# Trivia: What is the occupation of the women in this picture? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 8, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752 "2008-02-08T02:11:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [February 8, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/1 "2008-02-08T02:11:52Z")
Came across some old photos, and I thought this would be interesting. Can you guess what the occupation of [these](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2013/2249082479_fd832e9675_o.jpg) women is? Bonus points for naming the country where it was taken. I’ll return tomorrow with the answer. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/2 "2008-02-08T02:17:13Z")
I believe they’re nurses in a Latin American country. That’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/3 "2008-02-08T02:17:58Z")
Total WAG. Civil defense, wartime era vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![Spacegirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Spacegirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spacegirl)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/4 "2008-02-08T02:38:33Z")
Flight attendants in Thailand. Also a total WAG. ---
**Author:** ![qubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f07891/32.png) [@qubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qubed)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/5 "2008-02-08T02:39:33Z")
hotel maids in indonesia? ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/6 "2008-02-08T02:40:06Z")
Rice paddy workers in Vietnam. They look quite protected from the sun. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/7 "2008-02-08T02:40:55Z")
Japanese golf caddies! ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/8 "2008-02-08T02:41:20Z")
Professional athletes in Thailand. What? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/9 "2008-02-08T03:10:53Z")
Golf caddies in Thailand. ---
**Author:** ![Mongo\_Ponton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Mongo\_Ponton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mongo_Ponton)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/10 "2008-02-08T03:17:19Z")
Tea pickers Sri Lanka ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/11 "2008-02-08T03:24:09Z")
Cambodian prostitutes. ---
**Author:** ![Faruiza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@Faruiza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faruiza)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/12 "2008-02-08T03:24:58Z")
The expert dancers on Taiwan’s version of Dancing With the Stars. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/13 "2008-02-08T03:32:58Z")
I think two of you are half-right: they are Sri Lankan flight attendants (though these women are not native to the island). ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/14 "2008-02-08T04:02:41Z")
I’m guessing golf caddies, probably from Malaysia. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/15 "2008-02-08T06:12:28Z")
Looking at the picture, I thought “flight attendants”. I see that several others thought the same. My thinking is that they are obviously wearing some kind of uniform that appears to be more decorative than functional. Also there is some sort of logo (unfortunately illegible) on their uniforms which would indicate a profession that is more commercial than, for example, nursing. Also, the existence of the logo probably indicates that they interact with the public - an employer of tea pickers, rice paddy workers, or factory workers probably wouldn’t be too concerned about displaying the corporate logo. They also probably wouldn’t be concerned with having a uniform appearance to their workers. Their gender also fits the flight attendant idea since traditionally such attendants were female (and most still are) and this is an older picture. I suppose that they could also be workers at some sort of chain establishment such as a restaurant but my gut feeling is that they are some sort of attendants. I suppose that they could work on a train or ship but my gut says flight attendant. The country is hard to say. I tried looking for countries with green and white flags but none that I could find were a close match to the shade of green in that picture. As far as ethnicity, I first thought Asian but now I’m thinking they may be Latin American. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/16 "2008-02-08T06:15:47Z")
[QUOTE=Queen Bruin] Rice paddy workers in Vietnam. They look quite protected from the sun. [/QUOTE] That was along the lines of my thinking. They look a lot like the pineapple pickers that used to work here a century ago. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/17 "2008-02-08T06:24:40Z")
My guess is public health workers in Indonesia or Malaysia. ---
**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/18 "2008-02-08T06:37:52Z")
I guess housemaids (from the Philippines or Indonesia), probably in Saudi Arabia! ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/19 "2008-02-08T07:40:18Z")
Hmm. Hat, baggy long sleeves and headscarf screams “outdoors” to me… One of them is carrying a little purse, too. And the uniforms look too clean for them to be involved in manual work. I’m guessing some sort of service industry too. Tour guide? ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2008, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752/20 "2008-02-08T08:03:03Z")
Nurses in Laos…with the candlestick. Sorry. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-what-is-the-occupation-of-the-women-in-this-picture/436752.md?page=2)