Worst Job Meme

Richie at Bell Ringers tagged me last week for a meme on, as the Comic Book Dude from The Simpsons would say -- Worst. Job. Ever.

I've had some pretty rotten jobs, though none that I would compare to some of the all-time worst jobs in the world. For instance, I am thankful that I have never been someone who sniffs other people's armpits to make sure deodorant is working. I have never had to pick up bat guano. I have never been a professional javelin catcher.

Between my stint as a mechanical design engineer and my current profession as a third-grade math teacher, I held several odd jobs. The one that made me feel slimiest was telemarketer, where I would cold call people and try to convince them to sign up for the credit card du jour.

However, my pick for worst job that I've ever held was telephone book deliverer. I saw an ad in the paper, and applied for the job. First thing in the morning, I went out to this warehouse and loaded up my car with as many telephone directories as it would hold. I then selected one of the designated routes, and drove over there to make deliveries.

Unlike newspaper delivery, I couldn't just slowly drive by in my car and toss a 25 pound phonebook out the window into each yard. I had to park at one end of the street, grab as many books as I could hold -- usually around eight -- and deliver the books to each doorstep, one house at a time. Then I would walk back to my car and grab some more books. Then I would pull the car around to the next street, and repeat the process.

Did I mention that I held this job in July, in Texas?

At the end of the first day, I was physically drained, my clothes were massively sweat stained, and I just had to say No mas. Thankfully, when I resigned, the folks who were running the business asked me if I would stay on as a supervisor, someone who would drive around and make sure OTHERS had delivered the books where they were supposed to.

Now I get to tag a few people, to share OF their stories of worst job ever. So I tag 100 Farmers, Mrs. Bluebird, Mrs. T, Happychyck, and Mamacita.