[notALICE]

Worst and Or your best job ever?

I don't know about all of you but I have a hard time with sticking power, with jobs. Part of that is I've moved so many times it'll make your head spin. I've had the opportunity to have great ones and lots not so great. I get bored easy and do stupid things.

I once was lured into abandoning a job for my first kiss through Facebook correspondence. Ok, his first kiss at 13. It took me while to remember the kid/turned guy. He said I was his Jenny to his Forrest. I hopped a plane and moved 2000 miles to the place I already knew I hated most in the world. Northern Maine. I was going to tap maple trees and write my book, Up there it can snow in any month of year (and did once in August when I was there).

Ok I really digress, that didn't work out. He sat around drinking beer, , picking his nose, & eating chef boy r d with a whole can of slim Jim's mixed in, every night while I plotted my escape. Didn't have phone access for a month.



That just proves how delusional and flakey I can be but it does sort of tie into my worst job. Picking potatoes. In Northern Maine...

Kids started school in August but got out for a month and a half for Harvest Break, around October. To work. I was a spoiled native NYer and the whole thing was barbaric to me, but I wanted money to buy a car. At minimum wage I worked on a potato harvester, dusk until dawn. Freezing cold 20/30's in the am to 60's in the afternoon. Had to layer. Separating rocks from potatoes or potatoes from rocks on moving harvester, with moving lathe conveyer belts. Lots of lost fingers in harvester accidents. Noisy squeaky, monotonous, back breaking work. The type you dream about when you finally get home and try to remove the dirt and crust from every crack of your body. It was like working 24 hours a day.

I bought my very first car though

when I was 14 I worked in a crappy warehouse moving around old electronics that the owner would harvest the gold from the connectors from. I had to palletize and make sense out of the piles in the dirt yard, use the forklift to carry the pallets to the main warehouse where I would take apart the useless computer terminals and such. All so I could break the gold ends off the connectors of the computer boards. Then, I would gather the piles of gold connectors and put them into a custom tank. the tank then filled with cyanide. yes, cyanide. it stripped the gold off of the connectors. then, we inserted metal plates and ran 12 volts electricity through the plates and stirred the cyanide around the plates. the metals in the cyanide stuck to the plates and looked like sludge.

we then would have to scrape the sludge off of the plates and carefully put the sludge into this bowl made for kiln castings. when we filled the casting bowl with the dirty sludge, the owner topped it off with a ton of flux, and he burned the whole damn thing in a kiln, oven thing. Once it came out of the oven, the flux was gone, and the metals no longer looked like a dirty sludge. it all melted into what looked like a Hershey's kiss, but it was pure gold! I don't know how much one of those Hershey's kisses sold for, but it was sure a hellish process to get to that point.

at least he paid cash.

[avlady]

I used to work in a produce section, I know what it's like to hve to even touch a potatoe. I've always had an aversion to the feeling of a potato. Good for you you tried at least. I'm happy you've found a car, can you get in it and drive somewhere where you can get away from what your doing now? Do you have family? Could you visit them?Children? Well I hope things work out and I'll be praying for you, have a nice day

[unaluna]

Hey hey hey! I don't hear no complaints from my wife!

[Trippin2.0]

Love the title! lol.

My worst job? idk I've had a few that sucked but Merchandising definitly stands out. Packing shelves wasn't so bad, but yes is was boring as hell. What made it horrible was the fact that I had to fetch the stock myself, and it weighed more than I do, some ITEMS weighed as much as I do... So that didn't last long, 3 months later and I was over it.

Second worse one was when I was a cashier, "why?" you ask, well let me enlighten you...

They hardly gave the casuals off days, you worked 8 hrs weekdays and 12 hrs weekends, and had to ask for your off day. Aaaaand; they expected you to have a "valid" motivation/reason to accompany your request too because "The law says so" and "I'm fkn tired" apparantly didn't count.

[comicgeek007]

Working under the table at a law firm. Had to organize files in the attic during the hottest day of summer, unstaple and scan papers until my fingertips bled, and wouldn't even get paid minimum wage. Not the worst job ever, but it was SO boring.

Got fired for being too productive and working too many hours.

[faerie_moon_x]

LOL. Great title.

Hands down, the worst job I ever had was working for KFC/A&W mix place, or as I remember it: Hell on Earth. I worked there for 4 months after my divorce, so I was 25 years old and had a son to feed and diaper.

The first manager had to take a leave of absense when I started. She was only there two days.

Her replacement was a young guy in his 20s. His management style was:
-Promote his friend to assistant manager
-Hire his "best-friends" girl and then loudly have sex with her in the bathroom
-Hire a 16 year old boy and let him just hang out while everyone else worked
-Give his friends long shifts while the rest of us had the tiny shifts (once I went home with a $30 paycheck.)
-All of them sit in his car and smoke pot
-Schedule skeleton crews for busy shifts (lunch/dinner) and cause use lines/back ups in the drive through.

