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What is the
worst job you ever had and why?The worst job I ever had was clipping a 92 year old woman's
toenails. I don't think I need to explain why.
Shayna, 28
Somerville, MA
During the summer between my
sophmore and junior years in college, I worked in the shoe factory in my hometown. Being
one of the few options for employment I was lucky that
my aunt was able to swing a summer job in the payroll department. I spent the whole
summer, in a hot un air-conditioned room handwriting orders for shoes into piece tickets
that would go to the leather cutters and stitchers. It was completely mind numbing and
robotic work. The only thing I kept thinking was, "at least this is only a summer
job." I felt bad for women in their mid-40s and early 50s who surrounded me. They
didn't have that luxury.
Felicia, 34
Somerville, MA
Being stepmother to children whose
idea of ethics began and ended with ME FIRST.
Jill, 59
Saylorsburg, PA
Its a toss up between cleaning dog
and cat cages in a kennel or doing telephone sales. I don't know what I hate more making
cold calls or cleaning dog diarrhea.
Cindy, 41
Lowell , MA
Stuffing envelopes for an auction
event. I was working through a temp agency and the temp agency had "donated" my
time as a charitable contribution to the event. (I
didn't know this, of course, when I accpeted the job - they told me it was an assistant
position at a TV station). As a "donation", I was treated - and came to feel
-like slave labor. It was as if some elitist bastard had lent me to their friend to do the
grunt work they felt was beneath them to do themselves. Indeed, that was exactly the case.
I was capitalism's slave. The whole structure of the thing sickened me. The actual act of
stuffing and addressing envelopes like a goddam machine for 8 hours straight didn't help
things either. I was bored, irritated, and insulted. Needless to say, that job didn't last
long. I'll tell you, though, it was some of the most disgusting and miserable two days of
my "working" life. The only joy came in being able to give the stuck-up,
pinched-face, nasty bitch of a woman who strut around the stuffing table like the matron
of a mill a piece of my fed-up mind. That was nice.
Liz
Medford, MA
The worst job I ever had was a
telemarketer: I had graduated from college, however, after too many months of applying for
jobs and being rejected, I got desperate and took a job
as a telemarketer. I hated it because I hate it when telemarketers call me up during
dinner time, and that is what I was doing. Also, people always made up pathetic excuses
for not giving money. I had to quit after a few weeks because I was so miserable, and I
vowed never to do that again, regardless of how desperate I get.
Ernest, 28
Washington, DC
My dad owns a commercial painting
company, and when I was 15 years old, he hired me and a few of my friends to work as
painters' helpers on this really huge job. We were the
only females for a mile radius, and we were subject to everything from lewd gestures to
out and out obscenity. Not only that, the work was wretched. I was a spoiled little girl
with a daddy that thought I was the world, and all of a sudden, I'm on my hands and knees
scraping paint off of a floor with a razor blade!!!
One day, some of my father's workers said
some nasty things to me in Spanish, not knowing I understood them. I whipped around,
cursed them out in their language, and then said (and I can't believe I said this)
"do you KNOW WHO MY DADDY IS?!?" I went home crying. My dad asked me what I
learned, and I told him I had a newfound appreciation for my education and I definitely
did not want to do anything like this for the rest of my life. He kissed me on my forehead
and said "good, that's exactly what I wanted you to learn." *shrug* Looking back
on it now, I also realize that my dad wanted me to stop being so snotty about my brains.
My dad never finished high school,certainly never went to college or graduate school, but
he's supported me through every academic endeavor, even when I decided to go to grad
school instead of law school and (God forbid) read, teach, and write about books for the
rest of my life. Who's paid for it though? My dad. Maybe this wasn't my worst job
after all.
Sorry, I know this is long.
Amy, 23
Baton Rouge, LA
Although cleaning up the chicken
some guy drooled on the table at Hy-Vee was pretty bad, I'd have to say the worst job was
at the veterinary clinic. I had to do all the dirty
work that nobody else wanted to do, and I had to do it quickly. The other people who
worked would fail to do something and I'd have to do it for them when I worked, and then
my boss wondered why I was so slow. Eventually I started punching out before I
left work so that I wouldn't get fired for taking too long. It wasn't all bad, though. The
last day I worked was just like I had imagined my job being. The vet that I really liked
came in to do emergency surgery on a dog, and his wife was out of town. I alternately
helped the vet by holding the dog and by entertaining his adorable baby son while we
talked about Colorado. If every day had been like that, I wouldn't have minded
getting minimum wage (and not even current minimum wage, but the LAST minimum wage) and
all the other stuff I went through.
Karen, 20
Marshelltown/Ames, IA
The worst
job I've ever had was shelving books at the school library. It's the most boring and
tedious job alive. Shelving hurts your eyes after awhile, but at least the pay sucks.
Ray, 17
Toronto CANADA
The worst
job I ever had was working for a company that exported parts for large earth-moving
machinery and train diesel engines. I worked for one of the VPs. He was planning for me to
travel to the then Soviet Union, East and West Germany, France and other countries. It
seemed like an ideal job, except that the rest of the company was full of back-stabbing,
sexist men. The atmosphere was poison and I could not handle working there. I quit
after 3 months
Laura, 34
Lowell, MA
ll never forget it as long as I live. I was
just out of high school, thinking "this summer is gonna be great!" (And it
was) HOWEVER...I was working in a grocery store, part time bagging groceries &
shaggin' carriages,early mornings,with all the old men who would get dizzy watching me
running from register to register, then out the door, grab a shit load of carts, back in,
bag more groceries and so on all morning long.( Did I mention I was a speed freak at the
time?) Anyway... My manager comes up to me one morning as soon as I walked in, no coffee,
no smokes,(didn't smoke then). So he says "I'm afraid
I gotta ask you to go clean the Men's room.
It's pretty bad." I'll spare you the details, but I need to tell you there are some
fucking disgusting animals out there! Pardon my french. Ce la vie. So the next thing
I know, my manager and I are in waterproof suits spraying the room down with the pressure
washer we used to clean the dairy cases. At one point I'm squeegeeing filthy water towards
the floor drain, and I look over at my boss, and I think,"wow he could have
just said go clean the mess", instead he's going to town hosing down the walls in a
men's room. Like I said, it was a morning I'll never forget. I gained a great deal of
respect for a man named Al Juisome (hope I spelled it right,
Doug
Lowell, MA
Telemarketing, definitely. I hated myself
for every minute of it. It didn't last long.
Kristin, 20
IA USA
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