# It's a dirty job but somebody has to do it MMP **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** mmp\ **Created:** [October 21, 2013, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799 "2013-10-21T09:00:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/1 "2013-10-21T09:00:19Z")
Happy Moonday! Doesn’t anybody else get up early around these parts? It’s a dark cool 41 degrees outside with a projected high of 65. I’m up too early, again and nobody started the MMP - I’m looking at YOU **SPIDEY** for shirking your duty! So let’s talk about dirty jobs. I used to work on a horse farm, shoveling shit is a dirty job but no where near as dirty as delivering newspapers. Newspapers have a smell all their own and ink gets everywhere. In the overall scheme of things neither one of those is too dirty. It’s not like gutting fish or shoveling chicken shit. Or cleaning up road kill. So happy Moanday to all of you who have to work early today. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/2 "2013-10-21T09:02:27Z")
Beat out by two minutes! I’m on my way to work this early Moanday. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/3 "2013-10-21T09:03:46Z")
Damn, again beaten out by just a little bit. I even had a nice long one done to save **Swampy** from having to do it. ☹ ---
**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:** [October 21, 2013, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/4 "2013-10-21T09:32:49Z")
Well, **Spidey** , you can have next week - your submission shouldn’t be too stale, will it?? 😉 Also up ridiculously early, thanks to idiot Higgs. I did wake at 2:30, but that wasn’t her fault, and I fell back to sleep. She, on the other hand, started barking and whining at 4:30 - a full half hour before my alarm goes off. Critters, therefore, have all been tended to and I’m dressed and ready to go, but it’s too early, since my building won’t be open yet. So here I am! I did have an idea to start us off if no one else stepped in, so there’s that. As for dirty jobs, I’ve got a couple, but they were really tasks within relatively mundane jobs. First was when, as a teen, I worked for my dad. I was hired to run the switchboard on Saturdays and open/sort/distribute the mail. In the summer, when he needed help in the office, I got to do stuff like type and file and run the mimeograph (this was early 70s, so the blue menace was standard.) One time, they needed to get the oldest files in the basement ready to ship to the warehouse. That meant I had to verify that the files were in numerical order so that the labels on the box reflected what was within. The files were just shy of neon green. The basement file room was not extremely well-lit, nor was it air conditioned. This was downtown Baltimore in the summer. I had one window I could open - it was literally at sidewalk level, directly across the street from a fish market. Yeah, that nepotism worked out for me reeeeeeeeeeaaaal good! I think I had 2 weeks of that fun. At least they didn’t send me to the warehouse to deliver the boxes - I’m pretty sure it was no place for a teenage girl. :eek: Second chore was when I was in the Navy fixing airplanes, specifically the then brand-new [S-3A](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_S-3_Viking) at NAS North Island. I worked the mid shift and our main duty was to train other maintainers, but when we didn’t have a class coming thru, we had to do most of the work ourselves. My boss thought it was hilarious to assign me to replace an ADF antenna, especially if he saw that I’d just done my nails. Note - I wasn’t particularly girly, but I did occasionally put some fresh clear polish on my nails. Changing the antenna was great fun, especially if the plane was on the flight line and not in the hangar. I had to climb on top using fold down steps on the rear of the fuselage, sit between the usually-folded wings, and do the job holding a flashlight under my chin. The dirty part was the final step - the antenna was roughly 12" X 12" and it was part of the aircraft skin. I had to seal the joint with what we called “elephant snot” - a nasty grey goop that kept moisture out of the cavity where the antenna sat. There was absolutely no way to do it neatly, and when I’d climb down, my hands and nails would be cruddy from top-of-airplane dirt and smears of elephant snot. Lucky for them I was a good sport! 😛 Time to go to work. No time to proofread this. Happy Moanday!! ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/5 "2013-10-21T10:20:42Z")
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffienatin’. _YAWN_ ‘Tis 61 Amurrkin out with a predicted high of 79 for the day. Lovin’ this weather. We’re supposed to get lows in the high 40s by mid-week. Well, BRRRRRR! 😃 Thanks for startin’ us off **Sari**! The dirtiest job I can think of was havin’ to clean out the grease trap when I worked at a Hardee’s at the tender age of 16 and 17. That was just disgustin’! Everybody had to take turns at it so it was only once a month but still, ick! I did work in a place that made industrial floor mats while in undergrad skool which was un-airconditioned, so it was a hot, sweaty place to work especially in Summer but it still was not as bad as cleani’ out a grease trap. Besides, that was a kinda fun place to work. > [@deathmistress](#): > > You need to explain that part about the HazMat team. Did someone really show up at your place, or am I being whooshed? This was in response to a post by **Jim** about the police, fire and HazMat team showin’ up at his neighbor’s place. Thus, if the HazMat shows up when one is cookin’ dindin, you know you’re a bad cook. **Spidey** this just means you’re up for next Monday. 😛 Now I need more caffiene and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, alas, 'tis Moanday so irk purtification must commence. Happy Moanday Y’all! ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/6 "2013-10-21T11:02:49Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Second chore was when I was in the Navy fixing airplanes, specifically the then brand-new [S-3A](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_S-3_Viking) at NAS North Island. That’s funny. A very large percentage of my cow-orkers are ree-tahred S-3 pilots. ETA: Blurf. ---
