We come from a lot of different backgrounds here, but I’m willing to bet that at some point in our lives every adult on the Board has had to work for a living. Please tell us about the types of dirty work you’ve had to do. NOTE: please talk about only jobs you’ve had to actually earn a living, not volunteer work or something you did on the side for a little spending money.
Have you ever held a job where you (click all that you feel apply to you)
I work at a place that fixes rental bicycles. For some reason there are people who wipe poo on bikes that are left in the outside rental stations. Ironically, the mechanics actually have started to seek out the poo bikes that have poo vandalism as the reason for being in the service que - they usually take much less time to repair because all you need to do to “fix” them is take them out back and use a power washer.
I loved the overnight shift, and I got paid extra to do the same work.
I worked for a short time at an auto parts store. Seemed like a great idea, until I realized literally everyone was pissed off because their car just broke.
Don’t leave out “up to elbows in fish guts for 10 hours per day.”
The only one I qualified for was the 7 days/50 hours thing. I work for a law firm, so go figure. My longest week on record was 92 hours, and it was still shorter than a couple of the other folks on that trial.
Lifeguard.
Had to lift 55 gal drums of chlorine
Clean public bathrooms
Lockdown the pool when weather got bad/stormy
Screw ups could mean someone died.
I guess I should have added safety risk, as I worked with many hazardous chemicals.
I guess it doesn’t count as “earning a living”, but I was supplying all my spending money to use in college, but did have room and board covered.
I was an oil field pumper, which sounds kind of kinky but so wasn’t. Dangerous at times (mostly crazy people), lots of dirt and oil and sweat and bad weather and hiking through woods and brush and hauling things and fixing things and soothing more and more and more crazy people.
And I’d still choose it over the year I spent working in a bridal shop. 
Spent a few summers in college as a garbage man. Rich town on the north shore, you picked up whatever they left out - in one case, a trash can full of gravel.
Trading desk, one year on the overnight shift. If I could have gotten used to the hours, it might have been ok.
Does “Had to deal with human waste” refer to my co-workers?
I chose 7 of the 9 options. The only unselected were “commission” and “tips”. I’ve never worked a job that featured either. My one attempt at retail/customer service resulted in getting fired before the week was out.
I worked a variety of jobs to get through college and they covered most of the stuff in the poll:
Ambulance Driver / EMT: Dealt in human waste of course, and obviously people’s lives occasionally were dependent upon my actions (although rarer than you’d think).
Flight Instructor: Again people’s lives were my responsibility. As of this year I can not only claim a fair number of airline pilots trained by me; but there is one airline with two of my students flying, and one of my student’s students flying as well. (I’m inordinately proud of this for some reason)
Offshore (underwater) pipeline construction: Crane operator (definitely lives at stake as I lifted people from platform to boat). Shift work (12 to 12). All contracts were 12 hours/day, 7 days/week until completion (they withheld 20% to ensure you completed your contract). 84 hour weeks minimum, No days off, no breaks. This was in the North Sea, so it gets the quad-fecta: Shift work, no time off, outdoors in horrible weather, death likely if I screwed up. I worked as an anchor operator, machine operator, crane operator, and deckhand during those years. I would often go 6+ months without seeing the wife or family (or even seeing land).
Linecrewman (moving planes at the airport, and pumping fuel into them): Again I suppose people’s lives would be at risk had I put the incorrect fuel amount aboard (although the pilots are supposed to watch that carefully).
UPS truck driver: Lots of 50+ pound lifts. Worked there for 4 years, and a lot was night shift as well.
Cool thread kunilou. One of the few I can really brag in. 
The only ones not to apply is
I’ve worked for a railroad (8 years) and for an oilfield services company (29 years) so that pretty much covers the bad weather, 7 days a week, nights and health/safety items. With that said, I never particularly minded working nights or, within reason, in bad weather. Lifting heavy crap in bad weather would have sucked, but I didn’t have to do that. Much.
Am I the only one who actually prefers working evenings/nights?
Having to get up in the morning, however, now that’s a crappy job experience. I’ve missed out on entire careers because it just sucked too much being a human being at the required time in the morning. Let me work from 5 in the afternoon until 2 in the morning, though, and I’m as cheerful as they come.
I preferred the overnight shift before I was married.
I clicked the first two and the fourth options. I thought about the “human waste” one, but decided that simply cleaning the toilet did not qualify.
You wouldn’t think that “human waste” would be a part of the job description as a stocker in a local store but you would be wrong. The stockers cleaned the bathrooms, and the hallways to the bathrooms, and many people seem to be at the store when they lose control of their bladders or bowels.
Barn grunt, barn manager, riding instructor, trainer in the horse world:
As part of the job there were occasional overnights and some frequent 50hr+ and/or 7 working day weeks, but that wasn’t a continuous thing.
And there was LOTS of excrement, but not human thank gawd.
I’m not all that thrilled with using public bathrooms. Happily I’ve never had to clean them. And that includes the year I worked the overnight shift at a self serve gas station. I said I’d quit before I’d clean the horrid restrooms. I helped the manager out by doing her book work overnight, so she let the restrooms slide. People would walk in and then immediately walk (briskly) right back out.