Best job / Worst Job You ever had

BamaNation

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Just reading bamabuzzard and bazza's posts on another thread caused me to think of this and thought it might be interesting.

My Best Job : Current job (college professor) - I teach 3 classes on a couple days a week in my field to juniors/seniors including the capstone course in my area. Other times I'm researching, engaging w/ students, etc. Not.a.bad.life. But, it took a LOT of work to get here and for that I'm grateful.

My Worst Job : During college worked at a huge fireworks distribution facility in Florence, AL from day I got home from Bama (i.e. around May 5 or so) until August 1. Also worked during Christmas time through New Years.

The first season I worked in the fireworks distribution job, I was getting to work around 7am and working until 10pm (and sometimes midnight) 7 days a week for almost the entire 2-3 months I was home. I hated it the first couple weeks because it was such disorganized manual labor and I was working with a lot of UNA football players who were HUGE. But, after a few weeks, the physical and mental challenge of being there and powering through it took over and, while I didn't love it, I relished the challenge of getting through one day to the next. Being in a trailer truck that's 140 degrees on the inside and having 50 lb boxes pitched to you in a line in rapid sequence (think about what you see in an emergency situation like hurricane preparedness, etc. and have it 10X faster with 50lb boxes) was trial by fire. And I survived to tell about it :)

At some point that first year, the GM let me start organizing the work and it became a lot better and we had zero screwed up orders after that. That allowed me to then start driving a 24' Ryder rental where I went all over east of the Mississippi River delivering to the small stands you see all over the place and the huge stores you see near state borders. Lots of places I had never been to before from French Lick, Indiana to all over the coal mine areas of KY.

Took a wrong turn in Memphis and went down Beale Street around midnight one Friday night ... through a street parade / party ... yeah! :D

That led me to the outskirts of Memphis trying to find a motel to stay overnight ... no vacancy anywhere ... until I came upon one that had vacancy! Hallelujah!

I went inside and said, "How much for a room for the night?"

The lady looked at me and said, "Honey, we usually don't have folk stay all night."

My 19-yr old self thought that was strange ... until ... 5 seconds later I realized where I had stopped.

It was July 3rd, 105 degrees outside, and I gladly slept in my truck that night.
 
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Go Bama

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My best job is as a guitar player. If you like music, there is absolutely nothing better than getting paid to play. While I haven’t made enough money to support my family, I have made a lot of money cumulatively through the years. If I had life to do over, I’d be a professional musician. I still play 2 to 4 hours per day.

The worst job I’ve ever had was hawking Cokes in the grand stands at a horse show when I was in the 6th grade. It was 1965 and I worked from 3 PM until midnight. When I finished my legs and feet were sore and I was hoarse from yelling “ice cold Coke.” I was paid $3.00.
 

DzynKingRTR

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Best job: Current job. Architect. The job I have now is the first one in architecture that gives overtime and multiple bonuses. They pay extremely well and the people are great.

Worst job: shoe store. I lasted 2 days and it was 3 days too many. I quit on my day off. I would call out the name of the place but they don't deserve it. Although the place doesn't exist anymore.

Worst architecture job: designing Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic. Boring, repetitive, awful bosses and lousy pay. They were liars too.
 
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92tide

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i can't really single out any best or worst. i have been lucky in that my last 3 jobs have been pretty good.

worst:

- peanut shack in university mall. minimum wage job, horrible all the way around.
- janitor at chair manufacturing plant. at the end of the first week, i was "promoted" to the assembly line after a worker got his finger cut off (i was also the one who had to take him to the hospital). one plus, this one did motivate me to get my arse in gear and finish college
- morning room service at the tuscaloosa sheraton. this and subsequent restaurant work continued motivating me through the completion of my studies at bama

best:
- research scientist at georgia tech. interesting people and work. since i was on the research side of things, i was somewhat insulated from the silliness inherent in a large univeristy. i did a lot of the early research on several big atlanta area projects; the toll/express lanes that are around atlanta now, the beltline, redevelopment in hapeville/aerotropolis

- store manager at patagonia. awesome company to work for and had a great staff during my 5 years there

- export manager. currently work with my wife in her/our family's export company. the two of us pretty much run things with one other lady helping us in the office. my day to day is pretty boring with export paperwork/invoicing/etc. but i get to travel all over the world and we have a pretty flexible schedule and our office is <10 minutes from our house, so we get to spend a lot of quality time with our daughter.
 

Bazza

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I really can't say any of my jobs were all that bad - just a lot of OJT and sweat equity. My degree was in Ornamental Horticulture and I stayed in my field my entire career and since I loved my chosen field so much, I really never worked a day in my life.

Best job I guess is the one I have right now - self employed design/build landscape, irrigation, and low voltage lighting contractor. Although I'm in the process of retiring and not taking on any new projects with just a few exceptions and I still have some monthly accounts I take care of.

Worst job probably was a landscape nursery gig - the third (and last) nursery gig after graduating from college. The first two gigs I was a "grower" which was pretty cool and interesting but this third one was not as 'cool and interesting' - but I only was there for a few months before accepting a position as a vocational instructor at the local community college - which was a notch or two upwards, thankfully.

