) and they asked me if I wanted to shovel horse manure in the college barn. I jumped at the chance! I lasted about 9 months. I was in fantastic shape. I hated every minute of being poor.
I made $63.80 per week after taxes.
One day while I was straightening fence posts some yellow jackets were disturbed in the process and stung me multiple times on the head. I went to my supervisor and told him what happened and said I Quit. He said sure take the afternoon off. No I said, I quit forever. He responded with "I was wondering how long you'd last."
I realized that my father was right, I should go to college. I enrolled in Community College, moved on to Va Tech and then U Md. I got a BS in Comp Sci, and have never really hated my job again due to my early work experiences. I have always rejoiced in the fact that I had enough money for decent cold cuts.
Mike D.
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