# Is there a job on earth more worthless than fashion modeling? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 16, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-job-on-earth-more-worthless-than-fashion-modeling/213549 "2003-11-16T14:33:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-job-on-earth-more-worthless-than-fashion-modeling/213549/81 "2003-11-19T01:35:02Z")
How about Large Tobacco Company lobbyist / PR rep? * * * Speaking of worthless jobs from your past, (construction sign flipper), I challenge anyone to beat my “internship” at Mobil my junior year of college: I was a “clerk” in the Int’l Exporting and Producing division. My **only** job duty: I made a copy of every Telex order that came into our office from Int’l offices, made a copy and Fed Ex’d the copy to the respective international offices around the world. Every day I’d overnight Fed Ex packages containing a single piece of paper (almost never more than one Telex order per day) to Turkey, Venezuela, Indonesia, Nigeria, Norway and the UK. This had been going on for years with internships in this office. When I was there, our old boss retired and our unit got a new boss. He held an open meeting with bosses in all the other offices to discuss “ways to improve efficiency.” The Norway boss asked why his clerk kept getting copies of their Telex orders, as the Telex system generated a copy for their records automatically. Every day for years this Norway clerk opened his Fed Ex package, pulled out the copy of his Telex order of which he already had a copy, and threw it away. The new boss then went around the room asking the other bosses and determined that every clerk in every office was opening these packages and throwing the contents away. My internship was eliminated. No word on how much money Mobil E&P spent over the years sending daily detritus overnight mail all over the world. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-job-on-earth-more-worthless-than-fashion-modeling/213549/82 "2003-11-19T04:44:12Z")
Well, it is my personal bias, but yes, I think the Porsche, Hummer, Rolex, insert-overpriced-brand-here market is pathetic. The desire for “status symbols” strikes me as one of humanity’s least attractive traits. Do you really mean to argue in favor of an exaggerated focus on superficial qualities? Does it really seem like a good idea to establish a culture of wealth worship when the majority of people have no hope of ever achieving that goal? Are poor children better off for wanting items they don’t really need that their parents will never be able to afford? And I’m not sure that the effects in the marketplace are all that positive. Do luxury goods provide well-paying jobs to a lot of people, or is all the profit being siphoned off at the top and thus benefitting only a few business owners? If the reason for the high price has nothing to do with real manufacturing costs and everything to do with marketing, then it seems unlikely the people who’ve done the manufacturing are getting any benefit. I’m not an economist and this isn’t something I’ve studied formally, so I can only opine; all I know is that there are an incredible number of luxury items in the marketplace, and the gap between rich and poor is on the increase. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-job-on-earth-more-worthless-than-fashion-modeling/213549/83 "2003-11-19T12:48:32Z")
I tend to agree with you Fessie, but where and how do you draw the line? People with big-time money want those conspicuous prizes. There’s no stopping it. And yes, there is an ever-widening gap between the haves and have-nots. I wish I had the solution. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-job-on-earth-more-worthless-than-fashion-modeling/213549/84 "2003-11-19T16:02:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Antiochus \* > \*\*I’m gonna piss many of you off by saying that I think a lot of you are so self absorbed you denigrate other people’s jobs as worthless compared to yours. > > For example, the Pope. > > He’s the spiritual leader of over a billion Catholics worldwide. He is the leader of my church, my religion. If his performance doesn’t measure up to your standards, could it be you don’t know the whole story or what his roles are? > > In WWII, for example, Pope Pius the twelfth saved many many jews from execution by the Nazis - and this comes from the Jewish leaders themselves - not some half-assed wanna-be expose writer with an axe to grind. > > Before he became the Pope, John Paul helped rid his native country, Poland, from the yoke of comunism. > > Have any of you done anything as “worthless” as Pius and John Paul? > > Maybe you ought to step back and look with kinder eyes on your fellow human beings. \*\* Yes, but if only he could lose ten pounds, he would be GORGEOUS! Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-job-on-earth-more-worthless-than-fashion-modeling/213549/85 "2003-11-19T21:17:13Z")
What is the intermediate step between “supermodel” and “model” called? Midi-model? Demi-model? BTW, drug rep has my vote for most worthless job. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-job-on-earth-more-worthless-than-fashion-modeling/213549/86 "2003-11-20T04:05:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Master Wang-Ka \* > \*\* I used to BE a rec therapist … One chappie I can think of right off (fetal-alcohol syndrome, basically raised in isolation in an upstairs bedroom, 'cuz his folks were embarrassed that he existed) didn’t know there WAS anything to do for fun except television and masturbation. \*\* Hmmm. I think I might need to consult a rec therapist. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-job-on-earth-more-worthless-than-fashion-modeling/213549/87 "2003-11-20T04:45:22Z")
Professional wrestler ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-job-on-earth-more-worthless-than-fashion-modeling/213549/88 "2003-11-20T13:07:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dewey Cheatem Undhow \* > \*\ ***Ryle Dup** : _Exactly_. \*\* No, I’m not buying it, Dewey. OK, I understand where you’re coming from. But I also believe that societal value has to be about more than dollars and cents moved. Otherwise large-scale drug dealers would be valued members of society. The employ many people (frequently in impoverished areas with no other opportunities), train their employees (thus adding to the employees value in the marketplace) and have an enormous cash flow and profit margin. Yet I don’t think anyone would consider them to have a large worth on a societal level. Making money can have value, of course. If I didn’t believe that I wouldn’t be in the trade I’m in. But there also has to be consideration of the effect of one’s trade on other persons. And the fashion industry, other than its money-making ability, strikes me as being a large-scale negative for society as a whole. Except maybe the Victoria’s Secret catalog. They can keep mailing those to my place. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-job-on-earth-more-worthless-than-fashion-modeling/213549/89 "2003-11-20T15:08:18Z")
Meh. Buying _haute couture_ is no less shallow than buying wall-sized plasma TVs with 20-speaker surround sound and communist-scan (even better than progressive-scan!) DVD players. It’s all a matter of taste, and unless you’re a Ralph Nader type who pooh-poohs anything with a hint of luxury, it’s all good. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-job-on-earth-more-worthless-than-fashion-modeling/213549/90 "2003-11-20T16:53:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lezlers \* > \*\*My vote goes for those people who stand on street corners around here waving signs for new housing developments. They just stand there all day listening to their headphones, waving signs. I don’t think a time has gone by that I haven’t passed them and thought to myself “what a ridiculously pointless and boring job…” \*\* Whenever I saw them, especially on a 102º day with no shade nearby, I would think, “Man, and I think _my_ job sucks.” My vote for pointless job goes to whatever title we confer upon the people who stand by the exits of many major retail outlets and scribble on receipts with a hi-lighter. What does that accomplish? I understand in theory but many times I could easily have been strolling out with 7 car batteries and a lit Duraflame log in my cart as my receipt for a King Size Snickers is adorned with an orange squiggle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-job-on-earth-more-worthless-than-fashion-modeling/213549.md?page=4)