What was the best and worst job you ever had?

[OCGuy81]

Even though I love what I do now to quote Wayne's World "I (once had) an extensive collection of name tags and hairnets."

Probably my favorite job I ever had was working for a small video store. My sister and I were in high school and she got me the job. It was literally getting stoned, talking about and watching movies, and laughing when the nervous guy would enter the store, waiting to make his move behind the curtain to the adult section (after verifying he didn't see anybody he knew...it was a small Wisconsin town). Good times.

My worst?? My one and only stint as a server when I was in college. I worked at. Chili's and vowed I'd avoid the restaurant industry thereafter. Ever seen "Waiting "? Accurate movie.

[JayhawkCO]

My favorite job: Waiting tables at a place called J. Alexander's.  It was my first foray into finer level dining, got to learn a lot about wine/spirits and we just had a great group of people who worked there that all worked hard for each other.  And we made great money.  Even though I hadn't worked there in 5 years when I got married, I think there were 13 or 14 of my former co-workers at my wedding.  We were a close-knit group.

My least favorite job:  Honestly, I've liked pretty much all of my jobs for one reason or another.  I guess the worst was a small restaurant that I worked at briefly that had an asshole chef, a completely clueless GM, and super variable clientele.  Some nights you'd make $300.  Some nights you'd make $25.  I only worked there for three months before moving on.

Chris

[kphoger]

I loved driving forklift.

I hated pushing shopping carts in the snow.

[Max Rockatansky]

Driving an armored car for a week called the bone crusher.  Those were 14 hour days and included carrying piss bottles since I wasn't allowed to leave the car or eat.  For obvious reasons I quit, that company actually had a big class action settlement regarding wage fraud a year later. 

Edit; also I was threatened by a Union Rep the first day on the job during orientation.  Apparently not joining the union was going to be "trouble for me."  

[OCGuy81]

My favorite job: Waiting tables at a place called J. Alexander's.  It was my first foray into finer level dining, got to learn a lot about wine/spirits and we just had a great group of people who worked there that all worked hard for each other.  And we made great money.  Even though I hadn't worked there in 5 years when I got married, I think there were 13 or 14 of my former co-workers at my wedding.  We were a close-knit group.

My least favorite job:  Honestly, I've liked pretty much all of my jobs for one reason or another.  I guess the worst was a small restaurant that I worked at briefly that had an asshole chef, a completely clueless GM, and super variable clientele.  Some nights you'd make $300.  Some nights you'd make $25.  I only worked there for three months before moving on.

Chris

Sounds like you had a way more positive experience in the restaurant industry than I did....probably chalk that up to my working in a chain restaurant

[JayhawkCO]

My favorite job: Waiting tables at a place called J. Alexander's.  It was my first foray into finer level dining, got to learn a lot about wine/spirits and we just had a great group of people who worked there that all worked hard for each other.  And we made great money.  Even though I hadn't worked there in 5 years when I got married, I think there were 13 or 14 of my former co-workers at my wedding.  We were a close-knit group.

My least favorite job:  Honestly, I've liked pretty much all of my jobs for one reason or another.  I guess the worst was a small restaurant that I worked at briefly that had an asshole chef, a completely clueless GM, and super variable clientele.  Some nights you'd make $300.  Some nights you'd make $25.  I only worked there for three months before moving on.

Chris

Sounds like you had a way more positive experience in the restaurant industry than I did....probably chalk that up to my working in a chain restaurant

I did it from age 20 until this past November.  It good to have a job you like.  I feel like if I had been in different restaurants, I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much.  My first serving gig was Red Lobster where I learned the guts of the job, but then moved into nicer places pretty quickly.  Then eventually went into management and was GM of some of the higher profile restaurants in Denver.

Chris

[kphoger]

My least favorite job ... had ... super variable clientele.  Some nights you'd make $300.  Some nights you'd make $25.

Strip joint.   

[JayhawkCO]

My least favorite job ... had ... super variable clientele.  Some nights you'd make $300.  Some nights you'd make $25.

Strip joint.   

If that were the case, I guarantee the patrons would have paid for me to quit.

