A description of a Job once gone, will always be remember. What's Yours?

[Nogoodnamesleft]

Miserable jobs, I've had a few. I'm still in therapy after one of them...

 

[Kandinskyesque]

A Christmas student job in the Post Office.
My father was a boss, and he thought that 4 weeks of double shifts was doing me a favour.

I spent the entire time (16 hrs per day) in a cold damp basement of the GPO building in Glasgow, lifting scrunched up mail bags from large plastic dumpsters/skips, folding them and placing them in neat piles on wooden pallets.
Mind numbingly boring job with nothing but a Christmas playlist on repeat over the Tanoy for company.
Co-workers wouldn't speak to me because I was the boss' son and therefore thought I was a plant.
Three hours on a bus to get there and back, so only 5 hours sleep per night.

Hands like sandpaper by the end of it.

My father thought it would be "character building".
The only upside was I earned enough to pay the rent and bills in my student digs for the following 2 terms, when I returned to university.

 

[bottlenecker]

My WORST job ever was the temporary job I took after college, that ended up lasting 14 1/2 years. Retail sales at Montgomery Ward. There was NEVER a day that I woke up and looked forward to the day without overwhelming dread. Why did I do it?......it was relatively easy, and the pay and benefits were fairly good.....and I lacked the will to break free. (until I finally did)
My favorite job (I know you didn't ask) was after the Ward's job, as a neon glassblower. Polar opposite of retail. It was exhaustingly hard, but the sense of taking raw materials and crafting a thing of value with my own hands and skills, was amazingly satisfying. I did that for twenty years, until the neon industry was devastated by the introduction of LEDs. It was great while it lasted.

My friend bought a neon shop and runs it as the last neon guy in town. He's added a gig teaching neon in the university's (art) glass department. Seeing his art and commercial work, the piece in my garage, and the change to LED signs has given me an appreciation for neon.

 

[bottlenecker]

Migrant farm work. The hardest part was getting paid.

 

[BB]

The majority of my working life was in insurance sales......ala property/casualty/life/commercial. I have been retired since 2006.

Outside sales of ANY kind brings it's own level of misery. Cold calling......I HATED it when I got calls around dinner time, but pissing people off and hearing "NO!!! And please put me on your do not call list"! 10,00 times takes it's toll. But, it provided a fair, steady income for my wife and I.

My worst is actually not that bad, but a bit icky. I had a job at a major (not anymore) Pizza place. Shakeys Pizza! I was 16, just got my first vehicle (a sweet 1955 Ford F150....ripe for another thread) and ready to do my thing to pay my way in life.

First day the manager takes me to the back room. He grabs a butt load of HUGE can's of tomato sauce, a new,cleaned rubber garbage can, puts it in place, then grabs a huge, sharp meat cleaver, next a very big pork butt. Last, a 20 pound (hard to remember after 50 years!) sack of Shakey's very own proprietary blend of 'secret herbs and spices.'

After hacking that (bone in!!!) pork butt to the proper size, I was instructed to empty the seasoning sack into the garbage can, then fill to the brim with tomato sauce.

"How would you like me to mix it up?" sez I......Well, I wound up rolling my long shirt sleeves up and over my shoulder, sticking my arms all the way to the bottom so I was shure to "Mix it properly and completely'" sez the ol' boss.

Thankfully, I had just completed a course that people in food service must take regarding cross contamination, proper storage temps, etc. Plus, I've always been aware of hand washing and keeping things clean. Even though I was not required to 'wash up' before starting my cleaver/mixing job, I washed up before the pork cutting and after, so I would not contaminate the sauce! I realize the cooking of the pizza in the blast hot oven would do away with germs and cooties, but still made sure to be as clean as possible.

I LOVED pizza....but after a month of mixing sauce, I COULD NOT eat pizza! I'd go home and take a couple showers to get the smell of garlic, oregano, basil, etc off my skin! I could always smell it and thought I'd never be able to eat pizza again.

I'm happy to say that a year after I was fired, I was ready to eat pizza again. Now, I not only love it, I can make a very delicious (at least my wife and grandkids say so) pizza from scratch.

 

[nojazzhere]

The majority of my working life was in insurance sales......ala property/casualty/life/commercial. I have been retired since 2006.

