The Job Thread!

I was watching The Office on DVD Saturday morning and got to thinking....what jobs have I had over the years. I made a list. Here it is with explanations:

1. Dairy Farm - 1989 age 15 - mostly baling and loading hay. Very bitter-sweet job. I loved the physical and outdoor nature of it, but I'm allergic to nearly everything living and growing on a farm. That fact caused me to reconsider Farming as a career. Made $2.50/hr plus home-cooked meals!

2. The Big Wheel - 1990-94 - First tax-paying job. This was a Department Store. Sort of a small-town Kmart. Mostly stock-boy, but did some spot cashier work. I liked it. Contact with the public (aka - babes) and some good co-workers.

3. University Of Akron Computer Lab - 92-93 - My first on-campus job. This was pre-internet days and I never owned or used a computer, so I was learning DOS and whatnot on the fly. First month was brutal, because my job was to problem solve and help the people who used the lab. By faking it and trial and error I was nearly an expert at the end of the Spring Semester. Wish I would have kept up with computer technology, but after that job I didn't touch a computer until late 95 early 96 and by then things had taken off and I was completely lost.

4. McDonald's - Fall 92. This was 6 weeks of my life I'll never get back. I hated this. This was on Akron's campus. Yuck. Part of my 41 hour work weeks during my Freshman year. Not advised.

5. Apples - 1994 - This is/was a grocery store. The Big Wheel had gone out of business and I had dropped out of school for a year. Was extra help during a remodel.

6. Hills - 1994 - Another Dept. store. Stock boy. This was a drudgery.

7. Masco Tech Forming Technologies - Summer of 94, 95, 97, winter of 95. The coveted factory job in Minerva, OH. First above minimum wage job. In the Summer they always hired college kids for extra help. This was a cold-forge and talk about working for a living. I felt sorry for the dudes we left behind when we went back to school in the Fall. Standing at a hot press all day. This was always a nice reminder that I did NOT want to drop out of school again.

8. Minerva First Christian Church - Intern Youth Minister -Summer of 1994, 95. My home Church. In 1994 and 95 I did this with the factory job and was working 65-70 hour weeks. Somehow it was fun and managable!


9. A Parking Garage - 1994-95 - Downtown Cincinatti, OH. This is probably one of my favorite 2-3 jobs ever. I sat in the toll booth and took money, tickets, etc...
Sounds boring, but I brought my cassette player and for the whole shift listened to metal and socialized with the city workers who parked in the garage. Had a lot of crushes on chicks who worked in the city and even got a date out of it with an old(er) chick. I was a small town dude and was overwhelmed. Even got asked out by a Korean dude!!!! I was too nice to him, I guess, and he misread it!! I turned the poor little dude down flat, (but nicely) and he never went through my line again.



10. Dollar General - 1995-96 - I went to Kentucky Christian College and this was in Olive Hill, KY. This was an eye opener. My first contact with Appalachian hill folk. My manager was a painfully hot chick just a few years older that I was. She never even looked my way.

11. Janitor - Kentucky Christian College - 6:00 janitor on campus before classes.

12. KCC Cafeteria - 1995/1996 Floor buffing crew. My best friend and I were after-hours floor men for the cafeteria. I mopped, he buffed, Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden blaring!! The "good" Christians must have thought we were possessed!

13. Indian Run Christian Church - Summer Youth Minister - Summer 1996. My first home Church. One of my best Summers ever. They wanted me to stay on, but the pay wasn't quite in line and I had other plans.

14. African Christian Mission - "School Teacher" - 1997-98. I was in a weird "I must suffer like Paul" phase in my life so I choose the worst possible Internship for my college studies. I could have gone to Missouri!! Instead I end up in a village in Mali, West Africa!! Most bitter-sweet 9 months of my life. If you could condense the best things in the 9 months into 1 month it would have been a great trip, but the other 8 months were brutal misery. Didn't get along with the family I was with and struggled for the first 6-7 months with cultural things. Towards the end I was cool with Africa, but was ready to get as far away from the family I was working with as I could.

15. Superior Chrysler - 1998-99 Salesman - Ashland, KY. WORST JOB EVER!! I'm not a salesman. This is what The Office reminds me of, but car sales are so much more miserable. However, people in real life are just as weird as in The Office. My manager was a guy who was divorced 4 times, but to only 2 women! We had an old salesman who only cared about what he looked like and how he dressed. We had an older one who claimed Christianity so strongly, but was the biggest back-stabbing cheat of them all. The Finance Manager was also easily the hottest person I ever worked with. She was Tropicana Bikini Babe hot and new it and dressed that way at work. smurf-for-hire!!

