Worst job ever?

[JoAnn L.]

When I was a teenager I worked at a laundry. It was a very hot summer that year and it was VERY hot in the room were I was working. They had me working a large pressing iron, with the hot steam blowing in my face. Needless to say I didn't last too long on the job. I fainted from the heat. I should have known better, I don't have sweat glands. So the heat is very hard on me.

 

[carolelaine]

In one of my earliest accounting positions I worked for a lunatic who could never make up his mind about the wording on his government audits which meant that they all had to be redone day after day for months. It was so silly and such a waste of time. I couldn't wait to get out of there. There was also an older guy who rented a space from them that thought I was his personal slave and he followed me around yelling about the condition his mail arrived in all day. That was one place I'll never ever miss.

 

[Renee Attili]

my worst was when i cleaned 34 stalls a day for $5.00 an hour. there is a ton of poop in an hour! And then I got critized for doing too good of a job. What kind of boss would want you to do less than your best? How do you aim for less?

 

[expatgirl]

Another job that I hated was a summer job for slave wages salary at the Sizzler Steak (aka as Slave) House. My boyfriend who later became DH would pick me up at 10pm and I'd literally collapse into the car reeking of lettuce, bleu cheese dressing, smoke, etc. The people that I worked with were very nice but some of the customers were over the top. And there were some doozies. One lady began to harass me as to why my pants were so long and making fun of me-----(I think that she had had a wee bit to drink because her husband tried to shush her)---after crying a few tears in the back, Jorge, our cook went out there and told her that my pants were long so that I could vacuum their carpets as I served tea and coffee. He said that her expression was priceless. I swear to goodness the man was my hero!! He was so funny!! I never saw that lady again the rest of the time that I worked there.

 

[JoAnn L.]

Another bad job I had was at a place where they made gloves and mittens. They sat me down at the biggest sewing machine I had ever seen in my whole life. You made it work by pushing down on a big metal thing with both feet. Well, I only lasted a half a day. I walked out at noon and never went back.I told my mother that I had to quit because of my asthma, that the lint bothered me. I was only 16 at the time.

 

[In the Kitchen]

Tops

I got hired at a nursing home. So anxious to help in any way I could. They told me to follow these two people as they gave the residents their bath. The first lady they did would not say anything or smile. I now know why. As they started washing her the guy made remarks about being hot lady and not enough to do anything. As we continued, it only got worse. I assume the job wasn't exciting but this was sick. At 11 we were supposed to go to lunch. I walked in to Human Resources and q uit. When she looked so shocked I told her the conditions are horrible not only for the residents who had no choice but for people to want to work there was unacceptable. I cannot get that job out of my mind thinking what if that lady were me? I cried as soon as I got in the car. Trying to forget that incident is always remembered when someone talks about elderly and nursing homes. What would you do if it were one of your parents? Don't people care? I treat my dogs with more respect than they gave these people. No wonder these people act indifferent who wouldn't?

 

[Run_Out]

I had a job one summer when I was in high school working behind a cotton stripper. It threw cotton, rocks, sticks, snakes everthing at me. My job was to keep the cotton pushed to the back of the trailer.

Needless to say it was a great motivator for higher education.

later

 

[shpj4]

The worst job I ever had was working in retail for large large ladies. It was my first sales job after working in the entertainment industry for years.

We had to help the ladies try on clothes and after they had left we had to spray Lysol in the dressing rooms.

Many of our customers didn't shave under their arms and legs and I wish we had a large bathroom with a shower so they could shower before they tried on our clothes.

That was definitely the worst job that I ever had.

 

[expatgirl]

Well, I see that we are all bona fide survivors of "yecchh" jobs. I guess it's true that "what doesn't kill us makes us strong". Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences and I'm sure that there are plenty more out there. Keep sharing if you have time. Have a great weekend!

 

[mudbug]

Telemarketing. I was a penniless student and really needed the pitiful amount they paid (we worked on "commission").

"Sales Associate" at Target. I left after a month.

 

[QSis]

I got hired at a nursing home. So anxious to help in any way I could. They told me to follow these two people as they gave the residents their bath. The first lady they did would not say anything or smile. I now know why. As they started washing her the guy made remarks about being hot lady and not enough to do anything. As we continued, it only got worse. I assume the job wasn't exciting but this was sick. At 11 we were supposed to go to lunch. I walked in to Human Resources and q uit. When she looked so shocked I told her the conditions are horrible not only for the residents who had no choice but for people to want to work there was unacceptable. I cannot get that job out of my mind thinking what if that lady were me? I cried as soon as I got in the car. Trying to forget that incident is always remembered when someone talks about elderly and nursing homes. What would you do if it were one of your parents? Don't people care? I treat my dogs with more respect than they gave these people. No wonder these people act indifferent who wouldn't?

That was my worst job, too, but I worked it one entire summer in my college years.

I was hired as a "nurse's aide", now called CNA's. I worked the 7 am -3 pm shift, I had 6 or 7 non-ambulatory patients that I had to wash, dress, change beds, give breakfast AND lunch to (most had to be hand-fed), and clean up. That's not counting "shower days" and "enema days", both of which are .... well, not pleasant. I had to do charts on them, too, which left almost no time to talk with them, hold their hands, just BE KIND to them.

