And You Think Your Job Is Bad!
Tonight we began a study of the book of Nehemiah. The namesake of this Old Testament book was a displaced Jew, a slave in Persia. His job? He served as cupbearer to the king. Now on the surface that does not sound so bad, unless you are thinking of an athletic cup. His responsibility was to sample the food and drink before the king would partake. This was not so much for the sake of taste, as for the sake of poison. In other words, if Nehemiah fell over dead, then the king would know to order a different dish.
Now I know many of us sometimes complain about our jobs. Perhaps the hours are too long, pay too little, appreciation seemingly non-existent. How wuld you like to have this man's job? No wonder he felt the need to be close to God; the next cupcake could be his ticket to Judgment Day.
Of course the message of the book is how God took this ordinary man, living under less than ideal circumstances, and used him in amazing ways. It is a fast read, with practical application, and I encourage you to take less than an hour to read it through.
I was thinking about bad jobs, and I've had my share. As a teenager I spent one summer picking up dead animals from the county highways and disposing of the bodies. And my supervisor did not care what we did with them, as long as they were out of sight. Now that was a bad job! I remember being offered a day's pay to wade out into the sewage disposal facility of my hometown, to unclog the drain. They offered pretty good pay. I declined. Probably my worst job as an adult was to pastor a church full of nice folk, who happened to be racists. Given the choice, I'd rather unclog the drain.
I remember a Saturday Night Live skit, from years ago, which featured Bill Murray as an attendant in a Roman vomitorium. His job- to wipe off the spittle after the disgorging. That's bad!
How about you, can you futher enlighten my knowledge of bad jobs? Please tell me about the worst job you have ever had.
02.01.06 (9:48 pm) [
edit]
posted by:
Fairmoon (
reply)
post date:
02.01.06 (4:53 pm)
the worst job i hever had was pretty tame by conparision. I worked in the shoe department of a large department store and I spent all day helping fat old ladies squeeze shoes that were a size or two too small on to sweaty nyloned feet. The smell of sweaty nylons still makes me feel queasy.
FM
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.01.06 (5:05 pm)
That is a bad job. My wife, before we married, worked in the shoe department of a large department store. Every night, at closing, she would find several pairs of old and worn-out shoes which had been exchanged for new shoes. The thieves just walked out of the store wearing their new shoes!
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.01.06 (5:15 pm)
Slap him with road kill? And you know, in a previous job, I could have provided you with the roadkill. I've worked with those kinds of people. Sometimes I tried to make them my friend, worked real hard at it, and sometimes it worked. And other times, I had to slap them with roadkill. In a Christian sort of way, of course.
posted by:
preceptlady (
reply)
post date:
02.01.06 (6:38 pm)
My worse job was working for this sleezy realtor. Paid me squat while she made millions. But who do you think was out putting up her signs in the heat while she drove around in her new Lexus? She was a mean and money hungry woman and ran over those who got in her way.
I quit. That way she had full reign to go where she wanted to without me in her way.
posted by:
bacardibreezer (
reply)
post date:
02.01.06 (7:56 pm)
Eek those sound pretty bad. Mine haven't been too bad, except once I worked 12 hour shifts and that was hard, and I know I'll never go back to Wal Mart...
posted by:
graceshaker (
reply)
post date:
02.01.06 (8:45 pm)
i was a corrections officer for the state of texas. ive been cussed at spit on bitten attack with a pencil shiv and a host of other things too numerous to mention.
i enjoyed that job more than being a minister. at least those people would do it to your face.
posted by:
onebadjen (
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post date:
02.01.06 (8:50 pm)
i love my job... and honestly can't say i have had a "bad" one.
posted by:
ScubaDiva (
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post date:
02.02.06 (4:01 am)
The jobs themselves haven't been bad. The bosses I've had are a completely different story...
posted by:
FinalyFree (
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post date:
02.02.06 (7:51 am)
I worked for a family friend in my early 20's who owned a commercial cleaning business. I worked a few evenings a week cleaning the restrooms of a large sewing mill. It was a new, modern building but the employees were beyond nasty. The women would leave used feminine hygiene products laying in the floor and the grown men would smear boogers on the mirrors. Finally I went to my boss and told her I would never clean that kind of filth up again. She talked to the company management and they in turn talked to the employees. Things got a little better but never completely stopped, so I stopped cleaning there. I made great money for a few hours work but you have to draw the line at some point, you know?
