Worst job you ever had?

[Herky]

For me it was the summer after my freshman year of college. I moved back home and worked in a ham factory. They didn't kill at this one, but all the processed meat was brought to this location for packaging. I started out throwing 20 pound semi frozen ham logs into a slicer for the first two weeks, then moved into the cooler where I helped sanitized whole hams before they were packaged. I had to wear long underwear to work because it was really cold in there and you got wet as well. I rode my bike to work most days as well so having long underwear on sucked even worse. I made decent money for my age but I certainly wanted to do well in school after working there. It was a group of middle aged depressed people who worked there. It was the most repetitive stuff ever and we sometimes had to work on Saturdays.

[RockinDaMike]

Re: Worst job you ever had?

Packing UPS trucks during the midnight shift in Phoenix during the summer. I lost a lot of weight but man that was hell

[ImTellinTim]

Re: Worst job you ever had?

Easy. Cleaning dorms/apartments/public areas on campus in the summer after my 2nd year of school.

Some of these kids did not give one **** about what condition they left the room in, so we got used to seeing some filth. But two stories stick out for me.

At the beginning we had to make our way around in crews to the various buildings room by room to get them ready for some elderly people that rented some of them for the summer. It so happened that this early summer was unseasonably warm and humid for here. About 2-3 weeks in on the hottest day yet, we came to a room. As soon as the door was opened, the stink almost knocked us off our feet. One girl actually turned around and ran down the hall and outside. Four football players had been staying in this apartment (I actually knew one of them) and they had just put several packages of hamburger in the ****ing sink and left it. Now I've never smelled a dead body, but this had to be what it's like. The rest of the room is just completely trashed as well, so we had to clean this atrociously messy apartment with the lingering smell of death in the air.

Later in the summer, we had to prepare a couple of the newer dorm buildings for people who were renting them for Grandma's Marathon weekend. This is one of the biggest marathons in the US after the major ones you see on TV. We had to make these rooms look really nice with bedding, little soaps in the bathroom and everything. Real lipstick on a pig type stuff. I mean, these are dorms. So we spend a good week or two getting all these rooms converted into passable-for-cheap-hotel state. After the weekend, we come back and these grown-*** adults are just as bad as college kids. The highlight room of that adventure was a room that had a bunch of Gatorade bottles filled in various amounts by one of the beds. Me and a guy pick a couple up and it hits us. Piss. These Gatorade bottles are filled with the most dehydrated-looking piss we've ever seen. I lost a lot of faith in humanity that summer.

[VDusen04]

Re: Worst job you ever had?

Worked at a country club pool house the summer after high school graduation. Had a blast. Thought I'd continue the fun by moving up to the club kitchen once the pool closed. You know, to save up money for college.

Wrong move.

I basically begged for a job, any job, and I just happened to ask on the exact day the club was apparently being investigated for hiring illegal immigrants (no joke). I literally tailed two immigrants who were tailing the head chef and begging for their jobs back as we all speed walked through the kitchen.

As it turned out, I took over the two dishwashing positions of the fellers our head chef had to let go. All the fun from the summer went right out window. I didn't know anyone, there were dish carts at face level (preventing human interaction) and the club was constantly hosting 200 person parties.

Seemed like everything that could go wrong, did. Shattered 70 glasses at once, spilled a mop bucket down the elevator shaft, had to wear yellow dish gloves so my skin would stop splitting from all the hot water (which led to being mocked for being the guy who wore yellow gloves) and it was all around just not a great situation.

I always had a plan to go to college back then. But I admit I was a little burnt out on the idea of school after graduating high school. Standing in that kitchen and cleaning dishes for ten hours straight though... that did a fine job of rekindling my educational passion. The prevailing thought was constantly, "Ya know, I'd give anything to be sitting in a lecture hall right now taking notes."

Eventually, my run there ended unceremoniously. The club sprung a last minute ten hour day on me in December. I had to drive across the state to square away some college prep the day before but I assured them I'd make it back. I didn't. Called in on my last day. Head chef hung up on me before I could even finish my sentence. Good lesson on what not to do.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Worst job you ever had?

Walmart in the Electronics department for a full year....close thread. Walmart will make you a heavy drinker and make you hate life. It will harden your soul and make you not care about anything. I often read people say oh Walmart workers are so rude......I will tell you why, the rude customers they deal with all day everyday makes them that way.

