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03 June 2009
What would be the worst possible place to work?→[More:]
I don't think it's the physical grossness of the work itself so much as it is the people with whom you're spending 8-10 hours a day.
I worked at a meatpacking plant when I was younger. The classic dirty, disgusting, dangerous job. I had to go to the emergency room one night when I caught a blast from a high-pressure hose in my eye. I had to clean this vile baby-shit-colored meat paste from the floor every shift. The pay was $7.85 an hour. And I look back fondly on that job because I liked my coworkers. They were a good bunch of guys. You didn't have that kissy-assy fake office vibe going on. They were raw, authentic and real. I really enjoyed working with them.
A few years ago, I worked in a Manhattan law firm that was the best-paying job I've ever had. It was comfortable. Air-conditioned. Reasonable hours. And I was absolutely fucking miserable from the moment I set foot in there to the day they fired me. The difference? The people. I hated them. When I got canned, my first reaction was "Thank God. I won't have to look at, or deal with, these asses again."
I was going to say meat processing plant until I read that, j_p. I still think the work must be miserable as hell, though. It really does make a difference what kind of people you're with.
AFter the recent crime-scene cleanup thread on MeTa, I kind of think that might belong up there.
I was going to say meat processing plant until I read that, j_p. I still think the work must be miserable as hell, though.
The physical work itself wasn't a ball of laughs. But when you're sharing the burden with people you like and you can use humor to burn off the tension, it's much more bearable.
One of the first jobs I had when I was 16 was in the offices of a foundry in my old home town. On the first day I had to take a blueprint to the foreman on the foundry floor, walking through the plant as the men came back from lunch. A few of them started singing and then they all joined in "Nothing could be finer than to be in your vagina in the morning ..."
I almost died on the spot of embarrassment. So, for me, a horrible place to work would be in an environment where there's a big macho atmosphere and I'm in a small minority of women.
And yeah, I know exactly what j_p means. I once had a job as Head of Litigation in a prestigious law firm but the senior partner was an insane control freak mysoginist megalomaniac arsehole and the day I left was one of the happiest days of my life. I bitch about my present job sometimes but it's the best job I've ever had.
Marketing or sales. Like jason's_planet I think it's all about the people and as a person, if I were in marketing, I'd be required (by myself) to hate myself.
SpiffyRob - I lasted the three days of training to be a telemarketer but couldn't make myself to actually go to work once the job started. I tried, I really did. But it's so hard to go do something that goes so against the grain. I'd work in a meat packing plant first.