16. Kentucky Wild Boys' Home - Winter/Spring 1999. I quit the hated car sales job, and needed something as a stop-gap until I got married. That's not the real name of the place, but I can't remember it. It was a home for teens/young men with MHMR issues. It was a surprisingly rewarding and interesting job.

17. The Dog Man - Easliy the weirdest job I've ever had. This man who used to be a lawyer or something but somehow lost it all. He started taking in dogs and kept going and going until he had so many he didn't know what to do. SO, he bought some land in the ABSOLUTE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE in the hills of Kentucky. He lived there in a shack surrounded by more than 200 dogs!!! He couldn't leave the dogs because he was the Alpha Male and they have formed packs and if he left they'd start fighting and killing each other. SO, every two weeks I'd take my pick up truck and travel the Tri-State area picking up his donation cans. I would buy his groceries and pick up donated dog-food and expired raw meat from groceries stores. I'd pack thousands of pounds of crap in my Ranger (I had a cap on the back) and over-stress that poor thing. I'd end my day delivering it all to this dude who hadn't left his dogs for over TWO years from the point I started working for him. It was called The Trixie Foundation. His main thing was that I get him BEER so he could sleep at night!

18. Abilene State School - 1999 The first decent job I could get when my new wife and I moved to Abilene, TX. 2nd or 3rd worst job. MHMR adults. Dealing with, feeding, changing, bathing MHMR adults is no treat.

19. Abilene Fire Department - Dec 7, 1999 - present. Easily my best job. This literally has changed my life. I thank God ALL the time for this job. I believe He had a hand in getting it. 468 candidates for 9 spots...and I get it? I neve even wanted to be a FF, it just wasn't the State School. But once I got it I realized how fortunate I was. I love this job and I'm thankful for it. Our Academy was the hardest thing I've ever done (basically 18 hour days for 5 months straight) but once that was over....bliss!



Lets have them, fellas! It's been fun thinking back.



Can't believe I forgot!!! In 03/04, 04/05, 05/06 I reffed Jr. High and High School basketball as well. I was also an RA at KCC last year there. Thanks for the reminder FF!

I graduated in 1992. I didn't sober up enough to get a job until 1994.

Here are some places I have worked

Parkersburg, WV

1. Pizza Hut (cook/shift manager)
2. Randy Givens Car Care Center (car detailer)
3. People's News (clerk)

Moved to Columbus, Ohio

4. Van Driver in Amish Country (Ohio)
5. Tim Horton's (grunt)
6. Pizza Hut (shift Manager)
7. Time Warner Cable (dispatcher)

Moved to Orlando, FL

8. Time Warner Cable (dispatcher II)
9. SPCA of Central Florida (vet tech)

Moved to Lakeland, FL

10. 911 Operator (Polk County EM)
11. e911 Addressing Specialist (Polk County EM)

Moved to Bartow, FL

12. e911 Development Review Technician (Polk County EM)

Okay, I'll play:

First job:
Paramus (New Jersey) Little League, Summer of '85
I was fifteen years old and umpired Little League games at $10 a pop. I'd do two or three games on a Saturday, one or two weeknights, and was blowing all the $$ I made on cassettes, comic books and Samantha Fox posters for my wall. Ahh, youth! Along the way I learned how foul-mouthed little kids could be when they didn't like my calls, how foul-mouthed said kids' PARENTS could be when they caught me in the parking lot after a game, and how many little league coaches were d*cks who were trying to re-live their failed youth sports dreams, at the expense of the kids on their teams. Bobby Knight had nothin' on some of these guys. One of the other umps once had to break up a fist fight between two coaches. I personally would've just stood back and let'em beat the crap out of each other.

Rickel Home Center, Paramus, NJ - late 86-summer of 88
This is a now-defunct home center chain that was within a 5 minute walk from my house, I worked in the lumber yard for a big fat $4.25 an hour. I would load people's cars/trucks with their 2x4s, sheet rock, ply wood, etc. and occasionally got to drive the fork lift to unload deliveries. I could do some mean donuts on that fork lift! I was the only white kid on the lumber yard crew so I was introduced to a lot of early rap/hip-hop of the time by the other guys I worked with... I was hip to Public Enemy at least two years before Scott Ian and Anthrax made their t-shirts fashionable for "metal" kids and several years before they did "Bring The Noise" together. I eventually split this job to go off to college.

