What do you do?

[Bootsy Whoosh]

nancybiggestfan's question reminded me of a topic I'd been meaning to post for a bit but kept forgetting....

What kinds of jobs have you had throughout your life? And maybe tell a little about them if you feel so inclined. I realize many of you are too young to have ever had a job, so if you want, I guess you can just post what you think you would like to do as your first job (not as your future career, we've already had a million topics covering that...)

The jobs I have had include: (in order of first to current)

Re-shelver of books at the library Worst, most mind-numbingly boring job on the planet. If you are ever looking for a book and it's not on the shelf where it should be, it's probably my fault. That job sucked so much I didn't even care about it at all and just stuck half my cart of books willy nilly, vaguely where they went but not exactly. Fortunately for the sanity of the library going public, I quit that job in 2 weeks.

Kennel worker at small animal vet clinic This job truely sucked because the owner of the vet clinic had like 8 coonhounds that lived at the clinic, and they would crap all over their cages and then when they heard people coming, they would spin around in their cage, effectively flinging their feces everywhere. I can actually say that I have cleaned dog ***** off a ceiling. Oh, and I've also crawled around in it because the way the cages were built the only way to clean them was to get down on your hands and knees inside them. Isn't that sad?? Quit that job in like a month. The vet there was a jerk anyway, and he ran an iffy practice.

Pizza parlor Mostly I worked the counter, taking orders, working the register. If we were really busy sometimes I helped with making the pizzas. Funny story: one time I was taking some guy's order, and I glanced over, and next to me, on the counter, was a little baby cockroach, heading straight towards this guy. Now I am deadly afraid of cockroaches, but somehow I maintained my composure, hoping this guy would finish his order before he noticed it, and I would tell my manager to squish the roach. Unfortunately, he noticed it, but he wasn't too mad or anything. We also one time cooked a fly onto someone's pizza. The fly musta landed on it right before we put it through the oven. The guy wasn't mad at all though. Oh and then there was the time someone's bandaid fell off in the salad. You know what, if you're ever in my neck of the woods, don't eat there. That was a great job though because I had friends that worked there, and my managers were the coolest managers I have ever had.

Small animal vet clinic I did just about everything there, from cleaning kennels, to assisting the vets, to working the front desk to balancing the books. My supervisor was a wicked witch, but all in all it was a great job as far as exposing me to the field, and most of the vets were really cool.

Mixed practice vet clinic I didn't get paid for this job, I just mostly rode-along when the vet went on farm calls, but I did help out some. Another great learning experience.

Concessions stand I worked in the potato trailer at the State fairgrounds during the largest horse show in the world. It was an OK job. Interesting to be able to walk around the show free of charge, and my supervisor, was a great old guy. And I got free food They had these awesome sweet potato french fries that you put brown sugar on. Yum! That job was a temp job that only latest the duration of the show, about 2-3 weeks.

Equine research I run horses on the treadmill, collect blood samples, assist with taking muscle biopsies, and what not. Basically, I "wade around in horse sweat" (I think that's what Cokies called it )

And I think that is all the jobs I have ever done. How bout you all?

[AKA]

Currently, I work for America Online. I've been with them since fall, 2000.

But since I signed a confidentiality agreement, I'm not at liberty to disclose what, exactly, I do there. Maybe after I leave, I'll tell ya...

Anyway, since I haven't graduated college yet, my jobs haven't exactly been that great. Here they are, from the most recent to the earliest.

Movie Theatre
This one was fun, but when the summer ended, so did my 40 hours, so I had to bid them adieu.

Department Store
I worked in the men's department. This one was also fun, but they weren't giving me very many hours to begin with, so I wound up quitting for the movie theatre within two months.

Computer Software Store
This was in the same mall that the department store was in. A friend of mine who worked at the department store thought it would be a good idea to get me a job there.

Fast Food
Now we're getting into my high school years. Oh, how I hated working fast food. I actually worked at two separate leading fast food joints, too.

[Liza]

RECEPTIONIST:
I was a main receptionist for an independent automotive supplier, and that was the best job! I highly recommend it. Air conditioning, great pay, very little to do. It was nice.

SALESPERSON:
I worked at a quiet little shop in Indiana, not too busy but interesting. That was fun, but on your feet too much. Still, anything's better than fast-food.

MCDONALDS:
We all did our time... Let's not go into it.

[AKA]

Originally posted by Liza
MCDONALDS:
We all did our time... Let's not go into it.

