History's Worst Jobs Ever

Wolfshead · Jun 2nd, 2005, 03:15 PM

Anybody been watching Tony Robinson's Worst Jobs in History series? I've caught a couple of them. (Makes working at McDonald's not seem so bad after all.) Which job do you think would be the worst?

Carex · Jun 2nd, 2005, 03:19 PM

I have not seen the series or a list. I would offer that being a medic on the front lines of any major war would be a pretty bad job, especially on the psyche if you survived. Can you give us some other examples?

iGeeK · Jun 2nd, 2005, 03:20 PM

Guillotine operator during Robespierre. A man had no time for a pipe break. Then, one had to account for all the heads, ask for blade replacements, etc. If it were just the cutting... but there was too much bloody paperwork!

iG/<

TroutMaskReplica · Jun 2nd, 2005, 03:22 PM

	Quote:
	bloody paperwork!

is that a pun?

iGeeK · Jun 2nd, 2005, 03:24 PM

is that a pun?

I'm afraid to answer. Someone might cut off my head.

iG/<

P.S. Hum. Now that I think about it, I believe that I always refer to any type of paperwork as "bloody". That being just the beginning of what I say when I advance past the duplicate into the triplicate, etc.

ShawnKing · Jun 2nd, 2005, 03:31 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by Wolfshead
	Which job do you think would be the worst?

Or, "What is the worse job *you* have ever had?"

For me, managing an Adult Video Store. It sounds cool for about three seconds until you hear the words, "Repeat custmoers...."

It just gets creepier after that....

Pamela · Jun 2nd, 2005, 03:48 PM

worst job was my first job ever. spring break picking daffodils....in the pouring rain and mud. To this day it was still the hardest $300 I ever made.

Wolfshead · Jun 2nd, 2005, 03:51 PM

Some of the occupations he's been looking at are tanners (particularly smelly), rat catcher (although there was a lot of money to be made, apparently), navvie, "page of the stool" (there's a nice one!), stone pickers, chimney sweep's boy (no money at all to be made there!). I don't know whether the series is continuing, but it's pretty interesting. Something else interesting (if you're a bit of a nit picker like me - can there be any others on this forum?) is that the tv listings refer to Mr. Robinson as an historian when he is, in fact, an actor (Baldrick from Blackadder among other things). I guess it's like how some people think Bob Vila [sp?] is actually some sort of handyman. Sorry, I'm rambling now. Must be the heat...

Carex · Jun 2nd, 2005, 03:59 PM

ShawnKing, I'm laughing just thinking about the possbibilities there. You will have to relate some stories about the 'repeat customers'. There is nothing worse than being held captive in a slow retail store. I suppose you were roped into conversations about the subtle differences between Movie A vs. Movie B, and the rivetting performances of this actor or that.

Underground hard rock mining would not be fun. Honeywagon hose connector/pumper guy would be less than thrilling.

I rock picked at farms as a teenager. Tough work, good lunches and that's about it.

MacDoc · Jun 2nd, 2005, 04:29 PM

Worst job??

Between semesters at university I got a taste of "earlier in the last century" heavy factory work at International Nickel where my Dad worked for 33 years ( missed one day of work - some work ethic !!)
Now this facility was so ancient that the nick named NEW building was mere 44 years old - then there was the OLD bulding where this was - think Victorian brick nightmare

ONE of the fun jobs was sitting across from the open furnace where the initial ingots ( think 1000 lb coat hanger shapes. ) were poured out.
You were shielded by a hanging metal plate from the glare and had to pop in bolts so the ingots could be lifted onto the travelling racks for further refining.
It was a big continously moving wheel.
Now the heat as you reached beyond the shield wearing heavy leather gloves that were soaked in water between each "attachment" was such that should you fumble a bit with the nut and bolt ( remember heavy leather gloves ) the backs of said gloves would burst into flame..... a regular occurence my first few times. You got good fast.

4 hours of that and you sweated out several gallons.......ate lunch and went back for 4 MORE hours.

THEN I graduated to "operator" which as a "college kid" was appropriate for mixing formulas.
These "batches" ...in case you are thinking labs and white smocks etc " ....measured in the 1000s of gallons of boiling "liquor" - an unholy concoction meant to bring the various metals in the ingot out into the mix to be recovered in pure form.

The most fun part of that was running down 3 flights of slippery metal stairs with the ever present chlorine mask dangling from my neck ( daily chlorine leaks were the norm) - slip over my head something akin to a hard shell divers head gear - stick my head INTO the sulphur furnace and light it by hand with a burning piece of kindling.
Now the sulpher was molten already......it just wasn't burning yet .

That lovely "vapour" was drawn off and bubbled through the liquor which I was responsible for until ready for use ( a long with the other mix of chemicals I had to dump ).

If you envision enormous witch cauldrons of mahogany with the most noxious vapours imaginable - dozens and dozens of them.

One guy slipped off the catwalk and when they finally figured out what happened his skeleton was perfectly clean......within a day or so. Fun stuff.

I could tell you about the indoor thunderstorms when the giant electrolyte tanks "blew up" - but you've probably got a pretty good image already of this summer "job".

The good part - working in that heat with all the walking and physical labour- after a couple of months everyone was lean and ripped.....and of course at 19...... ready to party.

My dad is 93 still active - he would walk 12 miles a day maintaining that monstrous facility - few more years he'll have drawn a pension for longer than he worked there.
Nothing left there but a nickel polluted site but it sure gave me a picture of the REAL working world.

There WAS a time when unions REALLY mattered.