Chris

[frankenroad]

The two worst jobs I had were being a factory worker the summer between my junior and senior years of high school in an un-air-conditioned factory, and being a Director in a Fortune 50 company - even though I was making 6 figures, my VP was a challenge to work for (I'm being polite), and I was stressed constantly.

Like some others, I have worked off and on in the hospitality field.  I even owned my own deli for a while.   I loved most of that, but we were never able to turn a decent profit, so it was also very stressful.

The job I probably had the most fun at was when I was a bartender in a summer resort town.

I spent several years as a corporate trainer; all-in-all that was probably my favorite job.

[Rothman]

My last job was the best job I had until they finally found an incompetent manager I couldn't get along with.  Had three other ones prior to him that were just fine.  Best job became not so hot without my assigned duties changing.

Worst job was probably a wholesale florist I worked at.  Wasn't really trained and then they spent their time yelling at me for whatever little rule they didn't tell me about.  Essentially got fired from it...and the entire place went under shortly afterwards.  Pretty much laugh at it in the rear view mirror now -- a workplace of idiots.  Feel sorry for those for whom it was an actual "career," though.

[Roadgeekteen]

Never had a job

[DandyDan]

If money is not a consideration, the best job I had was the delivery job I had between 1996 and 1998. This was right after I moved to Omaha. I got to drive a company van around Omaha and various points nearby, including Lincoln several times and once each to Grand Island and Sioux City. I never did find anything to do in Auburn, NE the weeks I had to do that route, though. The only time it ever felt like work was making pickups and deliveries. Of course, money is a consideration and eventually, I quit because I could see they were on a path to bankruptcy, which they did 2 years after I left.

The worst job was at the DeKalb, IL 7-11. It was clear from the first day the manager was clueless and didn't care about anything but his own career advancement. I quit within a week.

[jeffandnicole]

By far, the absolute worst job was being an auditor.  It was my first main job out of college.  I started just before January, and you have to work Monday - Saturday until April 15.  No days off. Minimum worktime was something like 2,300 hours a year (normal 40 hour week is 2,080 hours a year).  One of the partners would talk about going to the beach and reading new accounting statements as her leisure reading.  And the senior I was stuck with was a hard ass pain in the ass.  Had to wear a suit every day.  There was nothing enjoyable about the job.  I escaped after 8 months.

Every other job was enjoyable.  A job with Chase Bank was interesting and sad at the same time.  If you've driven on 95 thru Wilmington, there's one large tower near the highway.  That was where I worked.  We would get people's payments for their credit cards when they didn't include the remit slip with their payment.  If the account number was on the check, no big deal.  But sometimes, you'd get a money order for $20...and that was it.  No name.  No account number.  There was absolutely nothing you could do with it...there was no way you could apply it to the person's account.  I actually felt bad for these people.

My current job I've been there 23 years, and the worst days are still better than that other job out of college.  The interesting thing is that part of the job is dealing with auditor's bank confirmations...which I had to send out as part of that first job.  And I see these confirmations, and I know they're sent by the junior auditors starting out...and wonder how the hell they were approved to be sent out.  Account numbers are wrong.  Incomplete return information.  No care in their work whatsoever.

[Scott5114]

I have had two jobs (that actually paid real money) in my life, and the second one, working in a casino, was both the best and the worst. Best in that it paid a pretty good living wage–I was able to buy a house without a college degree–and had decent benefits, but worst in every other possible way.

Casinos are required to follow strict regulations, which means that management ends up being completely inflexible about every possible thing, and regulations get applied in situations they make no sense and cause extremely stupid and frustrating things to happen. And people are literally watching over your shoulder to make sure you follow all the rules–managers can order DVDs from the surveillance cameras and comb over them looking for things you did wrong, like not counting money 3 times before handing it out or forgetting to show your palm to the camera to show there is no money stuck to it. I still have a "cheat sheet" list that has 45 bullet-pointed rules on it, and that's just the most common and important rules. If someone had it out for you they could pull up some rule from deep in a manual somewhere and write you up for not following it.

Things finally came to a head during the depths of the pandemic, after the casinos re-opened after having been declared nonessential and closed for two and a half months. We had mask rules but nobody was enforcing them strictly enough (you could get away with not wearing a mask if you just sat around sipping a soda). Management demanded we all expose ourselves to this environment to "clean" with off-brand Windex, not even a disinfectant, even though by that point the CDC had been saying for months that covid spreads through the air and not by surfaces. I decided I didn't want to live every day being afraid of catching a deadly disease to do something pointless just to make a manager feel good about doing something, so I walked out on them after 10½ years of working there.

