Worst job you ever had?

[Pancake]

Mine was when I was 21 I got this job at a grocery store and I had to work the dairy and freezer sections. I had to be their at 6am. Which was aproximately 1 or 2 hours after I went to sleep in those days. Since I pretty much partyed constantly. I even remember a couple times getting so hammered I passed out at the toilet after puking my guts out and then waking up and going straight to work.

Anyway I was almost always exhausted before I even clocked in. But the worst part that I remember was just the freezing my ass off . My cheap boss supplied garden gloves and this really crappy jacket vest with zip on sleeves. Haha remember those bad boys in the 80's? It was worthless believe me. It was -5 in the freezer and in the 30's for the regular dairy stuff like milk and cheese.

Man my hands would get so cold they would start to feel like they were actually burning. My boss was practically a slave driver about it and expected me to work in their for hours at a time. It was brutal. I think I was getting paid around 10 bucks an hour or something. At the time I thought I was raking it in though, lol. Otherwise I would have quit on day one I think.

That probably will sound like childs play for some of you guys. Especially if your in the military or a veteran. But I'm a really huge wimp when it comes to cold environments.

Anyone else have an especially crappy job they want to share?

 

[Tron]

Probably commercial fishing on a shitty boat with a huge asshole of a captain. Wake up at about 4 a.m. to go down into the ice chamber with a shovel and chip away at ice for an hour to dig out frozen squid. Then set hooks and throw them over while trying not to fuck them up or you'll get hooked and go over the back and drown. After that we'd have a small break while we dragged the line. Then we would pull it back in and organize the fish and place lines and hooks into barrels,very carefully might I add, or else they all get tangled and fucks everything up when you go to put them in the water. Have to be careful of the sharks we caught since we use them for bait as well, so they were all over the fucking boat just thrashing about. Did this about 3 times a day, cast, reel in, repeat. Oh, did I mention the captain was a complete fucking asshole? Once the main line, which is like a mile long or more that we hook all the small lines with hooks too(about 300) snapped and it hit our fish gutter in the leg, and hurt him bad. All the captain said(yelled) to him is to get back to work cause he was slouched in pain for 10 seconds. After about 19 hours of this got to go to sleep on a rubber mat, like those mats they used in gym class, in 90 degree weather with 100% humidity in a tiny room with 4 other people with one small desk fan circulating around. Basically just slept in sweat. Oh yea, Also got the worst sunburn I've ever had in my life, my skin was like alligator skin and was scarred for many years from it. Was out in the middle of the gulf of mexico for two weeks doing this shit, no days off of course. And want to know the best part of it all? All I got was $100 for all that work.

Oh yea, one other thing that happened, I got some kind of rash on my balls lol. I think it was from the fish. But it was bad, as in I had to walk like I was sitting on a horse cause any contact with them made them feel like they were on fire and someone was trying to put it out by kicking them. Only lasted about a week....during the middle of the trip.

Me and another guy from the boat went to the bar right after we got done unloading and got paid and drank a ton of pitchers of beer. I went to the bathroom to take a piss and was a lil drunk and spent about 5 minutes stumbling back and fourth across the bathroom cause I still had my sea legs and I felt like I was in some windy waves lol.

One other funny thing, My neighbor decided to go try his luck at this as well while I was away on my venture. The boat never left the harbor. The day before they were to leave, while doing some prep work on the boat, it got raided by cops and a bunch of the other guys got arrested for being meth dealers lol. Hubbards Marina at Madeira beach in St. Pete Florida is full of lowlife shitty people.

Working at Boston Market sucked too...but not that bad.

