# REALLY crappy jobs that pay well **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 14, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941 "2009-07-14T03:52:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ejtx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b77776/32.png) [@ejtx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ejtx)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/1 "2009-07-14T03:52:15Z")
Let’s say I’m willing to sacrifice 3 to 6 months of my life at a truly back-breaking, disgusting job in some remote shithole in exchange for a big wad of cash. Like around $30-45k or so. Where might I look for jobs like these? I can think of a couple candidates, but I know there must be more; like: - gutting fish in Alaska - oil rigs in Canada - working with Blackwater in Iraq Note that I’m not looking for anything illegal, but morally ambiguous jobs will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/2 "2009-07-14T04:12:50Z")
There was a total MILF wavinig a sign to a new “McNeighborhood” down the highway from me. I was curious (not about new property, but if she was tappable! Whoo-Yahh!) She said she was getting $16/hr! :eek: Fuck me! I’ll stand around and get a tan for that! ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/3 "2009-07-14T04:18:52Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > There was a total MILF wavinig a sign to a new “McNeighborhood” down the highway from me. I was curious (not about new property, but if she was tappable! Whoo-Yahh!) > > She said she was getting $16/hr! :eek: > > Fuck me! I’ll stand around and get a tan for that! Heh, those women get and keep those jobs for very long periods of time, as a matter of fact, of the two doing it in my town one was prom queen in 88’ 😃 ---
**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:** [July 14, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/4 "2009-07-14T04:31:10Z")
> [@ejtx](#): > > - working with Blackwater in Iraq Why would you assume that would be such a crappy job? Blackwater’s troops are well-funded, well armed and protected; their work is not any more inherently dangerous than the regular service. I don’t think it would be that bad. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/5 "2009-07-14T04:58:54Z")
> [@ejtx](#): > > I can think of a couple candidates, but I know there must be more; like: > > - gutting fish in Alaska I don’t know about gutting fish, but supposedly Alaskan crab-fishing is one of the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous job in North America, and those guys can make _quite_ a haul. ---
**Author:** ![King\_Bobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@King\_Bobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Bobo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/6 "2009-07-14T05:12:17Z")
if you can qualify for offshore rig work, then that can indeed pay well, although rig jobs are decreasing. However you need to qualify in certain areas and it is not a “gimme”. I have a lot of experience in offshore work overseas. If you are truly interested maybe you can PM me and I can perhaps give you some pointers. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/7 "2009-07-14T05:13:59Z")
As I recall, when my father worked in asbestos removal, he frequently ended up in situations such as soaked to the skin in a paper suit in unheated warehouses. He also worked with rival gang members that carried guns and occasionally started fights; once had to go through a teamster picket line for a few weeks; and on one occasion fell off of some scaffolding, broke his ankle, and continued working without having it checked out. (It healed wrong, by the way. The idiot.) Oh, and some of the Ukrainians gave him a bottle of 190 proof vodka, though presumably they weren’t actually trying to kill him. I am unsure of exactly how much he was paid, as I was a teenager at the time, but I am told that the money was excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/8 "2009-07-14T05:59:42Z")
Bridge painter. Big suspension bridges. $35 - 40/hour. 75-80 grand/year. In cold areas, work six months for 40 g’s. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/9 "2009-07-14T06:05:21Z")
“Glow boy” used to pay well, but there has to be a nuclear power plant near where you live. I knew a guy that was a diver. He’d get paid pretty good money to scrape the barnacles off of hulls of yachts and such. It’s pretty dirty, disgusting work. Some similar jobs can be quite dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/10 "2009-07-14T07:47:27Z")
My brother worked on a shrimping boat at the top of Australia. I recall the work he did in six months allowed him to take the next six months off. ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/11 "2009-07-14T11:11:36Z")
I always heard that window cleaners for sky scrapers made an obscene amount of money (probably not as obscene as the people within the sky scrapers though ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/12 "2009-07-14T12:09:02Z")
Based on the Deadliest Catch some of those deckhands make $50k for a season of a few months. Of course they work 20 hour days so the pay per hour may not be that high. Guys who work 2 seasons can make $100k in less than 6 months. I don’t know if they take the rest of the year off or work other jobs . ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/13 "2009-07-14T12:22:58Z")
Maybe not a crappy job, but certainly not “respected” the way more… technically demanding jobs are. I hear that jobs handling classified data pay really well, one of my Comp Sci teachers told me about the people who basically manage the file cabinets full of backup tapes (or whatever they use now) down at Los Alamos get payed incredibly well for something that basically amounts to “librarian/secretary with a security clearance.” Like I said, maybe not crappy in the sense that you’re outside covered in mud coming home feeling exhausted, considering you’re inside a temperature controlled government facility and all, but it’s still pretty low on the ladder of “jobs I’d tell my friends I had.” ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/14 "2009-07-14T13:31:58Z")
Well, a point of clarification and a question. You claim to want to do a really really crappy and dangerous job for “30-45K” for “3-6 months.” So your range is anywhere from 180K to 60K annual salary? That’s a pretty wide span. For 60K I think most would (and probably could) sit behind a computer and do a really crappy but not so dangerous job of turning in reports and surfing the internet. The reason that crab fishing is so dangerous and sought after is that you have the potential of pullling in 30-60K during the season. As in, one month to one WEEK. To do it, you have to stay up for 140 hours straight in sub zero temperatures doing backbreaking work and praying you won’t die from being hit with 500 pounds of metal and being tossed in water one degree above freezing. But the pay is definitely better than what you’re asking. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/15 "2009-07-14T13:51:16Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Maybe not a crappy job, but certainly not “respected” the way more… technically demanding jobs are. I hear that jobs handling classified data pay really well, one of my Comp Sci teachers told me about the people who basically manage the file cabinets full of backup tapes (or whatever they use now) down at Los Alamos get payed incredibly well for something that basically amounts to “librarian/secretary with a security clearance.” IME people working with classified data (data librarians/clerks, data processors, engineers, etc.) get paid about the same as workers in similar positions that do not handle classified data. It can take several weeks to get a Secret clearance, and half a year to get Top Secret. (And no, you can’t get it yourself. Your employer has to start it.) ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/16 "2009-07-14T14:16:04Z")
IF you can get into a big-project construction union, there’s the possibility for intense money making experiences: A job behind schedule might go to 6 days a week times 10-12 hours for a while. At $20-30/hr base pay, time-and-half for hours over 40/week, and double or triple time at points, and a 60 hour week, it adds up pretty quick. But that’s a big IF; you pretty much need either some connection or perfect timing to get in the union. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/17 "2009-07-14T14:22:48Z")
Some years ago, the New Yorker had an article about the men (no women) who were rebuilding the century+ old water conduits into the city. I think they are called “sandhogs” or something equally uninviting, but they make about $125K per year for some pretty unpleasant work. But I think it is one of those jobs you have to be born into, you can’t just go and apply for. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-crappy-jobs-that-pay-well/502941/18 "2009-07-14T15:28:12Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > IME people working with classified data (data librarians/clerks, data processors, engineers, etc.) get paid about the same as workers in similar positions that do not handle classified data. Rumor has it, the guy that comes and empties my cubicle trash can makes roughly $20 an hour. I think he cleans the bathroom too, but I’m not sure. So there you go…get a clearance and change my garbage. I know for a fact that clearances are like gold.