[Max Rockatansky]

I had to think about what my best job would have been, I would say my current one after thinking it through.  It isn't as action packed nor has as much travel as my previous jobs but is infinitely more stable.  The fact that I'm vested in a pension, have tenure and numerous other almost extinct benefits carries way too much weight for it to be out ranked. 

[texaskdog]

Best-driving for Uber (stupid company for sure and not a stable job but SO much fun).  Worst-working fast food.  Made it only one day.

[I-55]

Night Shift security guard - best. Only did about three hours of actual work, got to read forum and watch YouTube for 5.
Plant floor worker - by process of elimination worst. Payed well but doesn't stack up against the work/pay ratio of the former.

[CoreySamson]

I only have ever had one job: I ref kids soccer games. The money's good ($15 per game minimum, plus mileage gives you even more), it's good exercise, and I just like soccer in general, so I like it. Yeah there are dumb coaches and parents, but overall it's fun.

[Scott5114]

The money's good ($15 per game minimum, plus mileage gives you even more)

If the game and setup time lasts 2 hours of real-clock time (i.e. not following the game clock), $15 is barely over minimum wage.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Best - Sports announcer. It's not stable pay because it's seasonal and I've had issues with contractors not paying out, but there's nothing else I want to do with life.

Worst - Burger King. You all know what that life is like.

[Scott5114]

Best - Sports announcer. It's not stable pay because it's seasonal and I've had issues with contractors not paying out, but there's nothing else I want to do with life.

Back when I was working the above casino job, I did a stint in off-track betting, which made fantasize a bit about becoming a track announcer. I have no idea how one goes about getting into that, though, so I never pursued it.

Some track announcers work multiple tracks with opposing seasons, so they always have a gig.

[DandyDan]

Best-driving for Uber (stupid company for sure and not a stable job but SO much fun).  Worst-working fast food.  Made it only one day.

In the dying days of my time with my current employer in Omaha, I worked with someone who loved working for Uber so much he blew his chance at severance pay 3 weeks before the end. I myself considered it, at least as a part time job, but then I did some serious research into Uber and that was it.

[formulanone]

Best: I really like my job now - travel around set up software and train people in the automotive business; they pay me to drive/fly, and visit so new places I'd never been before. Most expenses are paid for, and you keep all the travel perks. I've been doing it for over 10 years; so I'm mostly left alone to do my thing. There's the usual perils of life on the road which we all know too well, but I go home almost every weekend.

Best past job: delivering pizzas was a lot of fun in my care-free days; though food was usually not free, unless an order cancelled, it was just driving around and listening to music, and 99% of your customers are happy to see you. (You'd be surprised how much that last one can mean to your day.) You can actually sleep in, and I was able to make some decent money for the time, but I only did it for about a year and moved onto something a little more professional...eventually the same roads do wear you out a little.

Worst: delivering newspapers in the early hours of the morning. I did that for three months; no days off, you "pay" for the newspapers and successfully deliver them to get "paid back", customers will complain that you put it too far away, that you missed their home, a section of the paper was missing, it got wet during a rainstorm (imagine that!), so you'd magically miss out on your weekly "perfection bonus". Then you're considered a business to the IRS for buying newspapers a re-selling them, so then more taxes were taken out, so you were basically an at-will contractor.

When the biggest perks are a free edition and that you can occasionally drive on the wrong side of the road, there's not much going for the job.

The money's good ($15 per game minimum, plus mileage gives you even more)

If the game and setup time lasts 2 hours of real-clock time (i.e. not following the game clock), $15 is barely over minimum wage.

I'd imagine that's a job that 99% of the participants do it for the love of the sport, and the pay (if you don't have to worry about major expenses) is just icing for a teenager.

