Only job I ever had that I considered a good job was flipping burgers at McDonald's

[NNN0LHI]

It wasn't a well paying job or a job with any benefits. But it was air conditioned, easy work, and plenty of young ladies to date. I was young, not married and getting more ass than a toilet seat. Just didn't make any money. Minimum wage is what I got.

Worst job I ever had was working in a union auto factory. Hot(It was a hundred degrees in the winter), needed to wear big sound deadening earmuffs to keep from going deaf, and dangerous as hell. But it was the best paying job with the best benefits I ever had. Made enough to support an entire family on with that one paycheck. But it sure wasn't ever something I would have considered a good job. Just a well paying job.

How about you. What was the worst and best job you ever had?

Don

[MADem]

1. My best and worst jobs were in military service.

The nice thing about military service is that if you are in a job that sucks, in a couple of years, you have the opportunity to change jobs. The bad thing about military service, if you are in a job that you love, in a couple of years, you are forced to change jobs!

It keeps one hopping, at any rate.

Now they are more likely to homeport people, so that they can purchase a home and a spouse can get settled into a job and a promotion track, but during my heyday it was more of a "Those aren't invitations, they're orders" attitude.

[CrispyQ]

2. Best, worst & best paying:

Best job: a shipping clerk at a company that shipped high tech particle counters around the world. I worked with a small group of people - the factory manager, the shipping department & the freight carriers. I did letters of credit, customs paperwork, bills of lading. I loved that job. It kept me busy so time flew by & as soon as I walked out the door it was over. It was one job I never took home with me.

Worst job: Whole Foods regional corporate office in the IT department. Lousy manager - in over his head & wouldn't stand up for his people. We had 4 open positions the entire year that I worked there. Once in a while they would bring some poor saps in for an interview to give the rest of us the impression that they were really going to fill those positions, but they never did. We were on salary, so if we had to work 70 hours a week to keep our heads above water it didn't cost Whole Foods a fucking dime & they were happy to perpetuate that. Cheap bastards.

Best paying job: Working as an exec assistant for a high powered CFO who had a hard time getting along with her assistants. For some reason she & I got along fine & after my first year working with her she gave me an unbelievable raise! When she left the company I went with her & she gave me an additional $10k in salary at the next place. She's also the one that told me I'd be a good programmer, which led me to eventually quit my job with her & pursue an IT career. She said she regretted ever telling me that, but I know she didn't really.

[Auggie]

3. Wasn't so much the job as the boss

A few were very supportive and took time to help me grow. Many were condescending or stifled advancement.

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. agree. The relationship with the boss is very important. Gawd help u if your boss is a

micromanager.

[TBF]

4. Best paying was paralegal work in large firms -

once I had some experience I was in 6 figures with my OT (in the 1990s - double time past a certain amount of hours per week and triple time for holidays! With a base in the 50-60s you double your salary quickly with those kind of OT rates).

Worst job (and worst paying): working in the farmhouse for a "mom & pop" family farm. They grew cucumbers, had migrant workers come in to pick in the fields, shop folks to process everything, and I had to babysit for their 4 kids, make meals for at least 12 people twice a day. Plus laundry, keeping the house clean, etc. $1/hour. This was in the early 80s.

Best job out of the house: moved up to working as a nanny for very wealthy folks in the summers during college. Pay wasn't much better but I had a vehicle, the maid service cleaned my suite along with the rest of the house, and I hung out at the club and/or beach with the kids all summer.

Best job overall: right now I am home with my kids because my husband makes enough for both of us. Windows everywhere and I love hanging out with my dogs

[Blue_In_AK]

5. Worst job was working warranty claims for Toyota.

My job was to tell people why their vehicle was no longer covered under warranty. It sucked.

My best job was working as secretary and paralegal for one of Alaska's best and most colorful criminal defense lawyers back in the late '70s and early '80s. I loved that guy. We had so much fun.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. "Hard work is good for you." Usually said by rich people who don't work.

Having worked for 45 years, I consider it a highly over-rated pastime. And, it's obvious why they have to pay people to waste their lives doing it.

[democrat_patriot]

8. McDonalds - first job, summer vacation, parties and girls girls girls. Who needs $ at 16?

Worst - My first real job after college - accountant. At work by 6:00 Am, booooooring. It was horrible as hell.

[NNN0LHI]

10. Side Note

McDonald's wouldn't let the guys with long hair work there.

My hair at the time was down to my waste so I purchased a cheap short haired wig to ball all that hair underneath of to hide all my hair with. It worked.

Just had to learn how to play the game.


Don

[TlalocW]

9. Mine - with caveats

This is going to be long, but it's therapeutic. I should state that I realize I can be an impatient jerk who can act rashly when I believe I'm in the right... which, let's be honest, is all the time.