**Author:** ![Jynxster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jynxster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jynxster)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/7 "2013-10-21T11:43:18Z")
Morning all, Can’t think of any cool dirty jobs like **Mooooooooooooom** did. Saw Escape Plan on Saturday, it was actually pretty good, IMHO. Got a pretty slow week ahead of me but Jynxster Mom is coming for a visit for the weekend so at some point I gots to clean. Blech. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/8 "2013-10-21T11:43:47Z")
Cat box. Blurf. that’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/9 "2013-10-21T12:11:46Z")
One summer while I was home from college I worked in the sewage treatment plant in town. Chest deep in rubber bibs with a pool skimmer, skimming…uh, stuff out of a holding tank. Raking various non-biological things (condoms, feminine items, etc…) from filter grates before the flow dumped them into processing tanks. Than there was the more gross stuff, which I’ll spare discussing before breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/10 "2013-10-21T12:17:31Z")
Well… as has previously been mentioned, my parents run a zoo… The number of messy jobs was impressive, and I did pretty much all of them at one time or another. Meerkat poo is pretty bad (same goes for the other carnivores), but surprisingly, cleaning out the leaf-cutter ants was the real stinker. I’m definitely not up early today- monday is the new sattiday for me this week, I’m off today and tomorrow. Had loads of stuff I was planning on doing out, but the weather’s awful, so I don’t think I’ll be picking damsons, or walking into town. Might go buy some more shrimpies for my fish tank. ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/11 "2013-10-21T12:40:52Z")
Blurf. **Nuts** is right, it’s quite filthy out there, thus the dirtiest job I’ve had to do is getting out of bed and coming in here when it’s wet and windy outside! I does not do dirty jobs. I is a lay-dee. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/12 "2013-10-21T13:11:36Z")
> [@anyrose](#): > > Cat box. > > Blurf. > > that’s all. Seconded. I’m retired, what am I doing up at 6:00 AM? I’m going back to bed. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/13 "2013-10-21T13:11:48Z")
Blurfity blurf. Had a Halloween party this weekend, and my costume was awesome. Too lazy to upload photo right now. Tired. Want go home. ---
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/14 "2013-10-21T13:15:45Z")
Good morning all! I can’t recall any really dirty or nasty jobs that I’ve had. I did work for a little over a year cleaning houses but that wasn’t too bad. You couldn’t believe how many folks actually cleaned up before the housecleaner got there! I also must confess to doing a bit of telemarketing while in college. Now that is a dirty job, although dirty in terms of calling people to prod them into buying something they probably don’t want or need. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/15 "2013-10-21T13:23:12Z")
Dirtiest job I’ve ever done is scooping the catbox. And gardening. The worm bin is moving pretty high up that list since I discovered fruit flies in it yesterday. I didn’t bury the apple bits far enough down, it seems. Oh well, at least the spiders get a snack. Today I shall work on my cross stitch and that’s about it. Must conserve strength to deal with the Bags of Need at irk the rest of the week. October’s almost over, hallelujah. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/16 "2013-10-21T13:48:52Z")
I’m at school. I don’t have much to do. Same old story. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/17 "2013-10-21T13:58:10Z")
No wonder I was cold this morning, it was _::gasp::_ 36° out & 62° in. I may need to breakdown & turn on the heater soon even though it’s not November yet. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/18 "2013-10-21T14:02:53Z")
I’ve done a lot of one-time dirty jobs. Probably the worst was the time my grandfather had me clear a clog in his septic drain, but there were others. Firefighting was probably the most consistently nasty thing I did, and the dirtiest of the dirty was that somehow I, by far not the skinniest guy in the department, wound up doing confined space work. Imagine dragging an inch and a half charged hose through somebody’s grody crawl space. Oh, when I was in college, I was part of the crew for a tourist train. Somehow I always ended up shoveling out the ashpit and smokebox. Firefighting and railroading left me with an equivalent layer of soot and grime. Trauma cases in the ambulance were nasty, too. Blood gets everywhere… ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/19 "2013-10-21T14:08:20Z")
Hey all (first time MMP-er here). I had a long weekend, full of both play and work. Starting Friday I was out of the house from about 8AM - 2AM until I got home at 7 last night. Needless to say, I slept in a bit this morning, unplanned. Ah well. None of my jobs are dirty per se, but I work in three different schools over the course of the week, as well as two office jobs, and am rehearsing a show with another group of people in the evenings. I have often thought that while I seem fairly immune to sickness (I maybe get a cold once a year), I must be the perfect vector for all sorts of nasty germs and things. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799/20 "2013-10-21T14:13:35Z")
Fast food kitchens are not dirty, per se, but by the end of the day, you’re sweaty, sticky, greasy and stinking of mustard. ETA: What are the odds that two separate people would simultaneously use the phrase “dirty, per se?” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-dirty-job-but-somebody-has-to-do-it-mmp/671799.md?page=2)