K-Mart, Paramus New Jersey - various times between '89 and '94
Did this on and off for too many years. While I was in college I'd work there to earn some $$ while I was home for Christmas break, or home for the summer, etc., etc. I guess I must've been one of their better employees because they'd always take me back. I unloaded trucks, sold electronics, ran a cash register, re-stocked vending machines, pretty much anything they wanted me to do. When I graduated from college in 1992 and couldn't find a "real" job right away I took a full time gig there... which turned out to be the worst year and a half of my life. They made me a Manager of the Seasonal Department (which was a "promotion" on paper only, because it didn't involve more $$ or respect) and stuck me with an ever-changing "team" of random high school doofuses to work under me. I had never outright hated K-Mart when I worked there as a part timer, but during that year and a half as "Seasonal Man," I became extremely depressed, gained about 20 pounds, developed a drinking problem, and cultivated a disdain for humanity that still lingers to this day.

Wagner College - Staten Island, NY 1991-92
I was an R.A. (Resident Assistant) in the dorms during my senior year of college, not out of any particular sense of duty to my school, but due more to the fact that R.A.'s got free room & board, which was a much needed break for my family's finances. Much of that year is a blur because they put me on a "party floor" and I probably violated the rules more than I enforced them. I was a pretty easy going R.A., if people wanted to party, I let'em go nuts as long as the noise level was tolerable, I did break up a couple of fights here and there, dragged a few people back to their rooms if they passed out in the stairwells, and did my best to keep everything from falling into utter chaos. I was told that my speech I gave to my residents during the first week -- "Don't f*ck with me, and I won't f*ck with you, and by the way, if you're dealing dope out of your room, make sure I get a cut" -- became semi-legendary over time.

The Shopper News - 1994-1997
This was my first job in the so-called "Newspaper Industry." It was for a little local weekly newspaper and I was their "Sales support" person, meaning I would do order entry for the sales reps, make appointments for them, take phone calls, occasionally I'd get to leave the building and go show a "proof" ad to a customer. That was kinda cool because if I went, say, to a Pizza place I'd usually be able to scam a free slice while they guy nit-picked over the details in his ad, or whatever. One time I got to drop by an aerobics studio while what looked like "MILF Aerobics" was in session, and once I even got to collect a payment at a go-go bar! All that eye candy and then I'd return to the office and get re-imbursed for the miles I just drove!! It doesnt' get any better than that, folks.

North Jersey Media Group - 1997-Present
My current employer bought The Shopper News in 1997 and I've been round here in one capacity or another ever since. I used to think about breaking into reporting but for one reason or another have remained "behind the scenes." Besides my old sales support position, I've also been a proofreader, a graphic artist, an ad layout specialist, yadda yadda yadda.

So that's it... and where I go from here, who knows?

i worked in construction & did roofing from high school, up through college, then on to what i do now. before that it was just random restaurant or janitorial jobs during my middle school years.

Notice most of Scott's jobs have to do with a hot babe?


First job: McDonalds.-4 weeks and I echo what Scott said

Second: Import Plaza-A retail store that was owned by one of the richest men in Portland and run by his family. Fun but dysfunctional place and one uncle that was always there was always drunk on Saki.

Third: Janitor at my church through the rest of High School. Me crankin' metal through the sound system. Large, old church buildings are scary places at night which is when I did most of the work. I was vacuuming once and one of the staff touche my shoulder from behind, almost tore his head off.

Fourth: Minute Lube-Now owned by Jiffy Lube. Was actually stoned much of the time here as was my manager. Bad place in my life.

Fifth: Brindar Design-A locally owned screen print shop doing designs on clothes. Became a manager here once I stopped being stoned. Did this through most of my
20's.

Sixth: Bergen Brunswig-A wholesale drug company I worked at twice, once at 25 and again at 27. Worked nights, sucked. Went back to Brindar.


Seventh: Izzy's Pizza Restaurant-A buffet where I was a glorified busboy but had like 15 tables. Actually made $15-$20 an hour working 30 hours a week. Was going to school again and trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Weird job. A gal from high school I used to like started coming in and giving me her phone number. And older gals (then) in their 40's would hit on me. From 27-29.



