# Job perks... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 21, 2001, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091 "2001-01-21T03:16:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/1 "2001-01-21T03:16:10Z")
I work at a video store for very little money. However, at this moment, I am watching an advance copy of Almost Famous in my own livingroom. I can also get copies of the movies that are coming out on Tuesday the weekend before. I feel pretty cool. When I worked for a radio station, I got free CDs and concert tickets like crazy. I miss that. So waht are your job perks? ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/2 "2001-01-21T03:26:43Z")
Well, I work for a large (extremely) hospitality corporation. So I get really good prices on hotel/resort stays. Other than that, we get lots of free polo shirts with the company’s logos on them. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/3 "2001-01-21T03:31:03Z")
At my last (real) job, greenhouse grower, I got a ton of free plants. My yard looked very good with all those bedding plants and perennials that just didn’t sell. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/4 "2001-01-21T03:37:03Z")
I work in a hospital, right off the ER so in addition to being exposed to all the blood, puke, screaming, crying, and general mayhem I could possibly wish for, I have mostly unlimited internet access and not much else to do during my shift! Oh, and the pharmaceutical companies give us all these nifty pens. That’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![tubagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b77776/32.png) [@tubagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tubagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/5 "2001-01-21T03:43:23Z")
I have a palm 7 with unlimited internet access that I never ever have to pay for. If I break it I get another one. cool huh? ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/6 "2001-01-21T03:46:18Z")
T1 to the desktop at work, and free DSL at home. Now if only they could actually get it to work right. ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/7 "2001-01-21T04:07:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Attrayant \* > \*\*T1 to the desktop at work, and free DSL at home. > > \*\* Same, plus nifty vendor suckup stuff. You know, t-shirts, pens, backpacks, etc., etc… Tisiphone ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/8 "2001-01-21T04:52:08Z")
T1 at work. And all the pens and paper that I can get away with… hehehe ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/9 "2001-01-21T05:00:13Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by tisiphone_: > > Same, plus nifty vendor suckup stuff. You know, t-shirts, pens, backpacks, etc., etc… Yeah I wasn’t even thinking about that stuff. Little flashlights with the company logo on them & blocks of note paper with the logo on the side & all kinds of little goodies that make you feel like a kid in a candy store but when you get home you end up asking yourself “where in hell did all of this **crap** come from??” ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/10 "2001-01-21T05:00:28Z")
When I worked for an Oxford college (as lately as last month) I got to use the college’s subsidised bar, normally available only to students. In Oxford, home of inflated bar prices, that’s a perk and a half. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/11 "2001-01-21T05:01:52Z")
I work for City Hall. I’ve got some perks. Um, let me see…um, I can–no, they bargained that out last contract. Oh wait! I get to–no, can’t do that anymore since they changed the office rules. Oh yeah! I get to go home at 5:00! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![slowhand53](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@slowhand53](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slowhand53)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/12 "2001-01-21T05:18:10Z")
nifty fast net access and cool letterhead to use when I’m sending nastygrams to folks (prestegious law firm) ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/13 "2001-01-21T05:22:32Z")
Multiple T3s at work. Free downloads of over two hundred thousand software titles. A computer facing away from people so I can peruse the SDMB at work. Free beer every Friday, and free lunch every two or three days. ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/14 "2001-01-21T05:25:39Z")
I get mosquito larvae for my fish and mealworms for my kakariki. ---
**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/15 "2001-01-21T05:46:12Z")
Oh, I have a million of them [li]The free T1 home/work dealie[/li][li]Access to unlimited supplies of radioactive materials[/li][li]Access to unlimited and unregulated supplies of injection gear[/li][li]Access to unlimited and unregulated supplies of many controlled substances[/li][li]Subsidized (though slightly crappy) housing in NYC[/li][li]Access to unlimited supplies of miscellaneous hazardous materials[/li][li]Free excess electronic equipment (of unusually high quality)[/li][li]Unlimited access to lots of fancy, dangerous, and unbelievably expensive, scientific equipment[/li][li]Animals, animals, animals. For all your experimentation needs.[/li][li]Access to cryopreservation equipment. Y’all need any sperm preserved? I’m thinking $50 a shot.[/li][li]Working in a fun, open environment that encourages skeptical thinking.[/li][li]All expense paid trips to scientific meetings the world over (always held in exotic locales).[/li] If only I knew what to do with the above to have fun. Any suggestions? But there’s a downside, I’m afraid. Along with the freedom of the graduate student lifestyle, come a multitude of anti-perks. I’ll save those for the anti-perk thread. CB ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/16 "2001-01-21T06:10:09Z")
Well, my company sent me to Munich last March to fix the hardest computer bug of all time. I finished the work a little faster than I thought and managed to get two free days there. Had the time of my life. But that was a one-of-a-kind thing, not a regular occurence like videos or pens. ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/17 "2001-01-21T06:20:35Z")
I get 15% of all the stuff we sell. The Employee Purchase Plan lets me advance purchase up to $900 worth of merchandise, and then 1/18 of that amount is taken from every paycheck pre-taxed. Free uniforms. I’m allowed to look as dorky as humanly possible at no cost to myself! Free health insurance. Lots and lots of permanent Sharpies in all colors. Pens galore. As many free blisters, back aches, paper cuts, broken and dirty fingernails, pulled muscles, box opener cuts and bruises as I want. Head to toe grime at the end of the day. So basically, I leave work covered in bruises and cuts, dirty and smelly and sore in the ugliest possible outfit known to humankind. But my bed is really comfy and I have cool furniture, so it all evens out, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![dcnewsman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dcnewsman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dcnewsman)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/18 "2001-01-21T06:37:14Z")
Hmmm…free T1 Internet access at my desk, all the free soda, juice, coffee, tea or hot chocolate I can drink. That’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![oldscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/19 "2001-01-21T07:18:29Z")
Free alcohol and prescription drugs. ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091/20 "2001-01-21T07:28:25Z")
Free doo dads from our vendors. Mouse pads, stress things etc the usual things vendors give out. No free hardware because that is prohibited by company policy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-perks/51091.md?page=2)