what have you done to make a living?

[BiBunny]

Taking you back to 92 -

It is the size of a football field, per floor. Or was. A sea of desks ringed by offices - and there was no way to transfer a phone call to the appropriate party - no actual phone directory - so calls would come to my desk and I could only route them back to 0 and hope they fared better.

They sat me at a desk for a month because someone didn't like his phone to go to voice mail. That was why.

His phone rang twice the whole time I was there. I was never given anyone to report to, anything else to do, or any other sense of why I should be there. It was like something out of Heller.

I made more hourly than I did until I started prodomming.

Good Lord. It's theater of the absurd in real time.

 

[CurlyKat]

- babysitter
- house sitter
- pet sitter
- kennel tech
- sandwich maker (Quizno's, Charley's, Jason's Deli)
- yearbook writer
- chemistry lab intern
- ID card maker
- newspaper writer/editor/photographer/designer
- neuropsychological assessment administrator
- dog washer
- cashier/customer service rep

 

[gloriann]

• babysitter
• food server
• kitchen help
• fast food worker
• food server again
• kitchen help again
• field worker for the telephone company
• temp
• closed caption editor
• lab assistant
• paralegal
• food server yet again
• bartender
• financial industry peon
• fast food manager
• education

 

[sb2009]

nursing home "kitchen girl"
chambermaid at a four-star bed and breakfast
I also did a bit of prep-cook work in the evening when the sous didn't show up
Personell specialist in the Army
Temp employee for retail, office work
Receptionist for a secretive clean-room product provider
Print shop customer serice
Fast food
Hostess for Ramada - worst job ever. Requried to work 12 hour shifts without going to the bathroom or eating.
Photojournalist for US Army
Assisant to the Director for a miltary child care center overseas (not Assisant Director)
Foreign Military Liaiason for at US miltary training installation
Public Affairs Specialist at a Community College
Training Coordinator for Rape Crisis Center
Office Manager at a University.


I have moved a lot due to spouse being military, I'm not a stupid person who jumps jobs for no reason. Not that there's anythign wrong with that.

 

[Netzach]

Wow, that is surreal. I would have been so tempted to just wander off and start snooping. (Or maybe you did?).

There was nothing to snoop - too crowded and loud.


I forgot also - I sold dementedly overpriced clothing for almost 2 years in there!

 

[Blushing Bottom]

Babysitter
Fast food joint
Bar maid
Jewelry making
Pizza joint
Laundrymat
Forensic Psych RN
Maid for a Day
Clothing store
Toy store
Nanny

 

[Master_plus_1]

• data entry (bookkeeping)
• ran a computer gaming website
• website designer
• database administrator
• programmer analyst

 

[rosco rathbone]

farm hand
government clerk
valet parking attendant (they actually do take your Porsche out for a spin around the block, just like Ferris Bueller---no shit.)
lifeguard (in a girlscout camp!)
door-to-door salesman
cake decorator
baker
supercilious bookstore clerk
art handler/exhibition installer (unframing French Impressionists with an off-duty cop standing over me)
welder-fitter
machinery rigger
ironworker/steel erector

 

[where]

erector

*sighs*

 

[Sir_Winston54]

farm hand
government clerk
valet parking attendant (they actually do take your Porsche out for a spin around the block, just like Ferris Bueller---no shit.)
lifeguard (in a girlscout camp!)
door-to-door salesman
cake decorator
baker
supercilious bookstore clerk
art handler/exhibition installer (unframing French Impressionists with an off-duty cop standing over me)
welder-fitter
machinery rigger
ironworker/steel erector

Okay, some of those (bolded) sound like fun!

 

[sweepthefloor]

Paper girl
Cashier
Graphic Artist
Towing & Recovery Driver (wrecker & flat bed)
Truck stop waitress
Sign fabrication & installation
Muse
Nurse assistant
Registered nurse

 

[ivantheterrible]

forgot:

farmhand

bartender

 

[bitchee62]

I'm probably going to forget a few;

From 14 to 47

Waitress & cook at the family restaurant loved the cooking hated the waitress bit

Tester at an electronics plant until they packed up and went to Mexico

Rode and trained race horses until I blew my knees and accidentally ran a horse over a trainer who didn't like no

Dancer...OK Stripper for 6 months or so. It was more fun than I ever thought it could be. The money was great and it helped me with my extreme shyness.