It was a nightmare. In the middle of one lunch shift, the A&W cook walked out. When he started we had over 100 regulars, by the time he was fired 2 months later we had less than 10.

Then came the second recplacement was a girl in her 20s. She had some sort of vendetta on me, not sure why. Her offenses were:
-When I complained of feeling lightheaded she called me "drama queen" and wouldn't let me take a break. Turned out I had a fever and strep throat.
-Making corn, the stick broke and I submerged my hand in 190 degree water and asked to go to the ER. So she stood next to me, screaming in my ear that I was a worthless, blubbering drama queen, and needed to learn to stop being such a baby while I served a line of 10 people, and in front of all my co-workers, unable to even wiggle my fingers. Then made me mop the whole lobby and dinning room. Turned out I had 2nd degree burns.

To this day my hand still sometimes gets tight, but it's mostly better.. It hurt for about a year after when I would get too warm.

So, I quit. And when I took my uniform back all the employees were laughing and going "waaa, I'm a cry-baby." It was the most humiliating experience. I did contact KFC corporate about it, but ended up not following through, because I had 0 confidance at that point in my life.

[BipolaRNurse]

My worst job was telephone soliciting. I lasted exactly four hours and ran out of the place in tears.

[tcmoon52]

My worst job was tailing off for a rip saw in a molding mill, 63 hours a week.
Like all my jobs, I did great for 6 weeks or so. As I worked I lost sleep, it started a hypo-mania and then by 8 to 10 weeks, complete exhaustion.
Then my anti social behavior and I was out of there in a week. I had a great Union job unloading Semi Trucks. The problem there was the initiation process for new union workers. I never did good with playing games with other men. I lasted about 8 weeks, and then was falsely accused of physical
violence, on a number of occasions. lol I never made it 12 weeks on any job, and have only had around 10 total.
I had my own business for 15 years, sunglasses, 3 months a year, I had a major breakdown 5 years into it, up until then I was only on a anti depressant, which I think fueled the Hypo-Mania which allowed me to build the business. After being DX'D Bipolar and put on meds I sold them from home the last 10 years. Still can't figure how I did it. Now it's the simple life for me.

[notALICE]

God. They all sound horrible, except maybe Hankster, who may have been referring to a different job? What can I say? I have a horrid mind...

Avlady - yeah I have had kids with cars of their own, many different jobs, marriage, divorce x 3 and still find happiness in many things. This morning it was getting carded for cigarettes & right now in the middle of an awesome thunderstorm.

Dumbfounded - just the word cyanide gives me the chills. WTF? What sort of safety/protection did they have in place. Sounds like nil. That has to be the worst.

Tripping- Retail - yuck. Cashier same.

Telemarketing/tele Rep - I am so not cut out for that either

I was successful in tech support once. Only female on the team back then. I'd get some jerks who'd refuse to talk to me because I was a woman, and but flip-side often requested the most by name...

Darkx - sounded like a lawsuit for sure, but I can relate to the zero confidence or self esteem.

Comicgeek - what a load of crap they fired you for being over productive. I mean them. What a----. Live and learn I guess.

I've been given sound advice not to give 100% out of most jobs because they usually expect more and more, which is sad because I'm a people pleaser and tend to allow myself to get trod on.

My last job - 8 bosses. Helped lead to my breakdown. Fired me the day I was diagnosed.

Unemployed - I have time to take assertiveness classes, or therapy, or Aikido (I used to, it was awesome!) I don't want to be a whiney little doormat forever, you know?

I will need to join the ranks of the employed soon. I was a shy Bingo caller once. Turned scarlet whenever I had to shout,"...And that funny number.... Oooooo 69....O69". I don't list that on my résumé.

[wildflowerchild25]

I worked in a department store in a mall. Doesn't sound bad but the mall was totally dead. I would get maybe five customers a night. I also had to work in the men's department so I had to answer questions about suits and stuff. Soooooooo boring. Sometimes I got through by singing the musical "rent" in its entirety to myself. I was rarely interrupted by a customer lol.

[faerie_moon_x]

By the way, sticking power was always my problem too. I was a huge job hopper. Always had some great "logical" reason for jumpping jobs. KFC is probably the only job with actual good reasons to quit.

The majority of my jobs I only stayed at them for 1-2 months each. My longest job pre-diagnosis was 6 months. This job I've been here at 5.5 years now. I think the difference is I have my family and I have been homeless adn I don't ever want my kids to have to be hungry, or have to use shady practices to fill their tummies. We may not be rich, but we have food and a house with light and running water.

