Worst job ever---or great self-employment?

[tangomonster]

Compared to most of the people on this board, I often feel like I had the worst job. I tested people with disabilities and gave them guidance about realistic educational and vocational possibilities. Needless to say, my recommendations weren't often well received. In a world where parents say "Johnny can be anything he wants to be" and any kid who can keep a tune or throw a basketball into a hoop thinks they have what it takes to be a megacelebrity singer or athlete, people didn't like me pointing out that it was going to be hard for Johnny to become a doctor when he wasn't able to even take or pass college prep biology in high school. Or that Suzy couldn't become a teacher with a third grade reading level. And in a sense, I had three layers of bosses/people who would critique me: my actual employers, state vocational rehabilitation counselors who referred clients to make, and the people I tested and their families. After 30 years, with a master's degree, I ended with a salary of about $45K.

So I thought I won the booby prize for worst job until I heard about this:

Consent Of The Governed: Outsourcing Parenting - Hire Someone To Delouse Your Child

(For those who can't pull up the link, it's about a woman who comes to people's homes and picks lice out of kids' hair so parents don't have to do it! Then again, considering she earns $55 an hour or about $1000 for two days of nit-picking, maybe my former job still does qualify as worse!)

 

[DallasGuy]

I think it just depends on how you look at your job...I'm a computer programmer and sometimes I love the work when I'm able to be creative and crank out a bunch of new programs. But other times when I'm doing the drudgery of trouble shooting problems for weeks/months on end on a system that I care little about, I really dislike my job a lot. Boredom can be bad sometimes! Few jobs are perfect and every one has it's pros and cons.

But yes, I do agree there are some jobs that are far worse than others.

 

[CuppaJoe]

As I was reading your post, Tango, I got up and locked my office door. It reminded me of the pro bono client who was hooked on pain killers because of an injury, ODed on New Year's eve sometime after having issued a "death threat" against us.

My mom used a fine tooth comb on my hair; took several days and was very embarrassing because when I couldn't come out to play, a "friend" told everyone it was because I had lice. I still can not stand the smell of vinegar but it sure was fun trying on the neighbor's hat.

 

[Moemg]

Considering my job has included picking magots out of a cast ,cleaning up tons of s---, wrapping a body,delousing bridge people ( they say they live on bridge street but they mean under it ) ,and helping people after they have had the worst possible news .I think that merits my former job being in the top ten of awful jobs.

 

[W2R]

Those jobs all sound so awful!! Whew.

Tomorrow morning as I unwillingly drag myself out of bed before the crack of dawn, I'll try to realize that my job is far from the absolutely worst job in the world.

Its main problem is that it's a JOB...

 

[GoodSense]

When I was a realtor I had a client who believed she could buy anything. She made a normal government salary but expected me to find her a new construction house by the lake where her spirit could be calmed. When I told her all I could show her were older houses NOT by any lake at her price range she decided that I was a racist, since I was the only one around her to tell her there's something she can't do. Everyone else was telling her "if it's your dream, go for it," even though it's something she totally could not afford, and no bank would lend her that much money anyway. Needless to say, she wasn't my client for very long.

It's always hard to be the one to bring in reality. Simon Cowell is probably the only one who can do it without feeling stressed (despite all the disgruntled parents).

 

[Meadbh]

My job has included being threatened with rape if I didn't do the Xrays a violent drunk wanted (intern in the ER), being called a murderer for introducing the idea that maybe, just maybe, it might be appropriate to consider withdrawing life support from a patient whose case was hopeless, being threatened with legal action when parents' expectations of perfection were not met, and death threats.

Just another day at the office!
It's all just a j*b, and I would much rather do this than be a firefighter.
And this too will pass.......

 

[Martha]

Tango, I think your job sounds interesting and would have been something I would have liked to do. But I do understand the difficulties of your job, given our culture of "anyone can be anything if they just try hard enough."

 

[Nords]

Every void or tank in a submarine that's opened for repairs/maintenance has to be inspected by a commissioned officer who then observes that the tank has been properly closed & lockwired before it's put back in service.

This includes the sanitary tanks that take the discharge from the toilets as well as the sanitary tanks that drain the showers & sinks. Believe it or not they're both lovely places compared to the tanks that hold thousands of gallons of lubricating oil for the main engines.

Now that I'm retired from all that glamour my spouse can't comprehend how I can stand to unplug toilets, clean out disposals, clear drainpipes, and pick up after animals (alive or otherwise). I tell her that my gross-out standards peaked years ago...

 

[HFWR]

I think it just depends on how you look at your job...

Does disdain count?

 

[Leonidas]

It's all just a j*b, and I would much rather do this than be a firefighter.

I used to think firefighters had it made, until I actually went inside a burning house once. Going down a hallway kicking in doors to see if anyone was inside, the whole ceiling caught on fire in a flash, and I remember thinking how unpleasant it would be to burn to death.

After the fire fighters showed up and put the place out, I was telling them that I had newfound respect for their jobs. They laughed and said that I was the one with the crazy job that they never would do.

 

[tightasadrum]

Every job has some varying degree of unpleasantness.

I worked for a plumber one summer where I got to clean out half the clogged sewers in town, at least it felt like it. Even that had its pleasant moments, like when the clog released. But first you had to get passed the smell...

Carrying green, 16 foot 2-by-10's to the work site ALL DAY LONG when I only weighed 130 pounds at the time myself was unpleasant, especially the next morning. But talking the forman into nailing them down instead of carrying them the next day...heavanly.

Working on the Ford assembly line 3rd shift cleaning windows, mounting tail lights, spraying undercoating, or whatever job was vacant that day was not my idea of a good time, but the paycheck was wonderful.

Even much later, in corporate management job, there were times I wished I was back clearing sewers again. Now combing out nits all day...I might just draw the line there.