Eighth: Christian Supply-A book/music store where I worked in the warehouse and became shipping supervisor. The guy who owned this also owned Pamplin music, one of the worst christian musick labels ever. Also they filmed Bibleman in our warehouse. Fun job but I got downsized.


Ninth-Did various jobs after getting downsized but we knew we were aiming for the boys ranch where i'm at now as a Youth Service Worker.

I did farm work when I was in High Scool.Everything from Tobacco to Hay and whatever else needed to be done.After H.S I went to college for a year,then dropped out and started working in the real world:

Black and Decker,Shelbyville,KY(1991-1992)We made saw blades and packaged them.Not a bad job.3rd shift sucked though.

Tatum Auto Supply(1992-1998)Exactly what it sounds like.An auto parts store.I worked here as a counter person.Working with the public has its up and downs but for the most part not a bad gig.

Wilson Brothers Chevrolet(1998-present)I graduated to a GM dealership.I still work in the parts department so its not much different than the former job just better benefits.Sometimes!

NumbskullakaNazgul wrote:

Also they filmed Bibleman in our warehouse.

That's awesome. Did you get to meet Willie Aames?

Quote :

Notice most of Scott's jobs have to do with a hot babe?

Ugh...not any more!!

Spec - Amish Country van driver....sweet! I love Amish Country.

Great stories!! I thought of this because of The Office and also one day my wife looked at me during a conversation and said "You've had some strange jobs". I didn't realize it until I thought about it and wrote them all out. What a ride. Think of all the people we've all come in contact with at our past jobs.

I've had 2 jobs my entire life.
1. Morgan Pontiac/Saturn 1991-2000 I did everything but sell during my stay here, left in 2000 mostly for a change of scenery.
2. Courtesy Chevrolet 2000-Present. Shop Foreman/Slavedriver, Fun job, never a dull moment.

First job - Summers from the age of 14 until I graduated from college I ran a game stand in an amusement park in PA. Usually I ran the one where you throw balls and try knock over the fuzzy guys that are mounted on a hinge.

Senior year in college - Worked at a Holly Farms chicken packing plant in VA. To this day, I don't buy Tyson chicken (they bought out Holly Farms).

First "real" job - I did data entry and some programming for a ministry in TN. I also wrote the "appeal letters" that were sent out every month.

1988 - 1991 - Worked as a programmer for a Swedish - owned manufacturing company in Jackson, TN. We made chainsaw guidebars and chain. One of our bars was used in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

1991-1995 - Worked as programmer for different plant of the same Swedish company in CT.

1995 - present - Software developer for huge rental car company

Hamer12 wrote:

I've had 2 jobs my entire life.
1. Morgan Pontiac/Saturn 1991-2000 I did everything but sell during my stay here, left in 2000 mostly for a change of scenery.
2. Courtesy Chevrolet 2000-Present. Shop Foreman/Slavedriver, Fun job, never a dull moment.

Thats cool Hamer.You're right about the "never a dull moment" at a GM dealership

Quote :

Spec - Amish Country van driver....sweet! I love Amish Country.

I drove a route from Columbus, OH to Ft Wayne IN everyday. I loved that job. Nothing like being closed up in a 15 passanger van with a couple families of unbathed Amish people.

If the company didn't fold and I didn't move to Florida, I bet I would have never left.

I have no ability to find one right now 8 months damnit.

lots of little odd jobs in the 4 years I have been in the workforce.

include (but not limited to):

computer tech (office jobs suck)

warehouse worker (work part time on night now, wonderful job)

Food delivery (still do this part time, going on six years now)

Camera man (about 3 years and counting, also part time)

Fence worker (a summer or two)

I don't have a career I just work part time all the time.

Wendy's for a little while...didn't work out.

I have had 2 jobs and both were/are in factories. The first job I did warehouse work. My job I have now I do machine maintenance.

Schbopo wrote:

Wendy's for a little while...didn't work out.

You got fired for dippin your nuggets in the barbecue sauce, didn't you.