Outside sales of ANY kind brings it's own level of misery. Cold calling......I HATED it when I got calls around dinner time, but pissing people off and hearing "NO!!! And please put me on your do not call list"! 10,00 times takes it's toll. But, it provided a fair, steady income for my wife and I.

My worst is actually not that bad, but a bit icky. I had a job at a major (not anymore) Pizza place. Shakeys Pizza! I was 16, just got my first vehicle (a sweet 1955 Ford F150....ripe for another thread) and ready to do my thing to pay my way in life.

First day the manager takes me to the back room. He grabs a butt load of HUGE can's of tomato sauce, a new,cleaned rubber garbage can, puts it in place, then grabs a huge, sharp meat cleaver, next a very big pork butt. Last, a 20 pound (hard to remember after 50 years!) sack of Shakey's very own proprietary blend of 'secret herbs and spices.'

After hacking that (bone in!!!) pork butt to the proper size, I was instructed to empty the seasoning sack into the garbage can, then fill to the brim with tomato sauce.

"How would you like me to mix it up?" sez I......Well, I wound up rolling my long shirt sleeves up and over my shoulder, sticking my arms all the way to the bottom so I was shure to "Mix it properly and completely'" sez the ol' boss.

Thankfully, I had just completed a course that people in food service must take regarding cross contamination, proper storage temps, etc. Plus, I've always been aware of hand washing and keeping things clean. Even though I was not required to 'wash up' before starting my cleaver/mixing job, I washed up before the pork cutting and after, so I would not contaminate the sauce! I realize the cooking of the pizza in the blast hot oven would do away with germs and cooties, but still made sure to be as clean as possible.

I LOVED pizza....but after a month of mixing sauce, I COULD NOT eat pizza! I'd go home and take a couple showers to get the smell of garlic, oregano, basil, etc off my skin! I could always smell it and thought I'd never be able to eat pizza again.

I'm happy to say that a year after I was fired, I was ready to eat pizza again. Now, I not only love it, I can make a very delicious (at least my wife and grandkids say so) pizza from scratch.

I absolutely LOVED Shakey's Pizza! I remember ordering it, having to wait about thirty minutes for it to be cooked, and then burning the roof of my mouth at the first bite......'cause I was so hungry I couldn't wait for it to cool.
Pizza really was better back then.....even the Pizza Huts and Pizza Inns.

 

[Wound_Up]

My favorite job ever was when I worked at the Chevy dealership as a technician in a small Louisiana town with a few thousand people. I needed a job and so I asked my automotive technology instructor if he knew of any place hiring and he said this place was, but it was a 30 minute drive to and from work each day.

For what they were offering for starting pay, it was WELL worth it(25/hr starting out in 2011. The Chevy, dealerships here wanted to start people at $10) I had finished school like 6 months ago, so every so often I'd call the instructor and ask if anybody he knew was hiring, since he knew literally anyone that's anyone in that industry around here.

So I get the job easily. While there, I notice a wall full of photos of AMAZING GM cars and trucks that were sold through the dealership the last 60+ years. All sorts of stuff...69 Camaros, SS Chevelles, GMC Typhoons, ALLLLLL sorts of performance GM vehicles. NICE! Turns out that the owner of the dealership, Bob Colvin, is a HUGE car guy.

So much so that, at the time, he owned the VERY LAST BUICK GRAND NATIONAL EVER BUILT. It had less than 7 miles on it and stayed in a bedroom at his house that was turned into a showroom for the car. It is BEAUTIFUL.

Bob finally sold the car on Barrett Jackson this year, for $550,000. I couldn't believe it. He's owned it since the day he went to Michigan and helped them build the car at the plant. It was the last car ever built in that plant, which was the oldest operating GM plant in the country at the time. It's the last GN, the last RWD G-body ever built, and the last vehicle ever built in that plant. It IS a very, very special car.

Its an immaculate car. There's documentaries about it. I LOVED that job. Absolutely loved it. Of everywhere I've worked in my life, it's the one job I'd have loved to had for the rest of my life.

Here's Bob and his Grand National. Behind him, you can see a wall of 12x14 photos. Those are the photos from the dealership of all the cars. The wall at the dealership was about 3x that long. On the right, you can see a bunch of die cast vehicles. Those are yearly display vehicles GM sent to thr dealership every, year to put on display to advertise new cars coming out. He has hundreds. Some likely priceless. Bob is one hell of a good dude.

