This week, we're talking about the shit jobs we've had prior to becoming writers. I've had some pretty shitacular jobs. Not as many or as bad as a lot of people have had, but they've all been things I chose not to make a career of.
I was a:
Waitress at a restaurant where the vast majority of the employees were illegal immigrants from Poland and spoke little to no English. This wasn't a problem except for the times they used to grope me when I had to go in the back room. Now, if I hadn't been a scared teenager, I would have reported them instead of listening to the owner who said I just needed to "ignore them because they didn't understand" and laughed when I asked him tell them not to touch me in Polish - which he spoke since he was also from Poland. I lasted two weeks there.
Sweatshop Sewing Machine Operator at a children's clothing factory where there was no air conditioning in the dead of summer and they refused to run the fans because it was too expensive. I was asked to turn in my equipment after the third time I passed out due to the extreme heat.
Grocery Store Bagger - the job wasn't hard, but holy hell the people were rude - not the other employees, but the shoppers.
Gas Station Attendant - This was a job I had while in college. Let me just start off by saying I *loathe* the smell of gasoline. And every time I closed, I had to put on hideously dirty gloves and measure the amount of fuel left in the big underground tanks. I couldn't get the smell off my skin no matter what I did. Then, since I sleep with my hands by my face, I'd have nightmares about the gas station all night. And that place was already enough to give me bad dreams. There was a creeper, Bobby, who if I was working, would hang out with me literally all. night. long. He'd stay for entire eight hour shifts. Bobby was special.
But Bobby was nothing compared to the asshat who used to make derogatory remarks to me and any other woman working the counter, whenever he was in. When I finally had enough (yes, I was an easily intimidated doormat at the time) he reached across the counter, grabbed at my throat and broke my necklace. I fell and twisted my ankle and hit my head on the back counter. Oh, and before he left, he spit at me. Best part? My manager wouldn't let me call the cops because this guy was a regular. So I walked out that night.
I've also been a Wedding Server, Costumer and Makeup Artist at a university theater, a Secretary, a Call Center Operator, a Preschool Para-Pro, a Latchkey Program Care Provider, a Wedding/Special Occasion Seamstress, Daycare Provider and an Editor. Daycare was by far my favorite. And as much as I love being a writer, doing daycare is the only job I sometimes miss. What can I say - I loved sword fights, dress-up and arts and crafts.
What are some shitty jobs you've had?
And check out the other bloggers' craptacular jobs by clicking their names.
Jess
Gwen
Tess
Kris
6 comments:
I knew you would have a longer list than I do. And I wish I could say I was surprised about ppl like Bobby, but you seem to attract the weird, Bron. I don't know what it is (and I hate to think what that says about me. LOL)
Let's see;
Also gas station attendant, so I hear you there. 18+ years LATER and I still have PTSD dreams about having to go back there and work. The safe where we stored our cash drops had a sticky drawer, so minimum about once a week, my manager would call me up and fire me for stealing money, and then find one of the envelopes behind the safe door, call me back 15 minutes before my shift and tell me she was going to dock me 2 hours if I was late.
Been asked to commit felony fraud by a real estate agency. Was muscled out when I refused to do so. Yes, I'll put the fraudulent paperwork in, but you have to fill out and sign it so I have a paper trail that leads back to your ass instead of mine; unless you want to share some of your commissions with me, in which case it might be worth it. I was fired for being "uncooperative."
Hired as a tech writer assistant in which my job consisted of walking back and forth between the tech writer's office and the programmer's office because the two of them used to be married and weren't anymore and apparently couldn't have a civil conversation, so my job was to take messages down the hall and remove all the swear words from said messages.
Worst job was working for a company that assists funeral homes in scalping - er, getting money from the insurance company to pay to intern the deceased. Literally, getting grief-stricken people to give me the policy numbers so that the funeral homes would get their full profit before the family saw a penny. That job had me questioning my morals within 2 days and I left within 2 weeks because OMG that was just awful.
oh wow that's a long list.
I'm currently looking for a filler job while I finish up my degree but I've only been a babysitter, cashier at Burger King, gig with the Army, and a field engineer working for the government...each has has their low points but none of them were horrible.
Me too to gas station attendant and bagger. I still have to put all the soap, shampoo, etc, in a bag separate from any foodstuffs. Old habits die hard.
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I only experienced guys like Bobby at the lifeguarding jobs. Drunk guys at the outdoor pool. And weird guys at the apartment pool. Which was in a housing project, lol. But hey, I was young and thought I could kick ass, lol.
Glad you finally found a job that isn't shit-tastic.
and hey, my first stupid number to type below is 69... I love it
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