Worst job ever?

[expatgirl]

What's the worst job (paid or unpaid) that you ever had to work at? You don't have to give a reason unless you want to. Later, I want to start a thread as to what was your best job but that's for a later date.

My worst job was babysitting for a neighbor (not a friend) whose house was so revoltingly filthy that I sat on the couch and didn't move all night. I kept the two children next to me and covered them with a blanket on the couch--their beds were not to be fit to put a dog in. The neighbor didn't say a word when she came back and found them on the couch but I refused any more jobs there. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the children. That was 40 years ago.

 

[CharlieD]

I had to clean couple hundred kilograms of fish ones. It was some 30 years ago, I can still smell the fish, when I think about it. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[CharlieD]

Hey are you still in Russia? How are you?

 

[Caine]

I had a job on a farm one summer when I was in high schol, and one of my tasks was to hoe the weeds out from in between the tomato plants. ACRES of tomato plants!

 

[RMS]

My worst job ever was when I worked at K-Mart. The store was fine. My manager was not.

 

[Katie H]

About 16 years ago I worked for a computer company that developed computer products/programs that were distributed all over the world. I worked directly for the owner/president of the company who turned out to be the biggest male chauvinist piggy I've ever seen. Under "male chauvinist" in the dictionary I'm certain his picture was there, in color, with a neon arrow pointing to him.

If I hadn't need the job/money as badly as I did at that time I would've quit in a heartbeat. However, I spent the better part of 2 years with the nut job. He continually demeaned all of the women who worked for him and constantly made the point that men were clearly better in any shape/form/fashion than women.

I got a loud "lecture" in front of everyone one snowy day when Buck drove me to work because he didn't want me to drive on the dangerous roads. Buck's actions were viewed as evidence of my female weakness and cowardice. That was just a mild example of his crude, thoughtless pontifications on the "weaker" sex. You don't even want to know how he treated his wife and two daughters.

One of the happiest days of my life was the day I put my office key and my letter of resignation on his desk while he was out for lunch. That was the last he saw of me.

 

[SizzlininIN]

At a dry cleaning company, in the middle of a summer heat wave. Needless to say I only stayed the one day......it was through a temporary agency.

 

[Mirandgl]

I have had a lot of jobs that have had moments to remember which were usually on the negative side.

I worked for a company that sold frozen poultry. One winter it was so cold on the loading dock that I went into the -10F freezer to warm up.

My overall worst job had to be as manager of a family style restaurant. There were too many corporate chiefs each with their own agenda. The security chief insisted that the manager had to remain with the delivery truck and check all items delivered until the product was safely put away, usually about 2 hours. This was in total conflict with the management chief who demanded that the manager had to be in the dining room every ten minutes without exception.

The worst was the corporate moron who barged in to the place and complained that the drive thru was backed up and taking longer than company policy allowed per customer. She insisted that burgers cooked only on one side for less than 30 second should be served immediately because it was night time and the customers were in their automobiles and would not notice the raw meat.

 

[expatgirl]

Hey are you still in Russia? How are you?

Hi, Charlie!
Da---only I'm still in Russia's "former" satellite----Kazakhstan. I return the week after next--had some medical stuff to take care of here in Houston and all went well. Thanks for remembering. I haven't forgotten your request for a good borscht and think that I have found one that both my hubby and I like. I'll PM you when I get back.

 

[Buck]

When I was in high school I worked summers for my father who owned a weaving mill. My job was stock clerk. This meant slinging around 400 pound crates of yarn in 120 degree heat with forty ear-splitting looms cranking out fabric in rolls and lots and lots of lint into the air. The lint would accumulate on my sweaty body all day long until I looked like a bear in a tee shirt.

Every evening on the way home my Dad would ask me how my day went. The conversation was always the same:

"So how'd it go today?"

"Terrible! Hot, noisy, sweaty. I'm pooped!"

"Good. Remember that when school starts again in the fall. If you don't study hard, you'll spend the rest of your life feeling the same way."

If you measure jobs by lessons learned, maybe that job was a pretty good one after all.

 

[expatgirl]

Buck,

Those parents---you'd think that they thought their major jobs were to teach us a lesson or something!

 

[Buck]

Yeah, expat, and I thought their job was to torment their young. That's why Dad always said. "I wish I was your age and knew what I know now."

 

[college_cook]

I drove a refrigerated truck for an ice company, making deliveries all over the area to gas stations, supermarkets, etc. The job was really good actually, until one day...

The mechanic who kept the trucks in "working" order was sort of a lazy bum, and one day I was going along the back roads at about 60 mph, not even speeding, when the traffic light about 300 yards in front of me changed. I layed off the gas, but I had sold most of my ice that day, so there wasn't all that weight to slow me down. So i started to put on the breaks, and whaddya know? They dont work all of the sudden! So now i lay on my e-brake and whaddya know? That didn't work either!! So i turned on my hazards and laid on my horn because I was going through that red light whether the cross-traffic liked it or not. I almost t-boned this guy and his baby girl at about 50 mph in their little station wagon. I pumped my brakes from another 100 yards or so after that and they came back and I pulled over into an abandoned grocery store parking lot to throw up.

Then I called HQ and told them to get a tower because I wasn't about to drive that death trap another 40 miles back.

I quit driving for them right then and there, and worked in the warehouse instead, for the remainder of the summer.

Scariest day of my life and worst day on the job ever both in the same day!