GM's video about Bob's Grand National

 

[ping-ping-clicka]

Operating and pouring ingots from a sweat furnace was pretty bad and same for having to help the vet with autopsies in turkey farming in Israel.

There was a whole lot of rotten stuff between events in my late teens and starting my IT career in the late 1980s.

That would sum up a lot of experiences perfectly.
Thanks for responding, congratulations on finding something more rewarding.

 

[ping-ping-clicka]

I absolutely LOVED Shakey's Pizza! I remember ordering it, having to wait about thirty minutes for it to be cooked, and then burning the roof of my mouth at the first bite......'cause I was so hungry I couldn't wait for it to cool.
Pizza really was better back then.....even the Pizza Huts and Pizza Inns.

Before I realized the limits that authorities could and would go to, I was involved in housing issues, the good folks at Just Cause wanted me to make cold calls and I refused , no way, I hate getting cold calls .I would do it not even housing with dignity, NO!

 

[dogmeat]

ham pumping line

gwad.... where di I sign?!!

 

[Cyberi4n]

Were they fda approved ?

you DO know there's a whole WORLD outside the US don't you?

 

[nojazzhere]

My favorite job ever was when I worked at the Chevy dealership as a technician in a small Louisiana town with a few thousand people. I needed a job and so I asked my automotive technology instructor if he knew of any place hiring and he said this place was, but it was a 30 minute drive to and from work each day.

For what they were offering for starting pay, it was WELL worth it(25/hr starting out in 2011. The Chevy, dealerships here wanted to start people at $10) I had finished school like 6 months ago, so every so often I'd call the instructor and ask if anybody he knew was hiring, since he knew literally anyone that's anyone in that industry around here.

So I get the job easily. While there, I notice a wall full of photos of AMAZING GM cars and trucks that were sold through the dealership the last 60+ years. All sorts of stuff...69 Camaros, SS Chevelles, GMC Typhoons, ALLLLLL sorts of performance GM vehicles. NICE! Turns out that the owner of the dealership, Bob Colvin, is a HUGE car guy.

So much so that, at the time, he owned the VERY LAST BUICK GRAND NATIONAL EVER BUILT. It had less than 7 miles on it and stayed in a bedroom at his house that was turned into a showroom for the car. It is BEAUTIFUL.

Bob finally sold the car on Barrett Jackson this year, for $550,000. I couldn't believe it. He's owned it since the day he went to Michigan and helped them build the car at the plant. It was the last car ever built in that plant, which was the oldest operating GM plant in the country at the time. It's the last GN, the last RWD G-body ever built, and the last vehicle ever built in that plant. It IS a very, very special car.

Its an immaculate car. There's documentaries about it. I LOVED that job. Absolutely loved it. Of everywhere I've worked in my life, it's the one job I'd have loved to had for the rest of my life.

Here's Bob and his Grand National. Behind him, you can see a wall of 12x14 photos. Those are the photos from the dealership of all the cars. The wall at the dealership was about 3x that long. On the right, you can see a bunch of die cast vehicles. Those are yearly display vehicles GM sent to thr dealership every, year to put on display to advertise new cars coming out. He has hundreds. Some likely priceless. Bob is one hell of a good dude.

View attachment 1054241

GM's video about Bob's Grand National

I admit I'm not "super"-knowledgeable about cars......but I've never even HEARD of a Buick Grand National model. Learn something here every day!

 

[imwjl]

Doing tear off on a commercial roof on a hot summer day.
Ah ya, those were the days. Put a nail through my boot.
More fun.

I did that one. A little shock when you see it, and wow were the days that followed miserably painful. Gee did that get a whole lot of skin, muscle, and connective bits angry same time the world expected you to use both feet.

 

[brookdalebill]

I did, and sometimes still do gigs in venues that I know like the back of my hand.
In Austin, Donn’s Depot, The Broken Spoke, The Saxon Pub, The Continental Club, The Little Longhorn.
In Pr. George, BC, the Croft Hotel and Pr. George Hotel.
I know how many tiles are in the ceiling, (almost) everyone and everything.
Not in a bad way.
If I lost my sight, and they didn’t remodel, I could navigate them easily.
I have a deep connection to South Austin Music.
My Dad knew the previous owners (Milnor Music, Picker’s Paradise) of the business, and I worked there when I was 18.
I took guitar lessons from Eric Johnson there, in 1975.
I did another day job for almost ten years, Berkman’s Inc.
I met South Austin Music owner Bill when he opened in 1985.
I worked at SAM from 2004-2010.
Many great memories from that time!
Anyways, I’ll quit blathering.