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.02.06 (7:55 am)
Reply to: FinalyFree
Cleaning boogers from mirrors would qualify. did you use windex, or did this require their individual removal with tweezers? I'll have to say that, perhaps, is worse than my "dead dog removal" job. It is a specialty, though.
posted by:
Jevam (
reply)
post date:
02.02.06 (10:16 am)
Ughh I worked in dish pit in a restaurant for 2 weeks. Worst job. You have all this food that people have half eaten on you all night. You get pretty soaked. And I was there until 12:30 when my shift was suppose to end at 11:30. It was horrible the cooks the waitresses everyone treated the dish pit like crap. They would make us miserable because we were seen as the bottom of the barrel.
posted by:
guerillafunk (
reply)
post date:
02.02.06 (11:22 am)
No real job here (as you know XD ), but I have officially been confined to the house and given a mound of chores, including thorough toilet cleansing, litter box freshening, and dirty-dish washing. MM-MM Good.
posted by:
DrForbush (
reply)
post date:
02.02.06 (12:37 pm)
All of my jobs have been tolerable for the most part. I've had bosses that weren't the nicest, but they tended to find other people to focus their energy on. I've had fellow employees who focused their hate on me for short periods, but having a good boss can straighten those problems out. My most Physically difficult job was loading trucks for a summer. I had to join the teamsters in order to do the job, and the initiation and dues can be painful...
posted by:
waffles (
reply)
post date:
02.02.06 (5:25 pm)
My worst job was "janitor" at a bar. Let me tell you how nasty it is unclogging a sick full of vomit...
posted by:
Sillygrrl3 (
reply)
post date:
02.02.06 (5:32 pm)
I worked in a laundry factory for a few years in high school. Think hospital and hotel linen and towels... I won't get into the things that didn't wash out in some loads.
Not so fun!!! Kara
posted by:
TaBooTenente (
reply)
post date:
02.02.06 (5:57 pm)
my sophomore year as an undergrad, i spent my summer waking up at 4am 7days a week to do a newspaper route, then when to 66 motel (not to be confused with motel 6) to be the cleaning maid.
sounds bad, perhaps, but the kicker was this: it was an hourly place. people rented rooms by the hour, and i had to clean up--
this is a public blog, so i'll let everyone's imaginations do my dirty work, pun intended.
and yet, if you add that summer to other jobs (such as inserting catheters, wiping backsides, staffing mental wards) if you add them all together, they look like the job of a retired golfer compared to my job running the foster care system for adults with developmental disabilities, for the county government where i used to live.
ever try to be a social worker while working for the government--especially in a state where year after year people refuse to tack $16.00 to their yearly taxes to fund health care facilities?
that was the worst job i've ever done in a lifetime of bad jobs. outcome? i'm back in school. moral? study hard, kids.
taboo
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.02.06 (7:19 pm)
Reply to: TaBooTenente
So, $16 yearly added to state taxes would fund health care? I'm for lower taxes, but when the matter is stated in those terms, I am quite willing to fork over the money.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.02.06 (7:21 pm)
Reply to: Jevam
So, a waitress and a cook would dare to look down their noses at a dishwasher? How typical of human nature. For the same reason the poor and ignorant look down at those of another race.
Thanks. That was a bad job. Hope you have moved up in life.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.02.06 (7:22 pm)
Reply to: guerillafunk
Litter box freshening. Now that is a unique job skill, and you should make sure it goes on your resume.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.02.06 (7:24 pm)
Reply to: DrForbush
What a good insight: a good boss does make a tremendous difference in the quality of a job experience.
I'm interested. You lean to the left with your politics. With your personal experience with the Teamsters, are you now a storng advocate of their trade union?
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.02.06 (7:26 pm)
Reply to: waffles
Waffles, please do not share those details. A janitor at a bar is a very bad job. I hope you have moved up to, say, being a janitor at a restaurant? Waffle House?
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.02.06 (7:27 pm)
Reply to: Sillygrrl3
And to think those linens go back into the rooms, to be used again. I shudder to think, especially when I stay at a motel. Thanks for making that experience even more repulsive.
posted by:
princessapricot (
reply)
post date:
02.02.06 (8:55 pm)
I LOVE the story of Nehemiah. It's one of my favorites. But...that wasn't the point. Bad jobs...waitressing at a high-end joint where the patrons left me penny tips because they were cheap. I lasted two weeks. Worked my butt off, serving people who thought they were better than me because of their zip code, and treated like dirt. Good times.
posted by:
sweetsue (
reply)
post date:
02.04.06 (6:56 am)
That is one of my favorite stories in the bible..and yes he did have one of the worse jobs..and so did you,but one thing it gave you...a good sense of humor!My worse job hasn't happened yet..so I consider myself the lucky one here...great post Pastor Dave..Have a great weekend!
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
02.05.06 (6:51 am)
I'm thankful to have never had a really gross job for any length of time. One warm autumn, the real estate company I briefly work for had their annual "buck contest" whereby the bucks would be brought to the parking lot of the business to be displayed for a dew days. As the new guy, I was the official "buck hanger." In all, 18 bucks. It was hard work but not too bad though the whole point was lost on me.
As I said though, it was a warm autumn. Taking them down a few days later was a whole lot more disgusting. Talk about stink.... Talk about flies. Yuck.