1) Subway - sandwich maker - first job, did it for 2 summers, it sucked....
2) Dart Drug - cashier - sucked too, this was a summer job
3) Heaven & Earth - Worked at a Chirstian bookstore. The cool thing was I got to decided what Christian Metal was stocked in the store!!!! That rocked!!!!
4) Sub Station II - night supervisor, back in the sandwich business
4) Professional Housecleaner - don't laugh, paid the rent while in college, worked around my class schedule, didn't have to work nights or weekends
5) Taxi Driver - no joke, made good money, when I graduated from College, no jobs, recession
6) Food Delivery - yep, it sucked
7) waiter - down at the ocean front at Va Beach during the summer, good tips
Wendy's - Manager, they where hiring anyone with a college degree, the job sucked
9) Boston Market - Manager, they recruited me, offered me more $$$

10) Recruiting - couldn't stand the food service industry, kind of fell into recruiting in 1997. Started with a recruiting agency, did that for a year so I could get recruiting experience. Went to a large company (corporate), left to go to AOL (great place to work for the first 2 years, then after the AOL/Time Warner merger it sucked. Everyone from the old days left). Went to a small company as the director of recruiting (director of myself, lol!), then to a lartge gov contractor (current job, love it, great place to work!)

SpectreFate wrote:

Schbopo wrote:

Wendy's for a little while...didn't work out.

You got fired for dippin your nuggets in the barbecue sauce, didn't you.

I would have fired Skeebo for that too, lol!

thejokeriv wrote:

...left to go to AOL (great place to work for the first 2 years, then after the AOL/Time Warner merger it sucked. Everyone from the old days left).

Small world, I worked at AOL from 2004 - 2006.

Quote :

the AOL/Time Warner merger

I worked for Time Warner when this went down. Luckily I left a month before the merger kicked in.

1995-1997 (age 15-17)

Bagger at Kroger grocery store and cashier once I turned 16. I became the fastest cashier and bagger there and stayed up there. The first thing I was ever really good at. This did however start my dislike of customers.

1997-1998 (age 17-19)

Cashier at Tom Thumb. Not only did my dislike of customers increase, my hatred for cahiering began. I was good at it but it bored me to tears (that and the music sucked).

1998 (age 19)

Cart attendent at Target. Loved this, it kept me busy and was quite a work out as well. I had to cahier when it got real busy but only for a short period of time. Towards the end during Christmas I worked at the Christmas tree lot which was awesome because I got to use a chainsaw . I quit the week of Christams to rest before being shipped out to the navy.

1999-2003 (age 19-23)

I went through boot camp, electronics tech school, and H.A.T.S. school. Two six month deployments and a lot of stuff in between. I could write a whole book chapter on my experience there.

2003 (age 23-24)

Unemployed.

2003-2005 (age 24-26)

Gas attendent at Albertsons. My dislike for customers became all out loathing during this time. People in Plano are royal ass clowns.

2005-2006 (age 26)

Much better than Albertsons as far as customers but more boring because I couldn't listen to music or sit down and read during slow periods.

2006-present (26-?)

Wal-Mart associate. Started out in electronics which was great during the holidays but boring as hell afterwards. Because I didn't do a sastisfactory job of keeping and eye out for shoplifters I was moved to Pharmacy with the promise of going to grocery. Ended up loving the Pharmacy but was soon moved to grocery. Grocery is not boring but was exhausting and I started developing wrist problems. Finally got back into Pharmacy and I am now the official overnight pharmacy stocker. This is so far (apart from the navy) the best job I ever had (paywise as well).

2007-present (27-?)

Albertsons. I went to a different feul center this time and most of the customers were a lot more pleasant tha Plano customers (though I still had the occasional customer I wanted to strangle). In July of last year they shut down the feul centers and I was in limbo for a month before starting up as a grocery stocker. Unfortunatly I can't listen to my own music and have to suffer the ear drum numbing crap they play. However, it has allowed me to stagger my hours and have days off (at the feul center I worked 10 hours a day on my days off at Wal-Mart). the five-four hours I work before Wally World go by quickly but facing the frozen area before I leave gets on my nerves (I hate cold and the damn boxes refuse to remain standing).

The future:

I will start going to auto mechanic school later this year to become a mechanic. If all goes well, I may go into business for myself (or with a partner) and open my own shop (unless I become a vocalist for a band and become famous ).

Way too many to post here. My last job was working for a Pharmaceutical company called AmeriSourceBergen I made great money there.

As far as working now, I havent worked since October of last year..

This economy is killing all of us