Cook at the restaurant used in American Graffiti the real name of it is Mearle's

Then I tried college found out I still hated structured/controlled learning.

Got married had children and helped my husband with our business. Phones, paperwork, billing and anything else that needed to be done. The same time we were building our business I ran a small beef ranch(?) 80 acres seems to small for the term ranch. Lesson learned from the ranch cows are stupid worse than sheep! But grass fed beef is xtra lean and delicious.

Moved across the country to help the in-laws. Worked in a grocery store deli

Automotive worker from the assembly dept to the weld dept then the quality dept. Loved the quality dept did everything from interior inspection to road testing (second best job ever) loved the test track.

Right now I'm traveling with my husband, making sure he is taken care when he has to go on the road or at home.

 

[seela]

-cashier in a small bakery that my friend's family owned
-gardening in a local cemetery
-cashier in a supermarket - hated it, never ever again
-working in a bookstore
-providing research material for a linguist
-stripping models out of their clothes in a fashion show when they had to change super fast
-substitute teacher in highschool
-conference secretary x2
-substitute teacher at university
-teacher in a large company for the employees that wanted to brush up their language skills before they were shipped off to open a new branch in a new country
-doing transcriptions for the aforementioned linguist
-research assistant
-writing subtitles to movies and TV documentaries
-substitute teacher in highschool again

Many of my jobs have been gigs for a couple of months. The longest contract I've had has been a year for both university teaching and for the large company. The stripping models out of their clothes gig unfortunately was only 2 hours.

 

[Bandit58]

Worked in a bank for a year and a half.
Then I was a farmer's wife for the next 23 years. We owned our own farm (with a big mortgage). I helped rear lambs and calves and two children. Plus did all the bookwork and paid all the bills.

I left and worked as a teacher aide part time (10 hours a week) supplemented by the dole. I then worked for the dole ("work based training" ) in a council office.

Since I moved to Australia 6 1/2 years ago I've mostly been on a carer's pension except for a short stint as a receptionist in a brothel

 

[BigMeanie]

I once sold Fuller Brush products door-to-door.
Some of their products make dandy adult toys.

 

[wynnie]

Lets see....

first job was at Wendy's (there are some days that I can still smell the grease!)
Then.... Worked the customer service desk at a resort.
then.... Data entry
Then.... Photographer and manager of studio
and Now... Massage Therapist for the past 12 years!... I love what I do. I get to touch people all day!!

 

[Miss Sixxy]

lifeguard
babysitter
college lunch room worker
teacher
sales associate at American Eagle and Kohl's
customer service for cable
dispatch supervisor for cable

 

[midwestyankee]

First paid job ever was probably raking leaves and mowing lawns in my pre-teens. Jobs for which I received a pay envelope or check:

Scout camp counselor
Grocery store bagboy
Library assistant
Tutor
Babysitter
Henhouse cleaner
Poultry processor (grossest job on my list)
Poultry road crew (2nd grossest job on my list)
Boiler repairman's assistant
Paper mill grunt worker
Dishwasher (girls' camp was the first such gig; I was 18, they were not)
Dishwasher 2 (restaurant in a high-traffic tourist town - had to bust my ass big time)
Teacher Corps teacher
Prep school instructor (taught scions of the Woolworth family and granddaughter of Artur Rubenstein)
Graduate school teaching assistant
Translator
Translation service account executive
Editor
Automotive parts marketing research
Corporate trainer
Sales coordinator
College instructor
Stock broker/financial planner
Insurance salesman
Proofreader
High school teacher
Training consultant
Instructional designer
Professional speaker

