# Any job that you will not do/are above doing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 4, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506 "2014-02-04T19:31:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jrsone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jrsone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrsone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/1 "2014-02-04T19:31:21Z")
I know many of you are professionals in a career, many are retired, so perhaps you may have to think back on this one. Are there or was there any jobs that you wouldn’t do because you either felt you wouldn’t be able to for physical or mental reasons, or moral reasons, etc. Or have you always been above being a janitor, fry cook, etc? For me, I don’t feel I could handle the pressures of being a waiter. Laugh if you will. I have a poor memory and can’t handle working with the public well. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/2 "2014-02-04T19:34:20Z")
I’ve been an office worker for about 17 years now, and I learned early on that answering phones for a living is not for me. I’m not above it; I just really, really hate having the ringing phone interrupting my work constantly (even when answering the phones IS my work!). ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/3 "2014-02-04T19:37:07Z")
Daycare: I like my kid; I like most of my friends kids. I like some individual kids I’ve met here and there. I do not like little children in general. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/4 "2014-02-04T19:37:54Z")
Couldn’t be a stay-at-home parent. No way, no how. Kids are totally fun but I’m just too selfish to care that much about - and have to react that much to - another human 24/7. I’d be an awful working parent, too, but if some situation arose where somehow I was strapped with having a child (kill me!), I’d be the first to be out the door to work. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/5 "2014-02-04T19:39:30Z")
Shoe-salesman. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/6 "2014-02-04T19:47:04Z")
I don’t consider myself above any kind of work, but there are some jobs I won’t do because they don’t mesh well with my personality. E.g. taking care of kids, working with other people’s food, in-person tech support. ---
**Author:** ![jrsone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jrsone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrsone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/7 "2014-02-04T19:51:31Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Shoe-salesman. When I was a kid, around 8-13 years, my dream was to be a shoe designer for Nike. I submitted a ton of designs to them and while they didn’t use them, they wrote me a nice letter and told me to keep trying. I’m still into the sneaker culture and wouldn’t mind owning a boutique type of store that sold sneakers but that type of thing isn’t popular around here. Sorry for rambling. ---
**Author:** ![jrsone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jrsone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrsone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/8 "2014-02-04T19:53:25Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’ve been an office worker for about 17 years now, and I learned early on that answering phones for a living is not for me. I’m not above it; I just really, really hate having the ringing phone interrupting my work constantly (even when answering the phones IS my work!). I work at a call-center and answering phones for a living causes the most intense anxiety for me. I’ve started a nice cocktail of medications since I’ve began here. But it does have nice benefits to pay for those medications that I need to pay for those benefits to pay for those medications I need to have to work here. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/9 "2014-02-04T19:54:19Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Daycare: I like my kid; I like most of my friends kids. I like some individual kids I’ve met here and there. I do not like little children in general. I LOVE kids, in general. Think they’re grand little critters, full of enough wonderment to give me a burst of joy every time I encounter one. But put me in a room full of them and it’s another story altogether. I’ll clean toilets, wait tables, telemarket, sell used cars, but I will \*\*never \*\*be a child-care worker. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jrsone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jrsone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrsone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/10 "2014-02-04T19:57:28Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Daycare: I like my kid; I like most of my friends kids. I like some individual kids I’ve met here and there. I do not like little children in general. I don’t mind kids, I think that they are fine. I oftentimes hate the way that I feel I am supposed to act around them if that makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/11 "2014-02-04T19:59:46Z")
I’ve done a ton of different jobs such as working at a full service car wash, cook, McDonalds (not the same as cook), military, aircraft mechanic, college instructor, and database guy. Sales. I couldn’t sell ice in Hell. I admire people who do well in sales as I just know I couldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/12 "2014-02-04T20:02:58Z")
> [@jrsone](#): > > When I was a kid, around 8-13 years, my dream was to be a shoe designer for Nike. I submitted a ton of designs to them and while they didn’t use them, they wrote me a nice letter and told me to keep trying. I’m still into the sneaker culture and wouldn’t mind owning a boutique type of store that sold sneakers but that type of thing isn’t popular around here. > > Sorry for rambling. Mine was more the Al Bundy shoe-salesman type thing. My gf goes to a high-end women’s shoe-store type place and the salesman is obviously fetishey about feet. Win-win type thing. He is happy as can be, and she gets personal foot care attention. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/13 "2014-02-04T20:08:13Z")
Sales: I’m not pushy enough. Food service/waiter: I just think I would hate it. TSA: moral objection. ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/14 "2014-02-04T20:08:57Z")
I couldn’t do divorce work. I am a criminal defense attorney… a public defender at that. I have rep’ed murderers and child molesters; some of them very nice folks, polite, patient, etc… Generally, my clients have a startling amount of honesty and self awareness, to the point that it makes you feel like you’ve done an honest day’s work by giving a voice and vote of confidence to a person who society would say deserves it the least. But folks getting divorced? Liars, cheaters, megalomaniacs, insufferable narcissists, completely detached from reality. Not all of them, mind you. Some people are able to make the best of a bad situation, and cut their losses reasonably. But from what snippets I’ve seen in court and at home (my husband does some DV work), I couldn’t do it in a million years. It is too depressing and too hard not to get sucked in on a personal level. ---
**Author:** ![jrsone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jrsone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrsone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/15 "2014-02-04T20:09:27Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > I’ve done a ton of different jobs such as working at a full service car wash, cook, McDonalds (not the same as cook), military, aircraft mechanic, college instructor, and database guy. > > Sales. I couldn’t sell ice in Hell. I admire people who do well in sales as I just know I couldn’t. I admire some. Some care salespeople are just…slimy. > [@kayaker](#): > > Mine was more the Al Bundy shoe-salesman type thing. > > My gf goes to a high-end women’s shoe-store type place and the salesman is obviously fetishey about feet. Win-win type thing. He is happy as can be, and she gets personal foot care attention. I imagined Al Bundy when you originally posted that. I was always teased about drawing shoes. I was interviewed about it in the local paper once, it was some kind of “What do you want to do when you grow up?” type of thing, I remember the lunch lady saying “Your the guy who wants to make shoes!” Nowadays every celebrity has their own fashion line, shoes, etc. I should have studied it. I was really good at it and could have developed it into something. Oh well, right? ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/16 "2014-02-04T20:10:20Z")
Any kind of cold sales. I’ve had to do some calling for a project the past few weeks and it was Hell. I wasn’t even selling anything, just trying to get people to give me an interview. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/17 "2014-02-04T20:10:53Z")
Sales. Database entry–Can’t do it, too spastic. No focus. Writing copy–Ads, marketing, articles, analysis… Nope. Terrible writer. ---
**Author:** ![jrsone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jrsone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrsone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/18 "2014-02-04T20:25:51Z")
> [@LibrarySpy](#): > > Sales. > > Database entry–Can’t do it, too spastic. No focus. > > Writing copy–Ads, marketing, articles, analysis… Nope. Terrible writer. I was a radio DJ for a few years and most of the people who wrote copy were bad at writing copy, so you wouldn’t have been that bad. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/19 "2014-02-04T20:37:37Z")
Cleaning out stables would be in there somewhere. Actually, I was at the dentist last night, and I was thinking, “there’s no way I could poke and prod around in someone else’s mouth all day.” I don’t think being a dental hygienist would be a good fit for me. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506/20 "2014-02-04T20:59:17Z")
Jizz mopper. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-job-that-you-will-not-do-are-above-doing/680506.md?page=2)