 

[Dodgersrf]

Probably commercial fishing on a crappy boat with a huge icehole of a captain. Wake up at about 4 a.m. to go down into the ice chamber with a shovel and chip away at ice for an hour to dig out frozen squid. Then set hooks and throw them over while trying not to freak them up or you'll get hooked and go over the back and drown. After that we'd have a small break while we dragged the line. Then we would pull it back in and organize the fish and place lines and hooks into barrels,very carefully might I add, or else they all get tangled and fucks everything up when you go to put them in the water. Have to be careful of the sharks we caught since we use them for bait as well, so they were all over the freaking boat just thrashing about. Did this about 3 times a day, cast, reel in, repeat. Oh, did I mention the captain was a complete freaking icehole? Once the main line, which is like a mile long or more that we hook all the small lines with hooks too(about 300) snapped and it hit our fish gutter in the leg, and hurt him bad. All the captain said(yelled) to him is to get back to work cause he was slouched in pain for 10 seconds. After about 19 hours of this got to go to sleep on a rubber mat, like those mats they used in gym class, in 90 degree weather with 100% humidity in a tiny room with 4 other people with one small desk fan circulating around. Basically just slept in sweat. Oh yea, Also got the worst sunburn I've ever had in my life, my skin was like alligator skin and was scarred for many years from it. Was out in the middle of the gulf of mexico for two weeks doing this crap, no days off of course. And want to know the best part of it all? All I got was $100 for all that work.

Oh yea, one other thing that happened, I got some kind of rash on my balls lol. I think it was from the fish. But it was bad, as in I had to walk like I was sitting on a horse cause any contact with them made them feel like they were on fire and someone was trying to put it out by kicking them. Only lasted about a week....during the middle of the trip.

Me and another guy from the boat went to the bar right after we got done unloading and got paid and drank a ton of pitchers of beer. I went to the bathroom to take a pee pee and was a lil drunk and spent about 5 minutes stumbling back and fourth across the bathroom cause I still had my sea legs and I felt like I was in some windy waves lol.

One other funny thing, My neighbor decided to go try his luck at this as well while I was away on my venture. The boat never left the harbor. The day before they were to leave, while doing some prep work on the boat, it got raided by cops and a bunch of the other guys got arrested for being meth dealers lol. Hubbards Marina at Madeira beach in St. Pete Florida is full of lowlife crappy people.

Working at Boston Market sucked too...but not that bad.

WTF!
100 bucks? I think I would have given that 100 bucks to the Clerk of the Court after strangling that captain.

 

[Tron]

WTF!
100 bucks? I think I would have given that 100 bucks to the Clerk of the Court after strangling that captain.

Captain was an ex-marine and big lol. He would have destroyed my 150lb(at that time) ass. Best part of the venture was when a small 5 ft shark he had just unhooked and threw on the deck bit him right above the ankle lol.

I will say getting to eat real fresh grouper was nice though. Think the biggest we caught was around 500lbs.

 

[Dodgersrf]

Captain was an ex-marine and big lol. He would have destroyed my 150lb(at that time) ass. Best part of the venture was when a small 5 ft shark he had just unhooked and threw on the deck bit him right above the ankle lol.

I will say getting to eat real fresh grouper was nice though. Think the biggest we caught was around 500lbs.

Well, ok then. Use the 100 bucks on medical bills.
500 lb grouper? What a beast.

 

[Tron]

Well, ok then. Use the 100 bucks on medical bills.
500 lb grouper? What a beast.

lol I'd probably of ended up down in the freezer and used for bait lol. Yea, some of those Groupers were huge. Caught as many sharks s groupers. Caught a few 10+ footers. The huge ass hammerhead was cool. Was a cool experience looking back on it and if I was on a real boat with a real captain things would have been much better, but that harbor was just shit.

 

[CGI_Ram]

I washed dishes at Denny's... Night shift... During the summer while in High School.

I lasted 2 weeks

 

[Prime Time]

Admin at RRF.
****************
It would be a tie between these two:

During my late 30's I worked for a company that exploited the homeless. I would drive down to Santa Cruz, CA and buy flowers cheap from this place. The homeless would then be rounded up at the rescue missions and from the street, and given the flowers in buckets of water. I would then drive them to street corners where they would stand out in the heat and the rain and sell them.

At the end of their shifts I would pick them up, collect the money, and take them back to where we found them. If anyone ran with the money they had collected, which was often, my job was to hunt them down and get the money back. I was also expected to protect the owners behind this scam, who were not just bad people but evil, from the homeless who hated them. I carried a Taurus 5-shot revolver at all times as a persuader.

