What are the best and worst jobs you've ever done?
My worst ever job was when I was temping back in 2000, I think. I got placed at a tatty old desk in the corner of a factory, no windows. I was given a big bag of about 400 rubber washers, and was told to take one washer, put it in a small bag, then seal it with a heat sealing thingy. I did this kind of thing ALL DAY LONG!
I stuck it for two weeks, and I still don't know how I managed to stick it for that long. By the end of those two weeks I was genuinely losing the will to live.
There was one thing there that made me laugh, though. There was an old man who had been doing that job for 35 years. He had received a gold watch as a thank you. He had really bad hearing and eyesight. He was friends with a woman called Geraldine who worked there. Whenever he wanted her help with something, he wouldn't know whether she was nearby or not and would just suddenly shout "GERALDINE!!!!" really loudly from out of nowhere!
One of my favourite jobs was when I delivered charity clothes bags. We would head out in a minibus to a different town or village every day, load up our rucksacks with them, and spend about 5 or 6 hours walking round putting one in each letterbox. But we had to go FAST! I got so fit doing that job, like you wouldn't believe! I've never been quite that fit ever again since, even though I've sometimes tried hard.
I was out in a lot of different weather, too. Cold, wet, and also very hot and sunny.
About once a week a big lorry would come to the depot and we would spend the afternoon loading the full bags onto the lorry. Some of us had to go in the lorry to squash the bags down to fit them in. it coudl get really hot in there.
But there's something great about doing a really physically exhausting job like that, especialy if you're in a different place every day. Even when I was soaked to the skin in torrential rain, it felt better than being stuck in an office...
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I think my worst job was the first one I ever had. Cleaning window lock meechanisms with some incredibly toxic chemical and then sorting them out on mesh trays so that they could be painted.
The owner, the painter and I were the only people in the whole place.
The painter didn't like me because I was just a kid and he wouldn't talk to me at all. He wouldn't even tell me when the coffee truck came and I would miss getting lunch every day.
An old cassette player was the only source of music and I finally convinced him to let me play some of my tapes.
He hated me even more after that.
I also sold Kerby vaccuum cleaners for a while and that was no walk in the park either.
But now I am a recording engineer working from my own home studio and it the best job I could ever ask for.
I used to sing in a band and became more interested in fine tuning the sound.
In 1995, I got a Master Recording degree at The Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Arizona. I have worked in one recording studio since and then bought it in 2008.
I relocated the studio to my home after the building it was in was sold.
Crazy Marcus... some jobs make us want to run away from God knows where!
I worked in an ice cream shop in Germany for 9 months... the shift was around 15 hours/day, 6 days per week. We worked and "lived" in the same building, so I felt like a prisoner there!
We would wake up 8 am, had collective breakfast at the cafe at 8:30 and start working at 9 am. There was 30 min break for lunch and another 30 min break for dinner. The job finished after the last customer was in the shop... we finished around midnight every day.
The workload was insane and as we lived almost 24/7 with the other staff, clashes and intrigues were constant.
Some people just worked smart to overload others and they started to get greedy when I and my wife started to fight privileges and injustices. Nothing happened to them, they were older staff.
In addition to making ice creams, I had to serve ice creams to customers at the from, which I hated because I didn't know any German! just the flavours and 1-10. When people started talking other stuff apart from "eine kugel bitte", I had to call the supervisor.
I had to face -20 Celsius cleaning ice from tables outside because there was still some crazy people that liked to drink their coffee in the freezing weather outside.
One month there was a renovation in the shop, and we had to deal with the heavy stuff of course, getting paid the same thing!
I hope to never have to face that kind of shift again. It is heartless!
My Best Job? well, I didn't like any... so, unfortunately, I don't have the best, but the less worse.
That would have driven me insane! no break from the other people! And having breakfast with them as well! At least let me have my breakfast and dinner alone!
Mine was stuck in a call centre years ago for a security company... again .. no windows ..... the most depressing and stressful job lol
My worst job was working in a factory making fiberglass utility truck bodies. It was summer and the heat, the paint smell, the other chemicals and the fiberglass particles were just too much. The fiberglass went everywhere including under all my clothes. I lasted two weeks. I almost forgot; the negative minded people who worked there made the job horrible.
My best job is somewhat more difficult to choose from. I really have three that are a tie. I was a musician for the US Army for six years playing clarinet, flute, and saxophone. I performed for two Presidents. I was fresh out of high school, 18-23 years old. Too young to really grasp all the once-in-a-lifetime experiences that I was a part of.
I was a firefighter both volunteer and career for a total of 27 years. I was able to help others in need and help those that were hurting. I even had people die in my arms but I felt that I made their last moments as comfortable as possible. It was hard but you always ended your shift knowing that you really made a difference.