 

[sattie]

My dad use to drag me out of bed at 2 am Sunday morning (I was 16 mind you and I had a life!) to throw the local news paper..... and back then they did not use bags so when those rubber bands snapped in 30 degree weather..... &@$%%*#

The other job I had was an outdoor flea market working in different concession stands all weekend long... boy did that ruin your weekend!!!

But I have had jobs ever since I was 14... so I am thankful that I am not scared of manual labor or learning something new!!!

 

[CherryRed]

I had a job at Carvel back in my first year of high school. Or maybe it was the second; I can't remember. Anyway, the job itself was fine. Making ice cream sundaes, smoothies, and other treats all day was something I could've done forever. Plus my customers tipped pretty well. It was my boss and his supersnob daughter that made me quit.

My boss was really cheap. He had strict restrictions on things as small as the amount of sprinkles that could be on each ice cream cone. If he thought there was one sprinkle too many, he'd charge double the topping amount (something like 39 cents). We had these little topping ladels and he told us to only fill them up about halfway. That wasn't specified in the Carvel training guide, by the way. Just one of Moe's cute little quirks. Ha. Ha. We might have been able to get away with that for toppings like toasted coconut, but the ones with bigger pieces didn't fly. Who honestly thinks 5 M&Ms on top of a huge sundae is the right amount?! I just used a full scoop of each topping when he wasn't looking over my shoulder, but if he was around I couldn't. Customers would then take issue with me and he'd hide in the background, making me explain that I'd have to charge for the right amount of toppings. Crazy.

It wasn't long before his daughter Stephanie, who he hired and I think paid more for fewer hours of work, decided she should be my boss as well. The girl was younger than me! But when it came to closing every night, she would lounge around and read magazines as I mopped, cleaned tables, washed serving utensils, and so on. Her dad would be right there watching it all and he never really got on her case about it.

I quit after 3 months. It was just a summer job anyway, but it would've been nice if I actually liked doing it. Haha. But now I'm a lifeguard and I might apply for a position at a gourmet supermarket that's opening up soon! The ironic part is that it'll be built in the space where the Carvel used to be. . . Gotta love it. :P

 

[AllenOK]

Many, many, years ago, I used to work Maintenance at JCPenny's. It was a fairly nice gig, going in early, vaccuming floors, collecting trash, etc. After about a year of that, the store manager started having the maintenance crew pull all-night shifts to do some deep cleaning. Even that didn't bother me, that much, as I was young, still living with my parents, etc. I just got fed up working for that manager, and one of the department managers, as they were total donkey's rears.

 

[Flourgirl]

Wow! I thought I had some bad jobs, but they're not so bad compared to some of you guys!

My worst wasn't a job, it was a catered party that I worked at for a large catering company a few years ago. I was by myself, feeding 60 people a whole roast pig. The caterer knew I never roasted a pig before and this thing weighed more than I did! After, realizing that the rental company forgot the spit to put the pig on and then having it fall off the spit once it finally arrived, and burning the skin right off and.... oh did I mention it was an outdoor party on the beach with no shade whatsoever and it was about 100 degrees that day? Anyway, you get the picture.

I quit working for that company as soon as I drove the 30 miles back to the kitchen with the gas needle stuck on empty and the "check engine" light on their truck the whole way back.

I stay home with my kids now.

 

[evenstranger]

I used to work collections for a Rent-to-Own company. Besides the exorbitant markups ($50 per month for 18 months for a 20" tv, $100 per month/18 months for a washer and dryer), when customers couldn't pay their bills, we had to go collect. I spent many an early morning on the first of the month with an envelope full of cash following the mail truck through the projects, so that when my customers got their Federal support checks, I could cash them, take my cut and give them the rest. If they couldn't pay, we had to pick up the merchandise. Reposessing a tv on Saturday morning while the kids are watching cartoons. And many times, it wasn't worth it... a sofa rented by one customer had become a home for the mice in her house. A microwave became a home for thousands of roaches. We actually had to go to one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in town at 2am to reposess a TV out of the customer's window because he wouldn't give it up. It's amazing we didn't all get shot. Every night I came home feeling dirty, tired and sick with myself. A month after I got married, I was laid off, and I have never been so happy to lose a job, even if it did mean six months of unemployment afterwards.

 

[bethzaring]

this is not necessairly my WORST job, just my most memorable and slightly undesirable job.

night (midnight) shift in a state operated mental hospital on the maximum security ward. whoaaa, what a job! These facilities were all closed down in the 1970's. People tended to work that position either 16 months or for life. I left after 16 months.

 

[Flourgirl]

I used to work collections for a Rent-to-Own company. Besides the exorbitant markups ($50 per month for 18 months for a 20" tv, $100 per month/18 months for a washer and dryer), when customers couldn't pay their bills, we had to go collect. I spent many an early morning on the first of the month with an envelope full of cash following the mail truck through the projects, so that when my customers got their Federal support checks, I could cash them, take my cut and give them the rest. If they couldn't pay, we had to pick up the merchandise. Reposessing a tv on Saturday morning while the kids are watching cartoons. And many times, it wasn't worth it... a sofa rented by one customer had become a home for the mice in her house. A microwave became a home for thousands of roaches. We actually had to go to one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in town at 2am to reposess a TV out of the customer's window because he wouldn't give it up. It's amazing we didn't all get shot. Every night I came home feeling dirty, tired and sick with myself. A month after I got married, I was laid off, and I have never been so happy to lose a job, even if it did mean six months of unemployment afterwards.

That must be the worst! I'd never be able to do it, I have no backbone, they would have fired me the first day!