:smack:
Always wondered about Mr. Mot, the barber:
I guess it’s the same question for barbers and waiters and people working on Riza. Why would anyone want to do stupid petty service industry jobs if there’s no money? I don’t understand jobs in general in their universe. I’d just sit on the holodeck all day, eating fakeass cheetos and scoring with Carmen Electra.
I think Uhura and O’Brien only make their jobs look easy. There’s clearly a lot of technical work involved; it’s not just pushing buttons and working levers. Spock speifically concedes in one episode that Uhura knows more about the ships communication system than he does, and that she’s the only person, including himself and Scott, whom he’ll trust to make involved adjustments to it.
God, I’m a geek.
That’s why we love ya, boss!
I will second AClockwordMelon’s praise of Janeway. She’s a hypocritcal, borderline psycotic, murderous bitch, but she’s also yummy and altogether mattressable.
Counselor Troi had a pretty easy job. Most of the time all she had to do was walk around the bridge in a skintight leotard and tell the captain how she sensed hostily from the aliens that just locked weapons on the Enterprise.
Janeway or the horta? 
Hardest Job–Porthole Washer, Outside.
Easiest Job–Starfleet Laundry Technician.
You don’t become a barber on the Enterprise for the money. You do it because you really want to travel in space, except you’re not good with math and science and are no good in a fight. So you see that there are some service positions available, among them barber, and so you decide to become the best damn space-barber in the Galaxy.
If you don’t give a shit about seeing the galaxy, you stay home.
See, nobody in the Federation works because they have to, anybody who wants to can sit on their ass all day. Everything they need comes out of a replicator, all their entertainment needs come out of a holosuite. Most people think, “Awesome!”, and grab a replicated cold one, and see what’s on channel 230431/a. A few people get bored, and decide to do other things, like open restaurants that don’t charge money. Some decide they want to explore the galaxy, so they join Starfleet. Most people think anyone who would join Starfleet must be a bit crazy, like we think of the guys who decide they need to sail around the world solo, or climb Mount Everest, or jump over the Snake River canyon. So most people we see on the show are considered borderline crazy by normal earth humans.
But are also respected because somebody needs to do it. Ultimately, Star Fleet’s job is to keep everyone safe. I’d say it’s closer to how people today feel about people who go into the military. Sure, there are you’re Der Trihses out there, but I bet there’s the “Support the troops” people, too.
Who can blame you? They’re totally hot and have great taste in heavy metal.
The security officer who mans the brig has a pretty cushy job. The Trek universe is so touchy-feely that it’s a wonder they even HAVE a brig on their ships. Each time it’s seen, it’s completely empty except for this one guy at the forcefield console. On the other hand, it’s still a red shirt job…
Janeway? please.
7 o’ 9?
Brig Officer is the worst gig in Starfleet, because there has never been one prisoner in the history of the Federation who was ever confined longer than 27 minutes by one of those force fields before escaping. If the Brig Officer is lucky he just wakes up in sickbay with a concussion. If he’s unlucky, he gets turned into a dodecahedron and crushed or something.
It actually wasn’t until the 2nd season of TOS that red shirts became deadlier. But other colors were deadly too. See my album, Star Trek Death.
[Enterprise is rocked by weapons fire]
Troi: Captain… I sense hostility.
Picard: Thank you, couselor. When you have any further deep insights into the blazingly obvious, will you have the courtesy to deliver it while wearing the cute little 23rd-century-style miniskirt that you wore during the Farpoint mission?
Riker: (soto voce) Now I remember why we *really *broke up.
Okay, I know I’m taking a funny/snarky response too seriously, but… it always bugged me that on a ship as large as the Enterprise, Starfleet only posted one mental health care provider. (Yeah, I know that Troi was supposed to use her psychic bullshit to help the captain, but she was also shown acting as a psychotherapist.)
I mean, at least Bev was called “Chief Medical Officer”, which suggests that there were a few other docs aboard. But one psych for over a thousand people? Come on.
I read a Star Trek technical manual once that made the interesting point that one of the greatest challenges for a starship captain was simply managing a crew that big. Hard to imagine a 25th-cent. Human Resources Department, but they musta had 'em.
Uhura was better than Babelfish. Doesn’t seem like rational, and realistic, computational progression will ever work up to The Natural Translation ability of “The Ship’s Computer”. Roddenberry couldn’t quite entertain my suspension of disbelief with his Magical English speaking Aliens.
I’m not USUALLY the type to run down someone’s Hollywood crush, but damn! There are a few episodes where she dresses in civvies and purrs and tries to act all sexy, and man, she makes my penis crawl up inside me and hide. I don’t mean to judge anyone, it’s just that. . .wow. Maybe it’s the voice. I can’t even think about. . . Yup, there goes my penis. Oh well, you guys won’t have to worry about me trying to get her attention. 
Sir, you are my hero. That album absolutely ROCKS. Nice work! 
I don’t have a Hollywood crush. I’d just like to fuck her. Think about it- the fact that they even put her in those spots means that the producers felt she had sufficient sex appeal. I don’t think she’s incredibly sexy or anything but when I see her in that uniform I want to give her the Vulcan grip if you know what I mean.
Which makes me wonder about something. Aboard a starship on a deep space exploratory mission, you not only have to have doctors whose main job is dealing with the crew’s health but also experts across the entire field of the biological sciences. The “Chief Medical Officer” should be the head of one of the largest subdivisions in the entire science division of the ship. Routine care of crewmembers should be two or three levels of delegation down. At most the CMO should attend to the personal health of the Captain, the XO, and the top of the command chain for purposes of determining fitness for command.