# What is the minimum you'ld have to be paid to work a super boring job? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 17, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919 "2011-10-17T15:19:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/21 "2011-10-18T00:17:28Z")
For a whole _year_? Serious, serious six figures. I’d probably start delving into some kind of meditation just to get through 40 hours a week of doing nothing. I get twitchy sitting still through a 90-minute movie. Not a penny less than $400,000. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/22 "2011-10-18T00:39:21Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > What you have described can also be described as “most office jobs prior to the invention of the internet”. Re-read the OP and then talk to someone who had an office job before the Internet. The OP is describing a form of torture, not just a boring job. Nobody who is not brain damaged could do it. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/23 "2011-10-18T00:50:10Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The OP is describing a form of torture, not just a boring job. Nobody who is not brain damaged could do it. But it’s only for 8 hours a day, you still have the other 16 for fun stuff and sleep. If you are paid enough, you can afford to pay other people to do all the boring chores you have to face outside of work ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/24 "2011-10-18T00:58:14Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > But it’s only for 8 hours a day, you still have the other 16 for fun stuff and sleep. If you are paid enough, you can afford to pay other people to do all the boring chores you have to face outside of work After 8 hours of doing absolutely nothing, I’d be looking forward to going home and cleaning the toilet or regrouting the shower stall - anything useful! When I first came to the U.S. in 1979, the first job I got was a graveyard shift Pinkerton’s security guard. It wasn’t that far off your OP scenario, except I got to walk a loop every hour or so and punch in to a Detex recorder. I lasted five weeks, the boredom about killed me. Mind you I was making minimum wage then…maybe if I’d have been making excellent money I’d still be a Pinkerton security guard. (Or, probably not.) ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/25 "2011-10-18T01:13:37Z")
Yup, sounds like a security guard job I had. Sit in the lobby of an apartment building for 80% of an 8 hr shift. Cameras on the lobby, so someone could theoretically check on what you were doing. At least there were people to watch in early evening and I could get up and ‘patrol’ the hallway. I have a hard time doing nothing. I could get away with writing (taking notes) or drawing (again, looked like taking notes) Not allowed to read. No music. I had a very hard time staying awake. I was bored out of my mind and making $9/hour. Other security jobs I could read or knit or listen to the radio and just had to be there… one of them I could bring my dog. I would do that again for minimum wage. Do literally nothing but sit for 8 hours, I doubt I could stay awake and you couldn’t pay me enough. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/26 "2011-10-18T01:17:12Z")
The offer sounds only a little more boring than my current position, so I’d have to ask for at least $75K and 10 weeks of vacation. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/27 "2011-10-18T01:29:12Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > The old hypothetical loving billionaire is at it again. > What’s the \*\*minimum \*\*you’d accept for this position. > [ul] > [li]40 hours a week (5X8)[/li][li]Sitting in a chair in an empty room.[/li][li]No human contact, nothing to read, no computers, no entertainment devices[/li][li]No sleeping at work.[/li][li] No writing or recording devices[/li][li] No exercising beyond stretching your legs every hour.[/li][li]Minimum term, 1 year.[/li][li]No right to sue the company for these conditions. (She’s got the legal system in her pocket)[/li][/ul] Well, I don’t see anything here about not eating, drinking, smoking, doing hallucinogenic drugs and masturbating. $1 million. Plus you have to pay for rehab & a fat farm if needed at the end of the year. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/28 "2011-10-18T01:29:48Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I pretty much had this job. For one day. > > The problem here is, no sleeping at work? What is there to keep me awake, anyway? > > I spent my entire day at this horrible temporary job figuring out ways to rob the bank (I was on the 8th floor of a building that housed a bank in many of its floors). A couple more days of that and I probably would have worked it out. > > Now, a woman in my old office building had a job she found horribly boring. She was the receptionist in a one-person office, the guy traveled a lot. She got maybe five phone calls a day and occasionally had to Fed Ex something. She read a lot of magazines, and said the job drove her crazy. I thought that job had just enough stuff to keep you interested while providing plenty of recreational time (reading is recreation). I would have done that job for minimum wage, except at the time I couldn’t actually afford to work for minimum wage (child care costs). > > One question about the job: Is somebody watching me? If not, I’ll take that