# If you had to do a menial job, what would it be? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 16, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678 "2009-05-16T20:19:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/1 "2009-05-16T20:19:17Z")
Assume you had to do a menial job of some kind for the rest of your life (I dunno, maybe you fathered a million and one kids and any income would be stole off you by evil former girlfriends who would just take the cash out of the ATM to eat it [yes, the money, in note form] in front of your starving children if you paid it). What would you do? Personally I would become a motorcycle courier because I should imagine that that is great fun. Second choice is a bouncer at a strip club, for obvious reasons. Don’t be shy! ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/2 "2009-05-16T20:23:50Z")
Newspaper delivery or night-time security guard. The main appeal is that because of the hours you probably don’t have to deal with a lot of obnoxious customers in your face. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/3 "2009-05-16T20:35:44Z")
Easy! I’d go for bouncer or bartender. Have done both before and really enjoyed them. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/4 "2009-05-16T20:50:22Z")
I’d deliver those big 5 gallon water cooler jugs. Might as well make muscles while I’m making minimum wage! ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/5 "2009-05-16T21:19:01Z")
Boob massager. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/6 "2009-05-16T21:39:57Z")
Selling concessions at sporting events. That’s an easy question. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/7 "2009-05-17T02:06:01Z")
I don’t know if it’s considered menial or not, but being one of those tornado chasers would be pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/8 "2009-05-17T02:54:30Z")
What’s menial? I don’t consider any of the real jobs mentioned so far as menial. Low pay? check. Low status? check? Shitty deal all around? Check. Menial? Not even close. To my eye, it ain’t menial unless you’re getting dirty doing something which takes near zero skill. If you can master it in one shift, it’s menial. Like janitor. Or cesspool sucker-outer. If I had to do something like that, I’d work a landscape crew. Drive a lawn mower, mulch trees, plant shrubs, weed whack; that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/9 "2009-05-17T02:59:56Z")
Organizing paperwork for a political campaign (the physical act of making sure everything is where it should be) seems pretty menial to me. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/10 "2009-05-17T03:06:26Z")
Dogwalker. ---
**Author:** ![bufftabby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/11 "2009-05-17T03:10:39Z")
Groundskeeping. Especially if I get to drive one of those swell zero-turn mowers. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/12 "2009-05-17T03:35:34Z")
Cab driver…Is that menial enough? ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/13 "2009-05-17T03:46:24Z")
I was going to suggest carpentry, but that can’t be learned in a day. I’ll bet I could learn how to control one of those monster earth movers that dig stuff up from here, rotate it and put it down there. That would be fun. I don’t think motorcycle courier is especially menial, but if that were an option, I’d go for that. ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/14 "2009-05-17T03:53:06Z")
Bookstore clerk. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/15 "2009-05-17T04:21:55Z")
Working the grill in a busy restaurant. I did this in my 20s and I was really good at it. I kind of daydream about getting a place to let me try it once or month or so on a busy Friday night. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/16 "2009-05-17T04:49:09Z")
Yeah, most of what people have mentioned is not at all menial work. The skilled trades are not menial labor - nor is bartending, or even being a cook somewhere there aren’t diagrams of how burgers go together. Menial labor is fast food, or floor mopping, or something like that. Maaaaaaybe store clerk, but when I hear “menial labor” I think more of things that you have to take a shower when you get home to wash the ditch digger off you. ---
**Author:** ![Marconi\_Schmeese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@Marconi\_Schmeese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_Schmeese)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/17 "2009-05-17T06:38:35Z")
cashier ---
**Author:** ![BACI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@BACI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BACI)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/18 "2009-05-17T09:54:04Z")
Doorman at an upmarket hotel. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/19 "2009-05-17T11:12:30Z")
Laundromat attendant. Heck, I’d even load and unload other people’s clothes and fold them. Neither mentally nor physically challenging, probably not too dangerous in a reasonable neighborhood, indoors. Yeah, I could probably handle that. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678/20 "2009-05-17T11:26:29Z")
Zookeeper. If that’s not menial enough, then driver. I drove a delivery truck for a couple of years. It wasn’t challenging, but it was somehow satisfying. I liked being able to stop at a different place for lunch every day, pop in and do a quick errand where appropriate, and spend a fair amount of time outdoors. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-do-a-menial-job-what-would-it-be/496678.md?page=2)