One night I tracked this guy who had run with hundreds of dollars to a motel room. I looked in the window and saw him with his wife and two little children and just couldn't do it any longer. After a year of this I quit the next day.

The second gig lasted three and a half years. I worked for a company called Tiny Tots Diaper Service. Work started at 4:30 am and consisted of driving a UPS-sized truck to customers in San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont, CA. and delivering fresh diapers to them.

The hard part was collecting the money at the end of the month and driving back with a truck loaded with wet diapers. On hot days the smell was unbearable. It's a good thing I smoked cigars at the time.

 

[ozarkram]

Tree planter for Union Camp. As a young man I had a friend who was a wheeler dealer always had 15 things going with the next get rich quick scheme. Normally I ignored his many plans but I was between jobs when he pitched his tree planter gig. You plant trees during the season 3 to 6 months (yes this is a real job) make great gobs of money then coast the next 6 months then do it all over again. I bought in. And it turned into a living hell. Because of my pride I stuck it out for 3 months but it was 3 months too long. You live in what can only be described as hobo camps no water no facilities no nothing just a camp fire. The nearest town many miles away. When you arrive they hand you a tool called a hoe-dad and a 100 lb sack of seedlings and say have at it. All in the south Alabama sun. Sun up to sundown. I was a young stud at the time and in great shape but it got all over me. And in the end when I put pencil to paper I wasn't even making minimum. They paid 3 cents a tree. Live and learn.

 

[Dodgersrf]

lol I'd probably of ended up down in the freezer and used for bait lol. Yea, some of those Groupers were huge. Caught as many sharks s groupers. Caught a few 10+ footers. The huge ass hammerhead was cool. Was a cool experience looking back on it and if I was on a real boat with a real captain things would have been much better, but that harbor was just crap.

Fishing is fun.
Commercial fishing doesn't appear to be at all. It sounds like way too much work.
The very bad pay makes it that much worse.

 

[Dodgersrf]

Tree planter for Union Camp. As a young man I had a friend who was a wheeler dealer always had 15 things going with the next get rich quick scheme. Normally I ignored his many plans but I was between jobs when he pitched his tree planter gig. You plant trees during the season 3 to 6 months (yes this is a real job) make great gobs of money then coast the next 6 months then do it all over again. I bought in. And it turned into a living hell. Because of my pride I stuck it out for 3 months but it was 3 months too long. You live in what can only be described as hobo camps no water no facilities no nothing just a camp fire. The nearest town many miles away. When you arrive they hand you a tool called a hoe-dad and a 100 lb sack of seedling and say have at it. All in the south Alabama sun. Sun up to sundown. I was a young stud at the time and in great shape but it got all over me. And in the end when I put pencil to paper I wasn't even making minimum. They paid 3 cents a tree. Live and learn.

That doesn't even sound legal! Was this in the 20's?!

 

[ozarkram]

That doesn't even sound legal! Was this in the 20's?!

It was a real job for a company called Union Camp. Early 80s.

 

[Dodgersrf]

It was a real job for a company called Union Camp. Early 80s.

Is your avatar a pic of the guy you worked for?

 

[ozarkram]

Is your avatar a pic of the guy you worked for?

No thats Strother Martin. But we did have what could only be described as an over seer constantly on you. We made weekly runs for supplies. You were on your own to survive. Many fell out. But you weren't chained you could leave at anytime.

 

[Dodgersrf]

No thats Strother Martin. But we did have what could only be described as an over seer constantly on you. We made weekly runs for supplies. You were on your own to survive. Many fell out. But you weren't chained you could leave at anytime.

Chain gang or not, it sounded like as prison camp.

 

[ozarkram]

Chain gang or not, it sounded like as prison camp.

Yep wouldn't recommend it. But it was the early 80s jobs were hard to find.

 

[Dieter the Brock]

This is a weird one - worst job I can remember but it had it's "up" side...