Jobs that I performed gratis:
Radio announcer
PA Announcer


A few of the jobs I had to learn in order to write training programs:
Air conditioning service
Muffler franchise owner
Tire store franchise owner
Quick lube franchise owner
Tire and Alignment technician
Tire salesman
Franchise field manager
Oil blender
Mortgage banker
Collection agent
Auto loan sales
Telecom collections agent (anyone remember WorldCom?)
Computer programmer for Visual Basic
VOIP system operator
Programmable high-voltage switch programming
Christian bookstore operator
Sales engineer for deepwater oil drilling chemical products
Tool sales
Office building rental agent
Office building safety manager
Kitchen designer
Photographer
International hospitality manager
Hamburger franchise internal consultant

I've probably left out a few but this gives an idea of the variety of things I've toyed with for a check.

 

[Netzach]

A few of the jobs I had to learn in order to write training programs:
Air conditioning service
Muffler franchise owner
Tire store franchise owner
Quick lube franchise owner
Tire and Alignment technician
Tire salesman
Franchise field manager
Oil blender
Mortgage banker
Collection agent
Auto loan sales
Telecom collections agent (anyone remember WorldCom?)
Computer programmer for Visual Basic
VOIP system operator
Programmable high-voltage switch programming
Christian bookstore operator
Sales engineer for deepwater oil drilling chemical products
Tool sales
Office building rental agent
Office building safety manager
Kitchen designer
Photographer
International hospitality manager
Hamburger franchise internal consultant

I've probably left out a few but this gives an idea of the variety of things I've toyed with for a check.

what was your favorite of the other people's job jobs?

 

[midwestyankee]

what was your favorite of the other people's job jobs?

I'm not sure. I think it's fair to say that I never encountered another job that I would care to do for more than a few months. The franchise field managers get to travel a bit, but only within a narrow geographic area until they become national or international managers. All the other jobs were very much tied to a single place and often involved doing tasks that I could analyze and teach but would not ever want to do.

The people that I enjoyed the most were the franchise owners but the projects that I enjoyed the most were the ones that took me to interesting places like Silicon Valley, Denver and South Florida.

 

[Sweetdaisymae]

from 13 to present day....
Ice cream shop sales assistant
Clay pigeon trap operator
Steward at Wembley Stadium, Lords Cricket (yawn) and a few others
Jockey
Veterinary Nurse
Shelf Stacker
Receptionist
Sandwich delivery lady
Singer/Actress (still doing on and off)
Electronics engineer
Customer Service (telecomms)
Mum!
Advocate for adults with learning disabilities

 

[DefineNormal]

Door to Door salesman for womens adult toys and male substitutes... Service representative for the Binford 5k gas powered multi attachment pleasure equipment. Actually,
dishwasher , cook , carpenter, air force, heavy equipment operator , coatings inspector ( aircraft ) , house leveling , Uhaul rentals , delivery driver, environmental mgr, projects cost analysis , etc etc.. But i liked the door to door salesman best low pay ....

 

[myschyfnmayhem]

Myschyf:
Fast Food Cashier
Retail Cashier
Barmaid
Waitress
Cabbie
Substitute Teacher
College Admin Assistant
Mother of 3
Neighborhood "Cool Mom"/counselor/advocate of umpteen kids
Moral Compass for Mayhem

Mayhem:
Mowed Grass/Odd Jobs
Dishwasher
Sawmill Line Stacker
Demolition Labor
Framing Labor
Mason Labor/Mudman
Concrete Labor
Gas Jockey
Small Engine Repair
Road Construction Labor/Operator
Shelf Stocker
Salesman (for 2 minutes)
Parts Runner/Puller
Warehouse worker
Forklift Op
Fast Food Cook
Drywaller
Drywaller
Drywaller
Buzzkiller for 3 kids/assorted kids friends
Reality Checker for Myschyf

 

[Cherrysweetdeal]

In the past i have done:

Calendar Salesman

Deli clerk

Autobody technician

Adult store clerk

Document control assistant

Document control lead

Personal Engraver

City worker