Haha! Thank you!

[Nancy McKeon fan!]

i am currently working on getting my degree in child development so i can be a preschool teacher. but i my majer goal is to open my own preschool. and right now i am thinking about getting my rn. so i have a way of supporting my self for when i open a preschool so i dont have to get a million doller loan.

and i have never and i dont plan on working at mcdonalds

[Mossopp]

I never had any jobs when I was at school. I definately could've used the money but I knew that once I left school I'd be working full-time in some soul-sucking job so why waste my teenage years working part-time in some soul-sucking job?
But in 4th year every pupil has to do what's called 'work experience' where you get a placement with a local firm and work there for a week. You're supposed to pick a placement in a field which you feel you might be interested in when you leave school. I ended up stacking shelves in a shop for a week! I didn't get any money for it.
Now I work for a chartered accounting firm. I hate it. I'm pretty sure the only reason I got the job was cos noone else turned up for the interview. When they offered me the job I was gonna turn it down and look for something better but my parents were gonna kick me out the house unless I gave them some money so I had to take the job or I'd be on the street. Now I'm stuck there and I hate my parents!

[Penny Lane]

Originally posted by Bootsy Whoosh
nancybiggestfan's question reminded me of a topic I'd been meaning to post for a bit but kept forgetting....

What kinds of jobs have you had throughout your life? And maybe tell a little about them if you feel so inclined. I realize many of you are too young to have ever had a job, so if you want, I guess you can just post what you think you would like to do as your first job (not as your future career, we've already had a million topics covering that...)

The jobs I have had include: (in order of first to current)

Re-shelver of books at the library Worst, most mind-numbingly boring job on the planet. If you are ever looking for a book and it's not on the shelf where it should be, it's probably my fault. That job sucked so much I didn't even care about it at all and just stuck half my cart of books willy nilly, vaguely where they went but not exactly. Fortunately for the sanity of the library going public, I quit that job in 2 weeks.

Kennel worker at small animal vet clinic This job truely sucked because the owner of the vet clinic had like 8 coonhounds that lived at the clinic, and they would crap all over their cages and then when they heard people coming, they would spin around in their cage, effectively flinging their feces everywhere. I can actually say that I have cleaned dog ***** off a ceiling. Oh, and I've also crawled around in it because the way the cages were built the only way to clean them was to get down on your hands and knees inside them. Isn't that sad?? Quit that job in like a month. The vet there was a jerk anyway, and he ran an iffy practice.

Pizza parlor Mostly I worked the counter, taking orders, working the register. If we were really busy sometimes I helped with making the pizzas. Funny story: one time I was taking some guy's order, and I glanced over, and next to me, on the counter, was a little baby cockroach, heading straight towards this guy. Now I am deadly afraid of cockroaches, but somehow I maintained my composure, hoping this guy would finish his order before he noticed it, and I would tell my manager to squish the roach. Unfortunately, he noticed it, but he wasn't too mad or anything. We also one time cooked a fly onto someone's pizza. The fly musta landed on it right before we put it through the oven. The guy wasn't mad at all though. Oh and then there was the time someone's bandaid fell off in the salad. You know what, if you're ever in my neck of the woods, don't eat there. That was a great job though because I had friends that worked there, and my managers were the coolest managers I have ever had.

Small animal vet clinic I did just about everything there, from cleaning kennels, to assisting the vets, to working the front desk to balancing the books. My supervisor was a wicked witch, but all in all it was a great job as far as exposing me to the field, and most of the vets were really cool.

Mixed practice vet clinic I didn't get paid for this job, I just mostly rode-along when the vet went on farm calls, but I did help out some. Another great learning experience.

Concessions stand I worked in the potato trailer at the State fairgrounds during the largest horse show in the world. It was an OK job. Interesting to be able to walk around the show free of charge, and my supervisor, was a great old guy. And I got free food They had these awesome sweet potato french fries that you put brown sugar on. Yum! That job was a temp job that only latest the duration of the show, about 2-3 weeks.

Equine research I run horses on the treadmill, collect blood samples, assist with taking muscle biopsies, and what not. Basically, I "wade around in horse sweat" (I think that's what Cokies called it )

And I think that is all the jobs I have ever done. How bout you all?

I have had all those jobs plus dishwasher, laundress, taxi driver,accountant, buyer, maid, cook,........................I'm a mom!