Before 21-years-old (I'm 40 now, graduated high school in 91)

Paperboy (Best) - When I was 12 or 13, Dad came to my brother and me and asked what we would think if he got us a, "small motorcycle." By that, he meant mo-ped. I was ambivalent and a little surprised as I'd rather have had a new computer, and offering us kids something like that wasn't in Dad's nature. Anyway, he got us one, and we rode it in the backyard (we were on an acre of land) for a year. Then he got us paperboy jobs along with another mo-ped and put giant-ass chickenwire baskets on the back. 5 years delivering papers at 3 in the morning was actually a great job. It took us about an hour to fold and deliver them, and we would go back to bed for 3 hours before getting up for school. Being young, we could handle it. It paid really well, and we could get another part time job in the evenings/summers if we wanted, or if we felt we needed to concentrate on school, we wouldn't. Only problem was for my first year in college, I would wake up at 3, sit straight up and think, "I've got to deliver papers!" before looking around, smiling, and going back to sleep.

McDonalds (Worst) - Summer after my freshman year, I got a job at the local McDonalds of the town Mom moved to. I was in the back flipping burgers, which I didn't mind. I consider myself a hard worker but also expect others to do their job as well. This was in Kansas in a small farming community, and the McDonalds stayed open late during wheat harvest so the farmers could come get a crappy burger if they wanted. One night, we got slammed, and the only people working was a high school girl at the register and me in the back. Everyone else (at least 8 employees) were in the manager's office gossiping and ignoring my yells for assistance for over an hour. At the end of the night (around 2 in the morning), I was scheduled to close (meaning clean), and I (calmly) made my displeasure known to the manager, explaining my feelings on the situation when she decided to go off on me and started yelling at me not to tell her how to do her job. I calmly took off my apron and hat, folded it up, set it on the counter, took off my badge, handed it to her and said, "See ya." At which point she panicked because the place was a horrible mess (why? because no one else was doing their job, taking out trash and whatnot) and started to make nice because if I didn't clean up, she would have to. When I didn't reciprocate, she threatened me with a write-up, and I turned and laughed, "You really are that stupid aren't you? I'm not leaving early - I'm quitting. Have fun cleaning! Maybe think about how you SHOULD do your job over the next couple of hours." Finished the summer out repainting the outside of a Sonic Drivethrough.

Adult

Worst - After getting laid off from a programming job, I got a job with Sprint Tech Support. This was in Tulsa in the CityPlex Towers, which are three "skyscrapers" across from ORU that houses the remnants of Oral Roberts' hospital that a 900 foot Jesus told him to build and other office space rented out to other businesses. First two weeks consisted of training, which required us to get there at 6 but never started until 7 because the instructor was never prepared - either in getting us materials, setting up visual displays, or even planning what we were going to talk about that day. I got a lot of non-work reading done and used breaks to call every employment agency in the book. Boss for my team wanted us to know two things - he was a devout Christian, and that if we ran into his ex-wife, don't tell her where he was working. He was also a highly competitive jackass and would make fun of people on his team in a malicious way in meetings. This was right after the Do Not Call list had come out, and Sprint was getting around it by having tech support offer upgrades to customer plans while figuring out their tech issue. We were supposed to do this at least 65% of the time. A lot of promises were made to all of us (not just me) which were never followed through on, and I couldn't stand the environment - the holier-than-thou asshole as boss, co-workers talking about "teh gays," helping drunk people at 1 in the morning figure out how to download the latest ringtone, etc. and I knew I would be quitting soon but hung on until I lined something else up. When the boss called me to his giant cube to wring me out for not meeting the upgrade offer percentage, I replied back that a lot of promises were made which had been broken, and that didn't "incentivize" me to meet the percentage. At which point, he started yelling at me which made me yell back at him, throwing all the crap he had thrown at us back in his face and quit (a week or so earlier than what I was planning on). He was stunned someone would stand up to him so it took him a few seconds to get up and come chasing after me, but I had reached the elevator banks by then. I pushed the call button and one opened up immediately. I then went to the stairs and quickly went two stories UP and sat down. I heard the boss come out the office, yelling my name, and then heard, "Damn!" as the elevator doors presumably shut on him. He then entered the stairwell and ran down 20 flights of stairs trying to catch me.

Best - Balloon twister and magician (primarily balloon twister). I started doing this as a hobby then after six months started getting hired for jobs and turned it into a side business. When I lived in Tulsa, it wasn't enough to survive on, but it saved my butt a couple of times and paid off some credit cards. I've now moved to Kansas City where I hope to take it bigger. I'm an advanced balloon twister meaning I rarely do one balloon sculptures at parties, and I make life-sized things like monsters for Halloween, Santa and the Grinch for Christmas, brides and grooms for weddings. I'm busier than I ever was; it's challenging; it pays well, and it makes everyone happy. Oh, sure, the boss (me) is a jerk, but I know how to handle him.

