# What is the crappiest job you've ever had? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 9, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043 "2013-07-09T15:25:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/61 "2013-07-11T18:44:36Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > In college, I had a summer job selling women’s shoes in a department store. The women would come in just to rest their feet with no intention of buying anything. Then they’d claim to wear a size 6, when in reality they should wear a 10. And you have no idea how much it stinks down there, between their feet and their spread legs, cramming their feet into all the 6s. I think I may have sold one pair a week. You weren’t dating a redhead at the time, were you? ---
**Author:** ![destineal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@destineal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/destineal)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/62 "2013-07-11T19:03:01Z")
I think Iggy might win. Every time I have to do something objectionable from now on, I can think “at least I’m not jerking off a rooster.” ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/63 "2013-07-11T19:13:19Z")
> [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](#): > > Two jobs come to mind: > > In high school a couple times a year I worked at a egg farm. I guess when a chicken gets to a certain age, they get sold for meat. > > I was hired to carry live chickens from their cages to a chicken hauler truck. This involved walking in a stinky barn, going to a cage where a guy was “pulling”. He’d hand you 4 chickens for each hand and you carry them to the hauler. Mean while the chickens are freaking out, scratching you, shitting on you etc. Oh and at this state of their lives they only have about 10% of their feathers so they looked pretty freaky. > > MtM Did the chickens have large talons? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/64 "2013-07-11T19:36:24Z")
Paging Ernie Arnastos! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/65 "2013-07-11T21:27:24Z")
> [@destineal](#): > > I think Iggy might win. Every time I have to do something objectionable from now on, I can think “at least I’m not jerking off a rooster.” There’s a “Dirty Jobs” episode where Mike Rowe does this to turkeys, and others where he collects semen from pigs and cows. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/66 "2013-07-11T21:32:33Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > There’s a “Dirty Jobs” episode where Mike Rowe does this to turkeys, and others where he collects semen from pigs and cows. :eek: Don’t forget the episode dealing with horse insemination. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/67 "2013-07-11T22:11:30Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Don’t forget the episode dealing with horse insemination. Or where he sticks his arm up a pregnant cow’s butt to check the age of the fetus. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/68 "2013-07-11T22:36:04Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I don’t want to know what happened next, on hump day. Well… not necessarily the next day, but sometime later I would spend a lot of time trying to stick a dental drill into the shell of a fertilized egg without breaking the inner membrane. I didn’t do so good the first few times trying this out. I made a huge mess. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/69 "2013-07-11T22:39:22Z")
Plastic bag packer. …count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band round them, put in box,count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band round them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band round them, put in box,count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band round them, put in box,count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band round them, put in box,count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band round them, put in box,count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band round them, put in box,count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band round them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band round them, put in box,count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band round them, put in box,count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band round them, put in box,count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box, count ten plastic bags, put elastic band round them, put in box,count ten plastic bags, put elastic band around them, put in box… ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/70 "2013-07-12T01:16:43Z")
Janitor at a water plant, summer job during college. This was in a rich suburb. The city always hired a lot of college students (mainly to keep them out of trouble). All the full time guys were retired military, and most of the summer help were longhairs. The water plant had no need for a janitor, and the supervisor hated me. In spent three months in a sub-basement scrubbing water pipes. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/71 "2013-07-12T01:20:37Z")
If you want to hear about my crappiest job ever, just read the Workplace Griping thread in the Pit from April-ish until December of last year when I finally had enough and walked out. When we were teens my sister worked in a movie theater. They had her scrubbing down the walls in the restrooms with some kind of chemical that made the skin on her hands blister and peel. No gloves or anything. Mom made her quit that job. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/72 "2013-07-12T02:57:22Z")
I was indeed offered the job today, so here in a couple of weeks I might become a regular contributor to the workplace griping thread. But really, as long as I get a paycheck and get to sit in the air conditioning all day I can’t complain too much. I’m just going to keep saying, “Well, it could be worse…I could be jerking off roosters or something!” ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/73 "2013-07-12T06:40:05Z")