I was in my early 20's working in LA on various films as a PA production assistant while pursuing my music career.

Well me and the guitar player in the band got a gig back in '96 working for Playboy on a video called Voluptuous Vixens and we were rather happy about it to say the least. The shoot was at the Roosevelt hotel in Hollywood. But when we get there they have this nazi lighting grip who just works me and my buddy over like dogs from early morning until the models show up where they assign me to "hose."

So they tell me to get by the pool and lay down and they hand me a garden hose and I have to put my thumb on the spout so it would spray this arching spray - like a rainbow - and have the water splash into the pool. Well they frame up the shot and have me get in the most uncomfortable position in the world - inclined on my back

Well then here comes Stacy Sanches the Playmate of the year and she takes he clothes off and stands over me - now this was epic

Here is a picture from of my work - you'll notice the spray back there

Well I thought I was the luckiest guy in the world. I mean I got to know this girl really really well if you know what I mean, but that was an accomplishment that I got out of the way in 5 minutes -- so needless to say by minute 20 my fingers are ready to fall off and my back is killing me

This went on for almost 4 hours

Needless to say it was difficult to sustain a firm hose for that amount of time, and what I discovered was that naked women - even on Playmates of the year - aren't all that exciting after that long of time

So I tell the nazi grip I need to take a break cause I can't feel my finger but instead orders me to lift tons of cable and lighting gear out of the truck, all the while calling me a loser stoner the whole time. I am unable to find this piece if gear and he screams at me in front of everyone - so I go back to the lighting truck and search some more - that's when me and my buddy came across the lighting crews sack of pot - and it was like 3 ounces of killer bud - and needless to say that's sort of where our money went when we got it and this nazi dude was calling us "loser stoner" all day - so we decided to liberate their weed into our pockets and jumped in our VW and took off

So we didn't get paid and we weren't called back by that production company again - but I'll never forget it

 

[HitStick]

I worked at Trader Joe's and loved working in the dairy box and/or freezer. You have no boss back there.

Anyway, I currently work for FedEx. Every day I day dream about someone walking up to me and shooting me in the face. Sadly, it has not happened yet.

 

[RAGRam]

File clerk for my Dad's law firm. Essentially I was responsible for destroying files (all files have an expiry date where they are no longer needed) and each file took up physical space, space cost money, blah blah blah. So I'd spend my days going through hundreds of files, making sure there wasn't anything that prevented them from being destroyed. Removing paper clips etc (thankfully staples were allowed in the shredder) most of which had gone rusty whilst sitting waiting to be destroyed, and then moving up every other box of files in the rotation to be destroyed the next year. Doing that every day for a month had to be the most mind numbingly tedious thing imaginable.

I've had a fairly easy life .

 

[Force16X]

the worst one was a job working in the family business. it was a laundromat / bar & diner setup (which led to a few interesting issues). the job itself was fun, i like dealing with people in a relaxed atmosphere, however the main issue was the family side of it. slowly but surely i went from dependable 40 hour lousy shift person (so the grandparents could work 1st- i didnt mind helping them with that, it's just all the idiots showed up later is all) to where i became "store manager" in the sense that everything was my fault and i was responsible for everything yet i wasnt allowed to make decisions to help the business out.
even though i was there or doing business related work around 80-90 hours a week. i'm not exaggerating that number, i added it up to see what i actually made per hour with my pay and it was about $2 an hour (1986 dollars).
the family issues finally overwhelmed me --- guilt tripping was the major issue such as , "how can you not want to help us, blah blah blah" . i felt more like a puppet president in an anarchist 3rd world country. if i did something wrong, it was "why did you make that decision?" OR "you're the manager, you decide".
so in actuality the job wasnt so bad, it was the behind the scenes deals that drove me nuts. ahhh, 1 more snipe, on my birthday i was given the day "off". that meant i only had to open the store @ 630am and close it @ 11 pm. i wasnt scheduled that day is all, just 6 days that week.
so yes, i've had some good jobs in my life if this is the worst.