QOTD: whatever it is, it could always be worse

question of the day: assuming this isn't it, what was the worst job you have ever had?

working at the warner brothers store in the mall. everyone that worked there sucked. the job was ridiculous. the uniform was stupid. retail at christmas is crap.

I grew up in NYS in the Catskills about 4 miles from the Delaware River. During the summers, EVERYONE worked for the canoe liveries. I spent one non-eventful summer working at Wild and Scenic Campground and Canoe Rentals. My job consisted of hanging up soggy life vests soaked in a combo of B.O. and stinky river water. I also had the pleasure of cleaning up the campground and checking people into their campsites. One day we had a rather large day camp come in and my boss was short canoes at the launch upriver. I had to haul ass in a van with a 14-canoe trailer attached to the back. The road up to the launch is full of curves and there is no shoulder on the road. The entire drive up my boss was shouting at me over the CB telling me to “get my ass up here now”. I had never driven an empty van, never driven a van with a wobbly trailer full of canoes attached, and I couldn’t drive and answer the CB at the same time. Alas, that was my one and only summer at Wild and Scenic.

I followed the progression that most people do. Food service -> retail --> office job. Nothing can be worse than dealing with the general public AND smelling like food, so the first job is it--working at a pizza/hoagie place.

I had a data entry job in college. The actual job wasn't that bad, but my boss was a proud member of the NRA and a strong supporter of the right to bear arms. I guess that's fine if you're into that kind of thing, but this guy had a lazy eye and really thick glasses. Basically, he was blind and the thought of him packing a gun and attempting to shoot something scared me to death.

i once had the horrible task of trying to rid mercer county's streets of hookers. that didn't work very well, and i never did end up accomplishing my goal. but i learned a very important lesson through that job - if you can't beat them, join them.

My Top 5 Worst Jobs of All Time
5) Environmental Geologist - running for my life from a toxic gas cloud.
4) Landscaping - shoveling manure in 100 degree weather.
3) Taking inventory in a supermarket - I only lasted an hour before I walked out.
2) Car Wash - trying to dry off frozen cars in the winter and being harassed by the mentally challenged workers who "wanted to take [me] home and eat [me] for Thanksgiving dinner."
1) Wearing a chicken costume, waving at cars on the highway...in 100 degree weather.

I shoveled $##@ at a horse farm in the summer when I was 13. This is worse. Although there are less flies.

First Job out of High School and before college. Maintenance worker in factory. Brutal

Working off my community service hours at a mulch depot. Smelled like $#&@ everyday.

Working in the gift department of a major department store during college. My boss was a witch; that job gave me nightmares!

well, when the sheep fly south for the winter a shepherd must make a living somehow. I work on the back of a garbage truck

a machine shop during my senior year of high school. the place was a disgusting messy hole, where my coworkers would entertain me by spraying wd-40 through a lighter (ok, that part was alright). i was supposed to be drawing, but that happened exactly once in 6 months. the entire rest of the time i worked in the shop, basically doing busy work like cleaning burrs off the parts and blowing off the machines. once, i forgot to wear my goggles and a metal shaving went into my eye and i couldn't see for 4 or 5 hours. also, once i hit my hand on something and didn't realize i cut it until a few minutes later, so when i looked down my hand was a bloody disgusting mess. and then i got laid off a week after graduation.

Being an organ grinder's monkey. i was a dapper little monkey

When I was looking for web-related work in 2000, I took a job as a "programmer/analyst" to hold me over. It was over an hour away in bad traffic. Everyone was too busy to train me, so I ended up sitting there all day doing nothing. Longest 3 months of my life.

worked as telemarketer where I was taught how to squeeze money out of old people surviving on social security checks. it still disgusts me

right before i came here - had to take boss's car for oil change, clip articles out of a newspaper, and put his mail in color coded folders. and to get there i had to drive thru the ghettos of trenton - and sometimes when you went to use the bathroom, the toilet seats would be stolen - yes - what a lovely job :-)

Working as a groundskeeper for Cherry Valley Country Club before they opened. Hell, the back 9 hadn't even been built yet! Got fired when my boss overheard me say "He makes us work all day Saturday without OT when I haven't seen his fat-piece-of-@##$ ass out here at all." Got canned 2 hours later and told him he saved me the trouble of quitting. Ah, to be 20 and have no responsibilites!!!

i've never had a really bad job

One summer a friend of my Dad's mentioned that a friend of his was looking for a kid to do some work for him. Because my Dad's friend was an artist and I was into art I assumed that it was helping around an art studio or something. Silly me for assuming! The job was using a pickaxe to create flower beds around this guy's pool. No one was home at the house, it was about 90 degrees out, I was in sandals, had no water, and never did anything like this in my life. I went at it for about 3 hours. My hands were ripped raw and my toes had blisters all over. I finally gave up and walked home (about 2 miles). It sucked big time! The guy offered to pay me for the work that I had done but I was too embarrassed and never went to collect.

when i was 13, i worked at a diner as a dishwasher...I had to wash everything by hand......DON'T EAT AT ANY DINERS!!!!!!!!!