What was the worst job you ever had?

AnnieA said:
Shaving the necks of white lab mice to paint a suspected carcinogen on the exposed skin was one task assigned to me as a microbiology tech. I had to knock them out with ether first but their metabolism is so fast that they shook off the ether fast. Once they're little eyes opened, it was a matter of seconds before they'd bail off the table and run. Catching them was a challenge. The worst part was that the floor above me was pathology and in the room directly above me, researchers were doing painful things to dogs. I hated hearing their screams. Have had nightmares several times through the years.
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The SOBs need to pay for what they thought was all in a days work. I don't use any products that do animal testing....I am so angry right now
 

dusty said:
The SOBs need to pay for what they thought was all in a days work. I don't use any products that do animal testing....I am so angry right now
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This was at a medical center with doctoral programs as well as MDs. The dogs were in the pathology department above the microbiology floor. I worked as a tech that summer, then entered the microbiology PhD program in the fall. One semester was enough for me! Had I stayed in the program, I would've had to take a class to learn to do experiments on a variety of live animals. I could emotionally handle the things I did to mice and rats especially since they were anesthetized, but above that, no.
 
oslooskar said:
The worst job I ever had was working in construction in Eilat in 1962. My task was to run up the stairs of the apartment buildings we were working on, carrying two buckets of plaster, then run back down to get more—only to do it all over again.
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I can relate to that. When I worked with brick masons who were contracted to build a home's brick chimney, I had to mix mortar in a small-batch mixer, and carry the stuff in a bucket up a ladder. As the chimney was built, I'd have to carry the mortar up further & further.
 
When I was in high school, the best paying job you could get was to work in construction. I tried for quite a while to find a job and finally I was hired by a construction company. I was thrilled... I showed up at a construction site where they were making a new shopping center. I was told to go around to the back and help the guy working.

When I got there, I saw the guy and went over, he said, "grab a shovel" we have to shovel that load of dirt into this area around this foundation. As they had started laying the foundation without putting enough dirt in the area to properly level the area. So, we two spent the next 5 days shoveling and spreading dirt around an area the size of a large store. After we got done, they told us they had another area that needed the same treatment down on the other end of the shopping center.

I knew then that construction work was not my 'cup of tea' even though they paid us $5 and hour...after we completed that job, I quit, it was not worth the pay...
 
Didn't like any job I ever had except being my son's mother and when me & husband had our own store.
Didn't hate working, it usually bored me to tears. I always wanted to be somewhere else...

Loved being in college & grad school. I could have been in higher ed my whole life. So enriching and energizing to learn.
 
Pepper said:
Didn't like any job I ever had except being my son's mother and when me & husband had our own store.
Didn't hate working, it usually bored me to tears. I always wanted to be somewhere else...

Loved being in college & grad school. I could have been in higher ed my whole life. So enriching and energizing to learn.
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You should have become a professor. :)
 
I can't think of any job I detested, tho many I wasn't good at, and some I didn't like because of the people.

I'd have to say the worse job was just the worst because it made me feel bad about myself. I was a Kelly girl (temporary office help) off-and-on during college and one job was at a very tiny company, and my assignment was to go through stacks of trade journals and cut out any articles on pond-scum (obviously pre-dates computers!).

The work was fine but the owner came over to show me a letter he'd received. It was written by an intellectually disabled person asking for work, it was a longish letter. I think I responded with a non-committal 'oh', but then it turned out the owner was seriously saddened by the letter and I realized what a kindhearted man the owner was, and the worst was that I realized that although I thought of myself as kind, I was in fact awfully judgmental and not empathetic.
 
I worked for the U S Postal system in Puerto Rico as a dispatch clerk. When a more senior employee bumped me out of that job it was all downhill from there. The job of sorting mail for carriers was all that was available. This pic represents the kind job. Not on a train but in a large building with no windows. The improvement of chairs with back support instead of standing, being seated was done.
Sorting mail on a train Stock Photo - Alamy

Then it was 3rd. shift with split days off. 2nd. night bored out of my mind. Like Dave03 said it was it was mindless, zombie work. I hated it. I walked over to the shift supervisor & told him I quit.