It was summer, hot (no air conditioning, since the patients were always cold), and I made $2.00 an hour.

It was a horribly difficult but emotionally rewarding job. I learned a great deal from the experience. Later, when I had five family octogenarians in nursing homes at one time, and I knew what to look out for.

Because of that, I've had Long Term Care Insurance for myself since I was 32.

Ironically, a few years ago, I landed a job as a Director of HR in a nursing home. Learned a lot more THERE, until I was fired by the nutjob CEO for not being her "yes girl".

My nursing home experiences have made me save a lot of money for my old age!

Lee

 

[Claire]

Mine was when I worked for a vet who was connected with the Church of Scientology. The church ran the office. It was downright scary at times. I spent most of my professional life working for the military, and trust me, no General who has killed people can compare.

 

[auntdot]

When I was a teenager I worked in a supermarket after school and during the summers. It was a local chain and I did everything from the stinkiest job to doing the books when the manager was too drunk to see. My reward was a few beers after hours.

Every once in a while maggots would get onto the potatoes. I know maggots are supposed to go for carrion, and maybe they were some other white squirming larvae, but they sure looked like maggots.

It was my job to clean the taters of the maggots and the slime they left behind, and then put those that looked sorta saleable into the bin.

Oh yeah, and they taught me how to steal from the customers. I never did it. The honesty ticked the manager off but he needed someone to do the books when he was indisposed, so I got a pass.

The bottom line was the checkers were stealing from the customers, big time (it was very simple to do in the days before the UPC scanners).

And the manager let them do it because their theftt from the customers was covering the goods he removed from the store on Sundays (when we were closed) to sell at his brother-in-law's store.

How this all worked was fairly simple to understand, particularly if you did the books. But it would take a bit to explain.

For all of this I was making one dollar and five cents an hour.

A meager sum, even for a kid.

But I enjoyed working there. For all of its depravity I learned a great deal about life.

And the people who worked there, for all their failings, were humans trying to stagger through this life.

And the lessons have served me well.

I still believe in the fundamental goodness of my fellow man, for the most part.

But I check the bills very carefully and look at the taters with my spectacles on, twice.

Just my take on things, sorry you asked.

 

[QSis]

Mine was when I worked for a vet who was connected with the Church of Scientology. The church ran the office. It was downright scary at times. I spent most of my professional life working for the military, and trust me, no General who has killed people can compare.

I know I'll be sorry I asked, but did the vet HARM the animals, Claire???

Lee

 

[In the Kitchen]

Relate

That was my worst job, too, but I worked it one entire summer in my college years.

I was hired as a "nurse's aide", now called CNA's. I worked the 7 am -3 pm shift, I had 6 or 7 non-ambulatory patients that I had to wash, dress, change beds, give breakfast AND lunch to (most had to be hand-fed), and clean up. That's not counting "shower days" and "enema days", both of which are .... well, not pleasant. I had to do charts on them, too, which left almost no time to talk with them, hold their hands, just BE KIND to them.

It was summer, hot (no air conditioning, since the patients were always cold), and I made $2.00 an hour.

It was a horribly difficult but emotionally rewarding job. I learned a great deal from the experience. Later, when I had five family octogenarians in nursing homes at one time, and I knew what to look out for.

Because of that, I've had Long Term Care Insurance for myself since I was 32.

Ironically, a few years ago, I landed a job as a Director of HR in a nursing home. Learned a lot more THERE, until I was fired by the nutjob CEO for not being her "yes girl".

My nursing home experiences have made me save a lot of money for my old age!

Lee

I am sorry you can relate to this feeling. It just comes and hangs over me for long time due to the fact we don't know what we will experience when our time comes. Those poor people! Going into them when my family has to stay there temporarily brings me way down. Just the surroundings make me feel so bad that all these independant people have to be so dependant on others who resent you to begin with. Some of the people there that seem most upbeat are ones in the office and working in therapy programs. They have different attitude completely. I started and stopped the same day. Resented that I couldn't make difference. Not enough guts I guess.

 

[Claire]

Oh, no. She was a great vet. She could identify with the animals, and was simply great with them. I wouldn't have lasted a day otherwise. She just couldn't handle people. She hated everyone taller than she was ... she was about 5' tall. I'm 5'9. One employee was a gentle giant. She was 6' tall. She got fired, for no reason. We got a call from the state unemployment office. The vet had a very, very, very high rate of firings and would we testify? One of my friends was a Jehovah's Witness, and heaven forbid, tall as well. When she got fired, I said I'd go to bat for religious persecution. My husband nearly pooped a brick when I went to a Scientology seminar with these people. It was weird. Once they fired a young girl who was working out of a school-work program. She'd worked a 12-hour day doing the sh/t work that a vet has, and had not taken the rags and towels from the washer to the dryer. This woman tried to bar her from graduating high school. This was a kid who was 17 or 18, and had already worked a 12 hour day. Her mother didn't care if she lived or died, and her employer obviously decided she was a loser.

It was a horrid experience.