TlalocW

[Dirty Socialist]

11. Best And Worst. Both at Procter & Gamble

Best: Helping to develop a home drycleaning product at P & G.

Worst: Watching antipersperant dry(!) at P & G.

[EC]

12. Cocktail waitressing was the best.

Everyone was always in a good mood. It was in an old folks dance hall, so no down side as far as groping idiots. Loved it.


Worst was Retail Management. Long hours for shit.

[laundry_queen]

13. Interesting thread.

Best: Bank job. I multi tasked and worked in different departments, but mostly as a teller and receptionist. It was also my best paying and had great hours (9-4 or 10-5 Mon-Fri).

Worst: busgirl/waitress at a small family restaurant. The owner was the cheapest dude on the planet. I got screamed at for putting one too many lettuce leaves on a cesar salad. I was often left to waitress the whole restaurant on my own because the owner didn't want to bring in an extra waitress to overlap the hours, and then he'd get pissed off at me when someone would order alcohol and I'd ask him to serve it since I was underage. He tried to get me to do it. My pay was shit and I was sexually harassed constantly (at age 14).

[bemildred]

14. Floor crew in a big box.

Two in the morning, put some classical music on, and push the machine around ...

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. I worked in a warehouse one summer filling orders

It was not air conditioned and the boss was the meanest I've ever had. We wore skates to move around the warehouse and fill orders faster. One guy hid around the corners and tripped the women as they skated past him. We showered and changed clothes at lunch. It was that hot.

Best job, other than my current job, was as a waitress in a bar. The owner was the best boss I've ever had. Just a wonderful man who treated his employees well and ran a great business. I'd go back to work for him in a minute.

[cali]

16. Great Question!

Worst job I ever had was working on an assembly line at a decrepit factory in South Boston with barrels of toxic chemicals all over the place, where they broke the windows in the ladies room so the women wouldn't linger in winter. I became quite ill, went from 120 lbs to 94 lbs (I'm 5'6&quot , developed nose bleeds and quit after 10 horrific months.

I've had some interesting jobs. I actually loved my job working for the 1%ers. I worked at the Somerset Club in Boston. I was the fisrt woman other than a maid or waitress to work there. I arranged social functions and flowers- concierge type stuff. I designed my own "uniform"- long dark skirt, silk stock tie light colored blouse, low heeled pumps. I wore my hair in a bun and felt like something out of a Henry James novel. And I know I shouldn't confess it, but I quite liked some of the doddering old men who recounted Boston political and social history to me and treated me quite sweetly. The pay wasn't bad, but I only stayed a couple of years. I started dating one of the members who had an apt adjoining the club and management found out. No, he wasn't married.

[NNN0LHI]

18. That was a greater answer!

I really loved reading your story.

Thank you for taking the time and effort to post that cali.

We really all are family here.

Don

[cali]

21. Thanks Don.

We really are.

[PCIntern]

17. Best job: Dentist ------> Worst Job: Dentist

95% of my folks here are the nicest people - would be great neighbors, extended family, or friends. The other 5% - well, God forgive me for what I'm thinking...

I could go on and on...I'll spare you BUT, when my book comes out, you're all going to have to read it!

[xmas74]

23. I adore my dentist.

I've never had a problem with him and am thankful for the day we found him.

Of course, I'm sure there are others who don't see things my way.

[loli phabay]

19. best soldier or sbepherd worse grill chef

I was so allergic yo the oils used on the mongolian grill my skin literally crawled.

[Luminous Animal]

20. Worst: At 16, a lifeguard for an apartment complex swimming pool...

6 days a week, 9 hours a day. When I was hired, I was told that the office refrigerator would be stocked with food for my "lunch" but the entire summer, the only thing in there was a giant box of frozen hotdogs. I was constantly sexually harassed by the 20+ something residents. The teenagers gave me shit regularly, and one drunken man tried to physically assault me when I asked him to leave the pool at closing. The only good part of the job was that, towards the end of the summer, the residents were over their "pool excitement" and rarely used it. For several weeks, I had hours and hours to myself... free to read books.

Best: Working in the cash cage at K-Mart while I was in college. I adored my co-worker and we could finish the job in about 1/2 or less the time that was allotted leaving the rest of the time free to study.

[Tsiyu]

22. Fun thread, NNNOLHI

Worst: Cleaning toilets in a casket factory. Rows upon rows of caskets.....big, booming metal stamper, burnt gasket smell, messy, nasty workers.

Only did that for a month to pay my mortgage, then got a great job with my own gigunda office working as exec assistant to a CEO friend.

Best: It's a tie. Talk show host/producer for two years was more fun than a grownup should have, and there was a fairness doctrine so this liberal could go on the air...

or

Licensed Respiratory Practitioner working in pediatrics. Always a thrill when a kid made it, making up for the times when they didn't.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

24. Worst job? 4 tedious years in the Marine Crotch doing absolutely nothing beneficial to anyone.