> [@brainstall](#): > > There was a part of a summer that I worked for a Pony Ride and Petting Zoo. Long hours on weekends and hard work. I was required to help my boss set up and tear down the “wheel” that the ponies travelled around, a heavy job that left me with bruises on my arms and legs, bad enough my then boyfriend was worried people would accuse him of beating on me. We travelled out of town, I had to drive myself and there were no accommadations for me… I slept some weekends in my car, some in the trailer with the ponies. And then there were the sticky little children, sweaty little ponies, a usually useless coworker culled from the local transient carney population, stupid parents, PETA types complaining about animal abuse and a weekend of crappy carnival food. I’m surprised I stuck it out as long as I did. Then I didn’t get paid and ended up getting a goat in lieu. (She was a nice goat) You were paid with a goat? I vote this the winner ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/74 "2013-07-12T10:23:05Z")
Ward nursing. Demanding patients, bullying senior staff, little or no support from management, too much work to be done in too little time. Nursing really sucked. Then I got a job in theatres- the bullies were still a constant, management were still appalling, but the job was great. ---
**Author:** ![Jimbabweosu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jimbabweosu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimbabweosu)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/75 "2013-07-12T13:25:27Z")
Bad jobs… a few come to mind… (I had the “luck” to graduate College just at the start of a recession in a dying rustbelt city, so you took what you could get) I hated the job renting tuxedos. I didn’t mind the work at all, but the company was run by three brothers, an idiot, an as **ole, and a cheating thief. The Idiot I could handle, but every day the as** ole would call every store (i mean that literally) and bitch and complain about how terrible everyone was who worked for him. Largely in horrific profanity. The Thief… we were paid commission on sales. I worked with a local hotel on their purchase of uniforms, I did all the leg work, only to have him swoop in at the last minute, take the last meeting, and use that as the excuse to steal my commission. It’s the only job I’ve ever quit w/o having another lined up. By the way, they had a 200% turnover rate in the stores- I lasted just over the usual 6 months. They’re out of business now. I worked at a woefully understaffed lumberyard. If you’ve ever unloaded a semi of insulation you know why that sucked. Still, not as bad as the 9 months I worked at a medical insurance company processing claims (really, looking for excuses to deny them. That’s fun, calling up cancer victims to deny their coverage. I had a supervisor say to me once, “Just deny all the claims, they’ll be dead before they can successfully appeal them.” I quit. Private Medical Insurance Companies are EVIL, EVIL, EVIL. I quit that job to work in paving / asphalt testing. Hot, working with terrible carcinogens w/o any protection, walking behind pavers carrying a 86#nuclear density gauge, etc., etc… Not a bad job, aside from the long days during paving season. Still sucked hot death, but compared to working for SATAN (Medical Insurance), not bad. Three years of that and I went Back to Grad School and got my Ph.D. I may be slow to take a hint (i.e., the universe screaming at you to go back to school. I used to say “All I want is a job that isn’t another excuse to go back to school”), but I ain’t stupid! I LOVE my job now! ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/76 "2013-07-12T19:56:45Z")
My first job was as an assistant janitor in an Elementary school. The art work in the restrooms was monochromatic due to the medium of choice - poop - but some of those kids showed real artistic promise! Not really. I was cleaning poop off the walls and vomit off the floor. For less than mimimum wage, because school systems weren’t required to pay minimum. The pay period was monthly. Wait a whole month, get next to nothing on the check, wait another month. It wasn’t pretty by any definition. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/77 "2013-07-12T22:32:18Z")
Most boring job I ever had was the doing Security in the inner city cell phone store. Most days were agony of counting minutes in increments to try to keep some sense of the passage of time. Worst, most soul crushing job was my previous job, doing call center technical support. (as many people can attest) ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/78 "2013-07-12T22:46:32Z")
I had a job the summer I graduated from high school…at that high school. I had it the next summer as well. My partner and I had to tape the heck out of used textbooks, do library inventory, and then try to get all the locks off the lockers and empty out said lockers. There were tons of bugs spilling out, old lunches, you name it. Gaaaahhhh! On the plus side, we did collect a few useful items. The rest of the time, we used the library copier to get pics of our favorite bands from magazines. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/79 "2013-07-12T22:52:10Z")
> [@Jimbabweosu](#): > > Still, not as bad as the 9 months I worked at a medical insurance company processing claims (really, looking for excuses to deny them. That’s fun, calling up cancer victims to deny their coverage. I had a supervisor say to me once, “Just deny all the claims, they’ll be dead before they can successfully appeal them.” I quit. Private Medical Insurance Companies are EVIL, EVIL, EVIL I found out via Facebook that one of my high school classmates works in the claims denial department of a health insurance company. If I posted on here what I thought (and still think) of her, it would probably get me banned, so I won’t. I understand why such a department exists (fraud, duplicate claims, that kind of thing) but she’s probably the type who enjoys doing that sort of thing. What company was it? You can PM me if you don’t want to post it here. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043/80 "2013-07-12T22:53:41Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > My first job was as an assistant janitor in an Elementary school. The art work in the restrooms was monochromatic due to the medium of choice - poop - but some of those kids showed real artistic promise! > > Not really. I was cleaning poop off the walls and vomit off the floor. For less than mimimum wage, because school systems weren’t required to pay minimum. The pay period was monthly. Wait a whole month, get next to nothing on the check, wait another month. It wasn’t pretty by any definition. So, you weren’t “Frazz” (the comic strip)? What kind of school was this, that kids crapped on the WALL? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-crappiest-job-youve-ever-had/663043.md?page=5)