[notALICE]

Originally Posted by tcmoon52

My worst job was tailing off for a rip saw in a molding mill, 63 hours a week.
Like all my jobs, I did great for 6 weeks or so. As I worked I lost sleep, it started a hypo-mania and then by 8 to 10 weeks, complete exhaustion.
Then my anti social behavior and I was out of there in a week. I had a great Union job unloading Semi Trucks. The problem there was the initiation process for new union workers. I never did good with playing games with other men. I lasted about 8 weeks, and then was falsely accused of physical
violence, on a number of occasions. lol I never made it 12 weeks on any job, and have only had around 10 total.
I had my own business for 15 years, sunglasses, 3 months a year, I had a major breakdown 5 years into it, up until then I was only on a anti depressant, which I think fueled the Hypo-Mania which allowed me to build the business. After being DX'D Bipolar and put on meds I sold them from home the last 10 years. Still can't figure how I did it. Now it's the simple life for me.

Antidepressants put me in acute mania before my Dx. I'm happy to hear its the simple life for you. I swear all I crave is a simple life. Not even normal, not dull, just less drama & stress. With 8 kids could it ever really be simple?

My longest job lasted 3 years, and even that was a miracle. My boss & the whole staff were like family (well not like my crazy real family).

WildFlower - boring, where it's hard to stay awake? When you have to start singing rent to yourself... The image makes me laugh.

I want a job where i can help others. Maybe I'll go back to college. i have to take small obtainable goals with that also. i burn out quick, but have hope maybe I'll find my niche.

Hope is a powerful thing!

8 bosses?? No wonder you needed to take Aikido lol.

we were given a pair of gloves. plastic ones to handle the plates and cyanide. nothing else.

All of my jobs were terrible.
I was overworked, underpaid,
treated terribly.
That's one area in which I never knew
how to find that right job.
I'm going to school so at least my job
prospects can improve.
One incentive to going to school is
to learn a trade so I can find a job
outside of Washington state!

[BlueInanna]

nAlice - you tell a great story!! tapping maple trees... love it. Great title & topic.

my worst had to be the Dollar Store... so boring, ringing everything up all costing the same, the same, the same lol.

i was pregnant with first child - and the smells in that place had me running to the bathroom puking frequently. They had those "imposter body sprays" right next to the register, and customers spraying them all non stop... barf.... just to go home and give stoner boyfriend my piddly paycheck ughh!

[notALICE]

I was hyper sensitive to smells during pregnancy. Also migraines. I've worked super hard most of my life. Giving myself a little break, to be more involved with my last "baby". 11.

Thinking back, i change my mind. Stay at home mom - hardest job ever - hands down. My first husband forbid me to work. I had six at the time. Started with the toddler jargon out in public. "I gotta go potty".

[optimize990h]

Ahhh, it had to be the job of getting rid of dead chickens. I had to bury the chicken carcasses in a deep hole that I had to dig by hand. The only thing worse than the odour was the maggots moving the carcasses like they were still alive. 0-0

[notALICE]

Originally Posted by optimize990h

Ahhh, it had to be the job of getting rid of dead chickens. I had to bury the chicken carcasses in a deep hole that I had to dig by hand. The only thing worse than the odour was the maggots moving the carcasses like they were still alive. 0-0

Oh Lord - eeewwwww. Three questions:
1. How long did you last in that job?
2. What was the pay like?
3. Do you eat chicken now?

[Cocosurviving]

I had a job as a telemarketer, selling long distance.
I also had a job as a bill collector. They were both equally
horrible.

[pixielou]

My worst job was more like a worst moment at a job. I was 14 and got a job cleaning at a small old folks home thru a friend. Cleaning was cool I thought because in those days old people scared me. I never really had any grandparents and the old/sick person thing was really foreign to me. So I was doing pretty well and making better money than I did at Burger King. Untill one day.......my boss came to me with a. "special" assignment. She led me to the hall bathroom and it was coverd in what looked like a poop hurricane. I am not sure how so much crap could come out of one individual it was all up the walls, on the floor and let's not talk about the toilet. I was pretty new and the lowest on the totem pole so........I snuck out the back door and never came back. I couldn't get the smell out of my nose for a couple of days. HMMM

[notALICE]

Talk about a sh*tty job, huh? Sorry, couldn't resist. Stomach turning. Vomit would have been added to the mess if I had tried.

I heard bio-hazard jobs like cleaning up for crime scenes pay super good, but they've got the gear.

[redbandit]

Originally Posted by BipolaRNurse

My worst job was telephone soliciting. I lasted exactly four hours and ran out of the place in tears.

I did that too! I managed to last my 8 hr shift then couldnt go back.