 

[jackal]

Hot tarring a flat roof in the summertime. Carrying a large bucket of 500 degree tar up a tall ladder is very over-rated.

 

[nojazzhere]

I did, and sometimes still do gigs in venues that I know like the back of my hand.
In Austin, Donn’s Depot, The Broken Spoke, The Saxon Pub, The Continental Club, The Little Longhorn.
In Pr. George, BC, the Croft Hotel and Pr. George Hotel.
I know how many tiles are in the ceiling, (almost) everyone and everything.
Not in a bad way.
If I lost my sight, and they didn’t remodel, I could navigate them easily.
I have a deep connection to South Austin Music.
My Dad knew the previous owners (Milnor Music, Picker’s Paradise) of the business, and I worked there when I was 18.
I took guitar lessons from Eric Johnson there, in 1975.
I did another day job for almost ten years, Berkman’s Inc.
I met South Austin Music owner Bill when he opened in 1985.
I worked at SAM from 2004-2010.
Many great memories from that time!
Anyways, I’ll quit blathering.

I'm curious.....can you elaborate on WHAT you learned from Eric Johnson? I'm trying to imagine what he could teach me that I could even comprehend. Or, was it actually relatively simple exercises and scales? I'm just fascinated.

 

[brookdalebill]

I'm curious.....can you elaborate on WHAT you learned from Eric Johnson? I'm trying to imagine what he could teach me that I could even comprehend. Or, was it actually relatively simple exercises and scales? I'm just fascinated.

I took the lessons once a week, at Picker’s Paradise, my then employer, on Saturdays for the summer of 1975, right after I graduated from high school.
He taught me his tunes Dusty, Tribute To Jerry Reed, and chord melody arrangements of Edelweiss and What Child Is This.
I was interested in the chordal aspects of his playing.
His soloing style was a bridge too far, for me.
He also taught me how to make and use lots of color chords.
We did not discuss scales or modes.
It would be lost on me, I was (and remain) largely musically illiterate.
He was patient, and inspiring, and remains my favorite rock guitarist.

 

[ping-ping-clicka]

Master plumber... 'nuff said.

I had a friend an Irishman named Thomas Patrick March He was a very busy/ in demand plumber , so in demand he had Business cards that said T.P March your pooh is my bread and butter , he actually used the S-word It was meant to be transgressive and memorable.

 

[Old Deaf Roadie]

Corn detasseling. Watched a kid find out the hard way why they tell you not to wear shorts. They put you on a specialty machine driving the corn rows and you remove the tassel on top to prevent them from pollinating. It makes the ears grow larger. It is hot work with no shade. Iowa also had this thing called bean walking where you go out with a few dozen folks and basically weed a soybean field. Wear snake boots for that...

 

[sloppychops]

So many bad jobs...

A long time ago I worked in a Circuit City store. This was in the era when the movie "Flashdance" was the big thing. They'd play that song at blaring volume repeatedly throughout the day, to the point I fantasized about having a machine gun and blasting every stereo and TV playing that song. To this day I can't stand to hear it.

Another bad one at Christmas was the "Christmas Wrapping" song by the Waitresses. Over and over and over again, to the point I still have anxiety attacks if I hear it now.

Then, working for a small ad agency in New Orleans, I had a nut job lady for a boss. One day, while in her car, I told her I wasn't feeling good about the way things were going. She freaked out, started yelling at me and driving the car like a maniac through downtown New Orleans. At one point, at a stop sign, I opened the door and tried to escape, but she floored it through the intersection.

Later, when I tried to meet with her to resign, I kept getting told by her assistant that she was in a meeting. I typed up a resignation letter and walked out. She saw me leaving and ran out into the hallway after me, grabbed the case I used to carry my stuff in and dumped everything onto the floor, saying she was going to fire me. She found a couple old timesheets on the floor and grabbed them, then yelled to her assistant to call the police because I was stealing company property.