As far as jobs go for pay & benefits that was a top job. My wife was understanding. We sold our home, moved to the states. No job ready to start, no home to live in, two suitcases of clothing & our two sons. We landed at the Philly airport & took a taxi to Reedman Auto. 1st. need for transportation solved. Had a friend that I was in the Navy with, he said a trailer for rent was available & jobs were available. That was our beginning in 1973. America the land of opportunity worked for us. I retired early in 1995
 
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worked for a woman who insulted me through a stuffed animal. the stuffed animal sat on a filing cabinet, watching me. when i did something woman didn't think was perfect, she would tell me "Harvey" could have done a better job. She kept hammering that thought home on everything i did. Harvey could do no wrong. i finally told her and Harvey where to go and walked out of the office. what a wacko. i parked next to her several times and she had stuffed animals strapped in the backseat of her car. i can laugh about it now.
 
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Being the first female auto inspector .

In PA cars have have working brakes, headlights, exhaust system .
Rust spots had to be repaired.

Men did not like it that I could check over their car.
Then tell them ,,"Sorry ,your car didn't pass.

Would get told off , in not a very nice way,,lots of cuss words.
Or get a money offer to 'sell' them a legal sticker.

Things did get better when we hired a helper.
 
Sliverfox said:
Being the first female auto inspector .

In PA cars have have working brakes, headlights, exhaust system .
Rust spots had to be repaired.

Men did not like it that I could check over their car.
Then tell them ,,"Sorry ,your car didn't pass.

Would get told off , in not a very nice way,,lots of cuss words.
Or get a money offer to 'sell' them a legal sticker.

Things did get better when we hired a helper.
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the one time in all of my driving life I was swon at was by a female garage worker..

I hadn't long passed my test.. and had a cheap ford escort mark 1.. and took it to the garage because it was leaking oil.. I drove onto the forecourt hoping to get someone to look at it .. and this foul faced looking female came screaming ..get that fu****ing car off the forecourt..

never in my life has a male worker sworn at me..

Funnily enough it's been many years since I last saw a female mechanic...
 
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When I left the military in 1968, I took a job as a car salesman at a Pontiac dealer, while I was waiting for appointments with companies that I wanted to work for. That was an education. I saw the real costs of vehicles and the amount customers were coerced into paying.
 
Sliverfox said:
Being the first female auto inspector .

In PA cars have have working brakes, headlights, exhaust system .
Rust spots had to be repaired.

Men did not like it that I could check over their car.
Then tell them ,,"Sorry ,your car didn't pass.

Would get told off , in not a very nice way,,lots of cuss words.
Or get a money offer to 'sell' them a legal sticker.

Things did get better when we hired a helper.
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I did a similar job for the Ontario Ministry of Transport on a mobile safety testing crew. We would set up in a large shopping center parking lot. The Ontario Provincial Police would assign 2 or 3 motorcycle officers to go out and find old rusty cars and pickup trucks, and escort them back to our location.

The vehicles would be tested for brake performance, steering components, tire treads, glass, lights, mufflers, defrosters, and seat belt integrity. The OPP officers would use their 2 way radios to check the driver's license and insurance coverage. Any defects found resulted in the plates being pulled, and the vehicle owner had to call a tow truck and have it taken to a repair garage of their choice. Once the repairs had been done, the vehicle had to be retested at a Provincial testing garage, then the plates would be returned to the owner. JIMB.
 
C50 said:
I worked at a mink ranch thru my school years, that was some ugly work but being a farm kid I didn't know any different at the time. Pelting season we would go thru the sheds manually breaking their necks and tossing them in a wheelbarrow. Then on to the pelting and defleshing the hides, then sliding them on to stretching boards.

The job I hated most only lasted a few months, it was the summer after highschool. It was a tire retread factory, my job was grinding the tread off used truck tires, I coughed up nasty black rubber every day. I also got in trouble because I didn't understand how unions worked. I had the first shift guy and the union sturart approach me in the parking lot telling me I better stop getting so many tires done because I was screwing up their production quotas. I thought that was the stupidest thing I had ever heard, and told them so. I called off work one day and was fired instantly.
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Did you ever have one as a pet ?

 
My worst job was being a telemarketer. People were all in horrible moods when I called and some hated what I represented and let me know.

When I look back many jobs I had were awful.
 
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