i couldn't choose the worst betweenPaste machine operator in a fish factory - unbelievable stench which I could still smell weeks after I packed it in
Window cleaner - mainly on tenements and factories, with no safety equipment. Pretty scary.
Oil-rig worker - totally relentless for 12 hours a day, 14 days on the trot.
Saw-mill labourer - noisy, back-breaking and dangerous. My mate and I were the only ones there with a full set of fingers. But then we were students and needed fingers, though I'm still not sure what for.
(Window cleaner - mainly on tenements and factories, with no safety equipment. Pretty scary.
Oil-rig worker - totally relentless for 12 hours a day, 14 days on the trot.
Saw-mill labourer - noisy, back-breaking and dangerous. My mate and I were the only ones there with a full set of fingers. But then we were students and needed fingers, though I'm still not sure what for.
magoo,
Fri 14 Nov 2003, 20:45,
archived)
Definitely the worst job ever seenI worked with a mate of mine, landscaping the garden, for his Dad, during a summer holiday, and he 'won' a job at a local shoe factory. Over the Bank Holiday weekend, the water tank had fallen from the roof, 60 feet into the basement and water had been pouring in. Today was Wednesday, so it had nearly five days of pissing everywhere. I was selected by my mates Dad, between the two of us, to clear the basement!
The basement was a place where they stored useless shite, but they were obviously readying a large insurance claim, so they wanted the maximum damage assessment. Unfortunately the basement was still under 4 feet of water. They got me some waders and I started the worst two days of my life. Obviously there was no power, so no lights or heating and everything had begun rotting several days earlier. (It was a heatwave at the time).
Also the only entrance to the basement was a set of old wooden stairs and then it was a 100m to the far end through a narrow corridor. You had to feel your way along the walls, which would have been easy if not for the rat shit and various other detritus.
After two days of 8am til 6pm, breathing in rotting cardboard and paper, emptying the entire basement of several tonnes of crap, I got my bonus. £25 instead of £20 for the two days.
Never, ever again. Not even for a million quid!! I still can't look my mate's Dad in the eye, cheeky bastard.
(,
Fri 14 Nov 2003, 21:25,
archived)
The basement was a place where they stored useless shite, but they were obviously readying a large insurance claim, so they wanted the maximum damage assessment. Unfortunately the basement was still under 4 feet of water. They got me some waders and I started the worst two days of my life. Obviously there was no power, so no lights or heating and everything had begun rotting several days earlier. (It was a heatwave at the time).
Also the only entrance to the basement was a set of old wooden stairs and then it was a 100m to the far end through a narrow corridor. You had to feel your way along the walls, which would have been easy if not for the rat shit and various other detritus.
After two days of 8am til 6pm, breathing in rotting cardboard and paper, emptying the entire basement of several tonnes of crap, I got my bonus. £25 instead of £20 for the two days.
Never, ever again. Not even for a million quid!! I still can't look my mate's Dad in the eye, cheeky bastard.
SimilarI once worked for 6 weeks over the summer in a parsnip factory. The whole place was refigerated with mini parsnip log-flumes full of bleach. When the parsnips came along I had to chop the top and bottoms off with a surgical quality machete. One girl lost a finger and it ended up being packaged at the end of the line.
Also got my arm caught in a potato grading machine that was being towed on the back of a tractor. Great days....
(,
Fri 14 Nov 2003, 21:43,
archived)
Also got my arm caught in a potato grading machine that was being towed on the back of a tractor. Great days....
Not related really, but ...I also worked for a few days at the McDonalds distributor Golden West. We had to build cages all night for people to load with boxes of food to be supplied to the restaurants. After a day, we were promoted to working in a freezer at -20 degrees, dressed as an eskimo, while more new recruits tackled the cages. Being the only visible flesh, your nose and mouth froze as soon as you walked in to the freezer and then we would abuse the fries and burgers for half an hour before having an hours break.
More than half an hour resulted in frozen cheekbones.
Two mates of mine were assigned to stacking plastic trays from the bun machine. They used to hide in the stacks of plastic trays and literally smoke weed all night long with no interruptions. One of these guys had been there for 2 years and just smoked and walked round all the time. If you asked anyone what he did, they would say, "nothing he just walks round all night and smokes weed, but none of the managers ever ask."
I bet he is still there.
(,
Fri 14 Nov 2003, 22:18,
archived)
More than half an hour resulted in frozen cheekbones.
Two mates of mine were assigned to stacking plastic trays from the bun machine. They used to hide in the stacks of plastic trays and literally smoke weed all night long with no interruptions. One of these guys had been there for 2 years and just smoked and walked round all the time. If you asked anyone what he did, they would say, "nothing he just walks round all night and smokes weed, but none of the managers ever ask."
I bet he is still there.