job for 100K. > [@Cap\_n\_Obvious](#): > > I’d be happy with minimum wage. It’s $7.50/hour more than I’m making now. Not a problem. I once lived with a guy who thought reading anything nonfiction was escapist and would not allow me to do it. He was into sports, and I pretty much had to sit on the couch next to him and watch sports that I have absolutely no interest in. I managed for over a year. I also get stuck in doctors offices, hospitals and waiting rooms for interminable amounts of time. I could do this and get paid? Sweet! I would even love to take the spare bedroom [a more or less featureless 9x9 room] put a chair, table, my melitta 1:1 with tea bags, a gallon of water, a mug and my packed lunch and lock myself in so I don’t even have to commute. My 1 exercise gimp per hour would be a trip to the bathroom and back. Minimum wage would be perfect. Does he do direct payroll deposit or would I get a check?:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/29 "2011-10-18T07:12:44Z")
This is pretty much borderline sensory deprivation. Regardless of money I think many people would simply break mentally, sooner rather than later, with no stimulation at all. > [@](#): > > 40 hours a week (5X8) > Sitting in a chair in an empty room. > No human contact, nothing to read, no computers, no entertainment devices > No sleeping at work. > No writing or recording devices > No exercising beyond stretching your legs every hour. > Minimum term, 1 year. > No right to sue the company for these conditions. (She’s got the legal system in her pocket) ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/30 "2011-10-18T15:21:30Z")
I’ve had some boring jobs, but there’s always been something I could do to amuse myself. The internet, solitaire, a book or magazine, building a paper clip catapult, _something_. Just a chair in a room and blank walls? For the first week or two I could probably do it just for a few grand, but after a month or so I think it would take huge amounts of money, like in the multi-million dollar range, to keep me from quitting. I think I’d eventually be risking my sanity to stay. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/31 "2011-10-18T16:08:08Z")
Does this job have regularly scheduled breaks? At least a lunch break, presumably? Also, the OP says I couldn’t sleep, but doesn’t say I can’t close my eyes and meditate or think. Given the rules as written I could recite poetry or sing. I could “write” stories so long as I didn’t record them in anything other than my brain. I could read a few fiendish brain teasers before leaving for work, and puzzle them out over the course of the day. I’d probably do it for about $75k for one year. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/32 "2011-10-18T16:12:26Z")
For life you couldn’t pay me enough. It literally would never be possible, unless you could pay me enough to raise the GDP of every African country to be on par with Luxembourg or something. For a year? Pay off my student loans and buy me a house and I’ll do it. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/33 "2011-10-18T17:46:01Z")
$450,000.00 I’d try to take a really tough college course in my off hours - something outside my strengths like advanced mathematics that I could puzzle over suring the time. I’d also start again on my Irish Language study - that way I could practice in my head during the day. The lack of social time would be really hard on me though. Going home to just myself and a four-year-old I count on the grown-up conversations at work. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/34 "2011-10-18T17:47:46Z")
$100K for the year. ---
**Author:** ![BaconAndEggs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@BaconAndEggs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaconAndEggs)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/35 "2011-10-19T14:24:00Z")
$250,000 with full medical and dental ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/36 "2011-10-19T14:36:08Z")
There isn’t enough money for me to do that job. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/37 "2011-10-19T16:25:14Z")
I would be willing to take a 10% pay cut from what I make now. And I would ask about the possibility of a 30 year contract. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/38 "2011-10-19T16:29:58Z")
It reminds me of an article (which my Google-fu has failed to find) about the New York City “Rubber Rooms” where suspended teachers were forced to report sometimes for 5-6 years while awaiting adjudication of their cases. They were allowed to read, sleep, socialize or just about anything - although I doubt there was internet access - and they were paid full salary to report. Nonetheless the teachers found the experience depressing and even insupportable. I remember the article gave me some positive ideas about human nature, like: Good people can not bear to be useless. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/39 "2011-10-19T17:36:59Z")
$5 million, I think. I’d do it for 1 year and then quit. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919/40 "2011-10-19T17:43:53Z")
That’s my job!! Am I about to be replaced? Have you seen a job posting for this? Do they get to work nights and weekends too?? What have you heard?? Oh, wait, I do 4-10 hour shifts. Nevermind. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-yould-have-to-be-paid-to-work-a-super-boring-job/599919.md?page=3)