[Chocoholic]

I work as a cashier at the local grocery store. It is HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kay Scarpetta]

Well seeing as I'm only 12... 13 I don't really have a legal job. But I babysit a lot! And I get paid good for it too

[dawsongirl]

I didn't work in high school for the same reason Mossopp didn't- why waste that time slaving away??

Department Store
I worked in the children's department at Kohl's. That sucked! I was either too busy or bored of my a$$. And if the cash registers got backed up, they called us to go run those, which was always the same time there were 600 piles of clothes sitting in the dressing rooms. Why can't people take the clothes back to the rack? How lazy is that??? And that's not to mention when the new shipments came in. They all had to go in a specific place, but no one told me where, so I always screwed it up. Once the summer was over, I was gone. Now they're opening one in my hometown and my mom's all like "go apply."

Accounting Office
Pure nepotism got me the job as my mom's the office manager. I sorted checks, added up figures, and put things into a computer. Boring, but with my mom as my boss, I got to set my own hours.

[Babes_Cat]

Clay Strokes Pottery Place:
All I did was paint plates to be hung on the walls as inspiration and I helped with the customers. I didn't get paid in money but I got paid in hours and painting plates, dishes whatever they have there for free.

Babysitting:
My current job. LOL! I get paid a lot but I get ripped off by this one family so Imma not baby-sit for them now! LOL!

Next year.. Tutoring Kindergartners in Spanish:
It already lined up and starts nest school year!

[Czas na Zywiec]

Well, I've this job for a year, but it's not a exactly a walk in the park. I work at a motel (I also live there), but i do get paid, so it would qualify as a real job. I work at the front desk, manage the advertisements, take reservations, sometimes i do paperwork (but mostly my dad does that), and i sometimes clean rooms when the maids don't show up. Whew. Winter is so easy around here, but don't expect me to be around here as much in the summer (unless i have free time).

[XoVanillaRain90oX]

Umm kindergarten moderator since 5th grade and part time babysitter for my baby cousins......

[ILuvJoandBlair]

I'm not old enough to work yet, but this summer I want to work at the Gap or Footaction. Then when I turn 16 I'm gonna get this job at this pet shop in the mall or at a daycare.

[Kitt]

Sold baby frogs: I was 9 years old. I collected a gazillion baby frogs from the creek, put them in a large galvanizied bucket along with water, rocks, algae, the stuff that frogs like. I pulled them around the neighborhood in a wagon and sold them, mostly to housewives and some to other kids, for two cents each. My sales pitch to the housewives was that the frogs would eat the bugs in the flower garden. The kids bought them because they liked frogs. A short-lived venture but very successful. Who could resist a kid with a wagon full of frogs?

I mowed lawns the following summer. Did well by getting regular weekly customers. But I continued to knock on doors seeking new customers. One man barked, "Can't you see that I just mowed it?" He must have had his mower set too high, because the grass looked pretty tall to me.

Jumping ahead to hardware store - floor sales: I learned about hardware then, because it was humiliating to get nailed by a customer when I'd try to pretend I knew what I was talking about when I didn't know squat. My most memorable customer was a girl I stood cheek to cheek with while we (quite unnecessarily) closely examined screw sizes. We dated after that until she broke my heart when she and her family moved away.

High school maintainanceman's helper: An offshoot from my hardware/handyman experience. There was a faulty shower head in the girls' showers that would whistle loudly, and be left running because it required a certain touch to turn it off. I could here it whistling one day from all the way out in the gymnasium. Thinking it had been left running again, I explained this to the girls gym coach. She was quite a trooper, so she walked me into and through the locker room as she warned the girls, "Coming through, man in the room." I averted my eyes, more or less, as we went along the locker rows. You might have guessed, a girl was using the shower. It must have been extremely odd for her to see me standing there with her gym coach right beside me as if we belonged. The gym coach and I apologized and moved on. I assume the coach explained to the poor girl later how that happened. The coach and I walked back out blushing and holding back laughter. I told her I'd get that thing fixed--soon.

Ferry boat operator: Some people, including me, lived across a river that would be without road access, off and on, for part of the winter months. All service people, residents, friends of residents, and so on needed to be fairied across. Thrilling to drive a small motorboat across a raging river, dodging floating logs and assuring the petrified passengers that we'd live through this, one more time. Between crossings I'd read a lot. I might not have otherwise read Dostoyevky's "Crime and Punishment". Scared the heck out of me when he hit the old lady with the axe. I read "Sidartha" during those river boating days. Sidartha, among other things, was also a ferry boat operator.