My final best job for 2 1/2 years was working as a freight conductor for Southern Pacific Railroad. I enjoyed putting trains together and riding the rails day and night. I enjoyed being outside in all kinds of weather. I was supposed to learn train operations for a couple of years and then be a rapid response train derailment specialist combining my firefighting, hazardous materials training, and rail operations experience into one career but I had a career ending injury that changed my life. Dave.
Wow, you've done a lot!
And big respect to you for being a firefighter. I have maximum respect for people who work in the emergency services. I've read two books written by paramedics about their work, and it's shocking the kind of things you have to deal with. You guys have to pick up the pieces when the shit really hits the fan, and sometimes you really don't get treated well for it.
Yes, I have been shot at and had a gun pointed to my head. I have seen more than enough for a lifetime. Thanks, Dave.
My worst job was working at a collection agency. The portfolios I was working on were really really old debt, so no one ever wanted to pay. All day long, people would scream and swear at me, call me a low life and tell me to get a real job, we had people threaten to kill and beat us up. It was lovely!! Lol It's also important to note that I was TERRIBLE at that job! I'm too nice to be mean to people and I felt sorry for everyone who gave me a sad story about why they couldn't pay. But that job did open the door for better jobs along the way.
My favorite job was working at a retirement home. Everyday was entertaining to say the least. It's like going to work and hanging out with your cute little grandparents everyday! I loved hearing their stories from back in the day and during the war. I used to play Eucre with them during my breaks if they we short a person. On the weekends I would play pool with one guy, who was 94 years old, and he would kick my butt most times!! (And I'm a solid pool player! !)
It was a sad job because I watched a lot of people die who I cared dearly for, but it was very satisfying because I gave them someone to talk and joke around with when they didn't have people who cared enough to contact them often.
My worst job was when I went to work for a friend that turned out to be a psycho. I had no idea what an awful person she was until I had to sit next to her every day. We worked from her home office running her brother's successful exercise equipment business.
Her mother had previously been in charge and lived with her and worked with us too. The lady was developing dementia or Alzheimer's. It was terrible because she was mean too and her daughter, the friend, was abusive to her. Worst job ever!
I think my worst job was as a temp invoice typist (before computers ruled the world). I've always been a fast and accurate typist and I was offered the job on a permanent basis. I declined and couldn't get out of there quick enough.
My best job is being "retired". I work long hours 7 days a week and love every minute of it.
My worst job was working in a shop where my only job was to clean the shop. I was a young boy, and the shop had women beauty product. I felt embarrassed about working there cleaning, but kept at it for four months before I let it go. It wasn't a disaster, but as a young boy in puberty, it was not a fun job.
My best job was traveling Europe as an e-sport professional.
I played DotA(2) for SK-gaming with my Danish team, and we went to Berlin, Kiev (3 times), Paris and Stockholm (2 times) to play big tournaments.
Every day I would stream my games from home with around 2 thousand viewers on twitch. I had LOTS of fans donating me money and cheering me on every single day. I've been a pro e-sporter for many years but put it all behind me to become an entrepreneur.
Try to play computer 12 hours in a day, in a competitive environment, and then imagine doing it 6-7 days a week with no social real-life whatsoever. I have been at it since I was 15 years, so that's almost a decade. Enough was enough, and it was time to move on in my life.
My younger brother still plays, and kind of took over my role.
Yes, I've heard that people can earn a living by live streaming their game playing, but you have to do it a lot and have many followers.
I don't think I ever had a really bad job. Delivering office furniture was a pain because I did it in the summer here in Florida, alone and had to wear a tie. I washed dishes for Holiday Inn, but hanging around that place was fun because it had two bars and two restaurants. I was too young to drink, but the coffee shop was open 24 hours and when the country music bar closed, everyone headed over there for breakfast. I also dug ditches for the electric company, which made my Dad happy because it made him look like a genius. He always said when I was messing up in school, I was either going to be a ditch digger or a prisoner. What a pal.
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Cleaning 98 toilets a week in the community center and in offices for several years was definitely my worst job, especially when there had been some party, with all the vomiting and "out of direction" pee. But at least, it was more defiant than rubber washers.
Working on my websites is my best job ever.
OH, Loes. That sounds HORRIBLE!!!!!
Ach I worked myself out of the shit:))
I had totally no problems anymore with poop diapers from 3 children in the daycare anymore
I don't miss those diapers although that's doable. It's the vomit that would get to me.
...and now you're an AMBASSADOR and a mighty fine one at that!!! :-)
Yes, you could say, I had a promotion;)
Did you wear a nose peg?
"Just shat your pants? It's okay, Loes to the rescue!"
You get used to it Marcus;)