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We all have to start somewhere...don't we?



I was watching this poor woman running herself ragged over the weekend serving drinks to unappreciative guests. It wasn't very long ago that I was in that spot. I served for 5 years while I worked my way through college. It was a long 5 years.



And then I started to think about some of my very first jobs. Ughhh...I had some bad ones. Isn't it fun to think about how far we have come?



My first job was WASHING DISHES!!! I washed dishes for this little family owned diner. One night...right before I quit (I was so nervous to tell them)...I stacked a bunch of monkey dishes (little dishes for things like cottage cheese) up a bit too high. They all went sliding down and crashing all over the floor. I stood there with my mouth hanging open...unable to move! They took those dishes out of my first check!!! My first check was for like 18 bucks!! I only worked there through the first pay period. That was not for me.



Second crud job was Taco Palace! LOL...I actually worked there for a few years. I could make 6 tacos in one hand. Trust me...I was a valued employee.



Where did you start out? Have you had any cruddy jobs? Any stories you can share?

The last bar I worked in was a total nightmare. The woman who owns it is 81 years old. Her parents built the bar in the 40's and she took over after they were gone. She runs it like it is still 1947. She refuses to serve black people. I have no idea how she gets away with it, but she always managed to run them out. Funny, I thought their money was green just like anybody else's.

She would also ride my ass about giving out more than one cocktail napkin with each drink. Yes, really. I was called to the carpet, in front of my customers and screamed at about the price of "everything." "Goddam napkins cost money!!!!" The placement and number of bar towels on my bar was also a topic for scrutinization. A small portion of the very long list of things that were screwy about that place. I can only assume that she is reaching senility. Oh, yeah, she threw Bullet out once, too. He was sitting there drinking a coke and reading a book of all things and she told him she "didn't like 'his kind' in the bar." Go figure.

Anyway, since I am sure I'll be asked, I stayed there for as long as I did because I was making $900 a week. But there does come a point when your principles are worth more than money.

Myself and another bloke had to stand up, 9 hours a day, in a deep freezer (luckily we had the protective, warm clothing), and unwrap and throw away rotting hamburgers - the smell was disgusting!!! With the money I bought myself a shirt and a few other bits & pieces!!!

I've never been able to settle on a career - even with a college education - so I've had every low paying - "house negro slave" job in the world. I don't mean this as a racial slur - just a description of middle management.

I once worked (for a week) at a chinese buffet restaraunt that 'recycled' food from uneaten plates. I felt humility and shame for the poor family trying to make a living but discusted at the same time.

well let's see....terrible job experiences....try being shot at, cut, spit on, cursed, the back seat of your cruiser windows kicked out, and having HIV blood spattered on you. ...all in a days work.

well let's see....terrible job experiences....try being shot at, cut, spit on, cursed, the back seat of your cruiser windows kicked out, and having HIV blood spattered on you. ...all in a days work.
Nice to see that you can put a smiley face at the end of all that!!

I worked in a chemical plant in the early 70s. I stayed there two weeks. It was just long enough for the shoes I was wearing to rot off my feet. I had to go into a vat to arrange some catalyst that were loose. We had to wear a rubber suit and a face mask. When I got out my shirt tail had found its way out between the top and bottom of the suit. My shirt tail was gone…eaten up. I was gone soon after that.

Been in Hotel business all my years. Met all kinds of everything. Some very nice folk, others not so nice. Worked my butt off some 10 to 16 hours a day. Wow, its great to live again.

you guys have been through it! nice to look back and see how far you have come though. eh?

I've had a total of 10 jobs in my life starting at 16 as a restaurant worker at Worlds Of Fun, a local amusement park. I've hated every job since except for my 4 year stint as a bus driver shuttling people to and from the airport to downtown hotels. I enjoyed driving the big macho bus and meeting people from all over the globe. I've been at the current job 11 years in July. All I can do is sigh....:yh_tired

capt_buzzard wrote: Been in Hotel business all my years. Met all kinds of everything. Some very nice folk, others not so nice. Worked my butt off some 10 to 16 hours a day. Wow, its great to live again.


I know exactly what you mean. We had a motel for 12 years. They take over your life, and not only that, when a maid doesn't show up you get to clean toilets.

When I left school I worked in an old peoples home for two months as a 'care assistant', but I was actually a glorified cleaner, ok somebodies got to clean up after all the old dears but the home already had eight cleaners! After the first month I realised I didn't like what I saw, old people who were considered to be a 'pain' were given medication and shut in their rooms, there was a definate difference between 'paying' patients and 'social' patients, paying patients had lovely large rooms set up as lounges/bedroom with all mod cons, social patients had smaller bedrooms often shared between three people, with nothing but beds and commodes. We weren't allowed to even sit and talk or comfort the patients.

I soon left.