People start working at Walmart smiling and happy, the most friendly person in the world. After a month or 2 of working on the sales floor at Walmart, their joy is gone, their smile is gone. You deal with the worse that society have to offer when you work in the Electronics Department.

I still have nightmares about that years later...........

[aukevin]

Re: Worst job you ever had?

Worst for me was working for a land surveyor in college. It was nice working outside in the fall but then winter came with the below freezing temps. We'd work on a lake sometimes and that was cold! I figured spring would be better so I'd tough it out. But then when spring came we were cutting sight lines through woods and we had to deal with snakes and ticks. I got home one night and I kid you not, I had to pull off over 20 ticks in every possible location! It was disgusting and I called the guy and told him I was going to need to focus on my school work for the rest of the semester so I couldn't work for him anymore.

[jeremym480]

Re: Worst job you ever had?

I'm here for BigTimeTimmyJim's Kmart stories.

[SuperBowlNachos]

Re: Worst job you ever had?

Wal Mart by default, but I was in produce with all young people so it wasn't that bad.

The worst was working the hotel breakfast bar. It wasn't a bad job, but I had to be there at 5am. It had it perks. I pretty much ate free the entire time, and this was during the '10 World Cup so I watched all the games live on the TV in the lounge since they were so early.

[NYJets]

Re: Worst job you ever had?

Warehouse job picking a packing orders during the summer. The work itself wasn't that difficult just incredibly boring, more the people. Didn't get along with any co-workers, bosses treated you like ****. Only good thing was it was full time, 9-5 type hours which is hard to find for a temp summer job. Did it one summer, and when I needed a job 1 or 2 summers later I tried it again for 1 day and then said there's no way.

2nd worst was working at a grocery store doing maintenance, so basically all the ****ty stuff like cleaning bathrooms, emptying garbage, maintaining the bottle return machines. The work itself was probably worse than the other one, but here at least I was pretty much on my own, had a list of things I had to do during my shift and I could just work at my own pace as long as everything got done. Also, one of my co-workers, and the guy who trained me was basically a real life dwight schrute which was hilarious to me.

[NDAlum]

Re: Worst job you ever had?

Walmart in the Electronics department for a full year....close thread. Walmart will make you a heavy drinker and make you hate life. It will harden your soul and make you not care about anything. I often read people say oh Walmart workers are so rude......I will tell you why, the rude customers they deal with all day everyday makes them that way.

People start working at Walmart smiling and happy, the most friendly person in the world. After a month or 2 of working on the sales floor at Walmart, their joy is gone, their smile is gone. You deal with the worse that society have to offer when you work in the Electronics Department.

I still have nightmares about that years later...........

Try being a cop...

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: Worst job you ever had?

Went from a likable job to worst job. Working the membership desk at Sam's Club was low stress and borderline fun. Left the company to go back to school for 2 years. Came back and only position available was a cashier. That lasted all of 4 months and the day I knew I was done was when at the end of my shift I got "asked" to go bring the carts in. Not a knock on the job--its's a honest living, but the stress and crazy hours wasn't worth it. That was the kick in the pants I needed to make better use of my college degree.

[NDAlum]

Re: Worst job you ever had?

Pure curiosity. How often do you hear "F.T.P"?

It's not an every day thing but it happens regularly. It's dictated very much by where you work. I work in a high crime low income area.

[Perfect Zero]

Re: Worst job you ever had?

Checker at the local grocery. I got paid a bit better than others in the area, but it is a thankless job and the hours when I was in high school would qualify for full time work. I made a good amount of money mostly because I never had time to spend it. I think that everybody should be required to work a season at a grocery store as a checker. I think that would make a lot of bitter and mean people a lot nicer.

[Bullit]

Re: Worst job you ever had?

One summer I worked for a food plant in Wisconsin. I worked on the evisceration line in the Turkey Department. 8/10 hours a day I stood in an air conditioned room kept just above freezing. A line of Turkey's hanging on a belt by their feet would go by and I would slice their throats so they could drain before processing.

High light of my summer, let me tell you I drank a lot of beer that summer.

[youvalss]

Re: Worst job you ever had?

I once (actually twice) worked as a telemarketer (insurance). The first time they kicked me out after a month (I was terrible), the second time I actually managed to sell policies. But it was just a temporary job, I wouldn't be able do it as a permanent job, that's for sure.

Actually, any job that's related to customer service, talk to people on the phone or talk to people in person - is a no-no.