Community Chat

[Dominosmom]

When I graduated from HS I did not have any future plans when I took a job at Macy's working at the gift wrap desk. It was my first full time job, I was all of 17 and knew nothing of the outside world and had the privilege to work with four women, older than my mom, who took me under ther wings and taught me the job, teamwork, and how to work with customers as well as the management team. Thanks to them I went to community college and beyond.

[Kachina624]

I spent one awful summer while in college working at the Philadelphia Chewing Gum Co.  The place was not air conditioned and there was a ton of powdered sugar in the air so everyone was hot, sticky and reeked of bubblegum. The work was beyond monotonous,  like spending a whole 8 hrs day putting lids on boxes.  Horrible job.

[abbeythe 8th]

My career was teaching but I will not count that.

Best

In college I was a shoe model for the major Chicago department store.   Back then in their catalogs they showed shoes on feet.  It was a fun job and I was given a lot of shoes.  Also I was given a great store discount, which was put to good use when I bought my wedding gown.

Worst

One summer I worked as a fitting room attendant at a department store in the King of Prussia Plaza. (before the big mall)  Let me say, some women are pigs.  What some of them did to clothes and on the floor of the fitting room, you would not believe.

[chrystaltree]

My worst job ever was checking policies for an insurance company.  This was back in the dark ages when we did it by hand and used manuals. It was 1984.  They advertised for college graduates so one would think, they wanted people who could think....wrong.  We sat at desks in rows like the old style school desks and the supervisor sat up front like a teacher.  We were given two pencils and one pen and everything had to be identical.  The manuals had to be on the left side of the desk, we could only have one pencil and a pen on the desk.  We couldn't even drape a sweater over our chairs.  If you had to go to the ladies room, you raised your hand and the supervisor would nod her head to excuse you.  No talking.  If you had a question, you raised your hand and the supervisored waved that it was okay to approach her.  To be honest, I thought it was riot.  I planned to stay until I found a real job but I only made it for a week and half.  Why?  Well, I broke the tip off my pencil and I turned to the girl next to me and asked if she had a pencil sharpener.  Well!  That did not go over well....lol  The supervisor gave me the stinkeye and called me to her desk and chastised me for speaking out of turn.  When she "dismissed" me back to my desk, I stopped only to grab my handbag and I kept right on walking, I grabbed my coat and left the building.  So, as I was walking down the street, I hear someone behind me calling my name.  It was downtown in the city and I was a little nervous and kept walking.  The person finally caught up with me and it was the girl who had sat next to me, the one I had the audacity to speak to...out of turn...lol   She saw me leave and she took at as a sign that she should go too.  That place was nuts!   So got up and did the "walk of shame" right behind me.  Grabbed her bag and her coat and left the bulding.  We had lunch and did a little shopping and looked through the want ads at lunch.  That job felt like a Twilight Zone episode....lol   I suppose my best job is the one I have now.  It's a career not a job.  It's challenging and drives me nuts at times but I'm very good at what I do and while I work behind the scenes, what I do helps patients and their families.  

[athenian]

Worst job, substitute teacher.  I was certified high school English, but never got called for that.  Last straw was the day I had to teach multiplying and dividing fractions, and I couldn't remember how.  I just was not meant to be a teacher.  It's why I respect those who teach so much.

[SilleeMee]

It was the summer after high school graduation that I worked at the zoo here as a nursery assistant. I got to help raise rejected newborns...chimps, tigers and snow leopards. They were the most adorable creatures I'd ever seen! That was the best and most fun job ever!

Later on down the road, while waiting for a real job, I took a part-time job at mail-order packing plant. Back-breaking, sweaty-hot brainless job. I was the oldest in the assembly line and I sure felt it. Glad it only lasted a few months. I thought I was gonna die.

[deepwaterdotter]

My best job provides my current pension and health care benefits.  I can't recall a "worst". 

[Goldengate8361]

Great thread! I learned a great deal from all of my jobs, so it's honestly hard for me to think about a "worst" one. The only paying job I ever had that I hated and was terrible at was baby sitting! I only did it 2-3 times in my life. I hate child care of any type! And, no, I don't have kids---by choice! LOL 

[chrystaltree]

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@jaxs mom wrote:

Worst job- telephone sales

best job- SAHM

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     That's a pet peeve for me.  I don't know why people call being a SAHM a job.  I was a SAHM for 9 years.  It was my life, not my job.   You can't quit because even when you get a job......you still have to do the SAHM stuff, you just do it in fewer hours.  

[Burnsite]

I worked in a firecracker factory at 16 and someone near me had their hand blown off.  Worst.

Best?  The one I have now.

Best temporary job--I temped for numerous companies when a student in the 1970s.  I've written about my best job for "Laurie Girls," which was also my best temp agency, paid the best and had the best clients.  This was in NYC.  A few actresses temped for them that became famous. 

Anyhow, it was working for Paramount Pictures, then at Columbus Circle at 59th and Central Park West.  I showed up the first day, having been warned that the boss was awful and never could keep a secretary more than a day.  I really liked him! 

My first day on the job I met the funk star Rick James and had to find a hot dog vendor for food at a reception for him, and also a grand piano.