[jeffandnicole]

Uber - I drove some people around, and it was fun.  Saw some different areas; saw where people tended to go.  I only did about 50 - 60 rides total, mostly on lazy Saturdays in the spring when nothing else was going on.  After I got used to it, I'd log onto the Driver app at home and puttered around until I got a ding.  I was ready, car was ready - just had to jump in and go.  A few occasions the rider was within a few blocks.  Best gigs were going into Philly, because normally after that it was non-stop dings...and non-stop rides.  But when summer hit, supply of drivers went way up as teachers and college students tried to earn some money, so often I would be sitting around, or would just come back home, waiting for the next rider.  Tried getting a rider on the way back home when I was done for the day; sometimes it works out.  Shortest ride was a young woman who wanted to go from a nail salon to the Wawa...across the intersection, then back to her motel, about a 1/4 mile away.  I think she was a "lady of the night", but she was harmless.

Worst thing about Uber for me - the app.  The driving app just sucked.  Once, taking someone to the 30th Street train station in Philly, it routed me onto the Schuylkill Expressway, and told me I was at my destination...on the highway in the tunnel under the station!  Luckily I knew the area enough to get them to the correct point, but still...how could that have happened.  And that's a thing about Uber...you may know a faster way, but the rider probably doesn't, so you don't want to stray from the app's directions as the rider doesn't know what your intentions are.  And if the app was showing a different way due to an incident, you'll be the idiot delaying the rider while you sit in traffic on a route the app didn't tell you to go.

The money's good ($15 per game minimum, plus mileage gives you even more)

If the game and setup time lasts 2 hours of real-clock time (i.e. not following the game clock), $15 is barely over minimum wage.

Well, when you're 17 and you're basically the boss overseeing a bunch of kids running around a field, what's wrong with it?

I umpired for a while in my late teens, and my pay was a hot dog and soda!  Again, something fun.  I thankfully generally didn't have any issues.  One kid was kind of an instigator but he was cool to me.  I did have to throw him out of one game though after he was called out on a swinging 3rd strike and threw his bat - far.  Not a single person argued with my decision.

I did have one manager pull his team of 10 years olds off the field because they didn't like my call at 1st base on a close play.  They weren't exactly Little League Championship material anyway. And this was before cell phone cameras, so I didn't have a bunch of people trying to replay the incident, so no telling who was right.  Guess what...at the major league level, there are still missed calls.

[Scott5114]

Best past job: delivering pizzas was a lot of fun in my care-free days; though food was usually not free, unless an order cancelled, it was just driving around and listening to music, and 99% of your customers are happy to see you. (You'd be surprised how much that last one can mean to your day.) You can actually sleep in, and I was able to make some decent money for the time, but I only did it for about a year and moved onto something a little more professional...eventually the same roads do wear you out a little.

Yeah, that's definitely true. When I worked as a cashier at the casino, it was perfectly fine at first because most people were cashing out tickets when they won (if they lost all their money they had nothing to cash out, obviously). Then they gave us the ability to get money off of people's credit cards for them, and the job quickly became miserable because now 75% of the customers were people who had lost all of their money and were getting more off the credit card. Sometimes you'd see the same customer come back 4 or 5 times, increasingly agitated, as they were trying to win the money back that they lost and were just digging the hole deeper. All of the winners just went to the cash-out machines since they didn't want to stand in line behind the credit card losers.

The money's good ($15 per game minimum, plus mileage gives you even more)

If the game and setup time lasts 2 hours of real-clock time (i.e. not following the game clock), $15 is barely over minimum wage.

I'd imagine that's a job that 99% of the participants do it for the love of the sport, and the pay (if you don't have to worry about major expenses) is just icing for a teenager.

Well, when you're 17 and you're basically the boss overseeing a bunch of kids running around a field, what's wrong with it?

Well, he said that it was good money. I wanted to put it into perspective for him. I don't want him to end up getting a job once he's a young adult, use his current job as a yardstick for what is acceptable, and get shafted.

The average employee in the United States is shockingly ignorant of their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act and other employee-protection laws–probably by design. I made it a point to learn all of the relevant human-resources regulations when I started my first business, just so that when I had employees (ha!) I would be able to abide by them, and it opened my eyes to the abuses that my employer was enacting on my coworkers (funny how they always avoided doing it to me), and they had no clue that the company wasn't actually allowed to do that.

In any event, Corey says that $15/game is the minimum, so it's possible he is getting fairly compensated for his time if they are providing additional pay if the game or setup time runs long.