Here I am 1979 and 2 years out of college, at my second nursery gig (in Apopka growing foliage plants):

ApopkaGreenhouseMarch1979.jpg
 
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Zorak

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Worst: It was a temp job at some point in college (before Freshman year I think), but a document filer for a home health care provider. I was stuck in a closet for a month filing (alphabetically) various paperwork for the old folks they provided health care for. It was only supposed to last a month, and thankfully it did. It was my most depressing job (in fact, I had completely blocked it out of my memory until this thread...thanks).

Best: Window washing...surprisingly. It was a stop gap job between gigs a couple of years back. After years behind a desk, it gave me a chance to get outdoors (but also with indoor on hot days), use my hands, learn a new trade. We had a great crew, and I made a couple of good friends doing this work. Most of the clients were very pleasant, and a few gave us large tips for our work. (One widow gave me and the guy I was working with a hundred each, in addition to paying the $800 for the job). Some of the businesses gave us freebies too. The coffee shops would offer us free coffee, and the café (Ike and Jane's if you're familiar with Athens) gave us free pastries. One of the dining halls at UGA (we did several buildings on UGA's campus) gave us access to their Coke Freestyle machine for the day. To this day, I clean our windows a couple of times a year, inside and out, and they look pristine.
 

gman4tide

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Best job is what i do now and have for 32+ years at a usda county office serving the farmers/ranchers of Morgan county. I love the work and the producers...the bureaucracy not so much.
Worst job..since i was a guv employee, i've had to do lots of secondary jobs thru the year...spent 24hrs in hell at the protein rendering plant in hanceville (you've prob noticed the smell on I65 during the summer with an eastern wind) doing mechanical maintenance. We had to remove a 14" auger and the skid plate it ran on and replace it. 2 12hr shifts and i threw away 2 complete sets of clothes. A month later, playing fall softball, the smell was still oozing out of my pores.
 

AlexanderFan

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Worst: unloaded barges brought up from Mobile onto rail cars to be taken to Fairfield for U.S. Steel. Multiple 16 hour shifts per week, some weeks with only one off day, and very dirty. You were also prone to be laid off for potentially long durations.

Best: would have to be my current job. I’m not a fan of the hours and unpredictable schedule, but the benefits and compensation have allowed my family a standard of life that a lot of people don’t have.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Go Bama

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I really can't say any of my jobs were all that bad - just a lot of OJT and sweat equity. My degree was in Ornamental Horticulture and I stayed in my field my entire career and since I loved my chosen field so much, I really never worked a day in my life.

Best job I guess is the one I have right now - self employed design/build landscape, irrigation, and low voltage lighting contractor. Although I'm in the process of retiring and not taking on any new projects with just a few exceptions and I still have some monthly accounts I take care of.

Worst job probably was a landscape nursery gig - the third (and last) nursery gig after graduating from college. The first two gigs I was a "grower" which was pretty cool and interesting but this third one was not as 'cool and interesting' - but I only was there for a few months before accepting a position as a vocational instructor at the local community college - which was a notch or two upwards, thankfully.

Here I am 1979 and 2 years out of college, at my second nursery gig (in Apopka growing foliage plants):

View attachment 3539
I had you pictured as a better looking man. :wink:

Are you still that thin?
 

GrayTide

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I really can't say any of my jobs were all that bad - just a lot of OJT and sweat equity. My degree was in Ornamental Horticulture and I stayed in my field my entire career and since I loved my chosen field so much, I really never worked a day in my life.

Best job I guess is the one I have right now - self employed design/build landscape, irrigation, and low voltage lighting contractor. Although I'm in the process of retiring and not taking on any new projects with just a few exceptions and I still have some monthly accounts I take care of.

Worst job probably was a landscape nursery gig - the third (and last) nursery gig after graduating from college. The first two gigs I was a "grower" which was pretty cool and interesting but this third one was not as 'cool and interesting' - but I only was there for a few months before accepting a position as a vocational instructor at the local community college - which was a notch or two upwards, thankfully.

Here I am 1979 and 2 years out of college, at my second nursery gig (in Apopka growing foliage plants):

View attachment 3539
Need a haircut and get rid of that porn stache.
 

UAH

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I really can't say any of my jobs were all that bad - just a lot of OJT and sweat equity. My degree was in Ornamental Horticulture and I stayed in my field my entire career and since I loved my chosen field so much, I really never worked a day in my life.

Best job I guess is the one I have right now - self employed design/build landscape, irrigation, and low voltage lighting contractor. Although I'm in the process of retiring and not taking on any new projects with just a few exceptions and I still have some monthly accounts I take care of.

Worst job probably was a landscape nursery gig - the third (and last) nursery gig after graduating from college. The first two gigs I was a "grower" which was pretty cool and interesting but this third one was not as 'cool and interesting' - but I only was there for a few months before accepting a position as a vocational instructor at the local community college - which was a notch or two upwards, thankfully.

Here I am 1979 and 2 years out of college, at my second nursery gig (in Apopka growing foliage plants):

View attachment 3539
Great career Bazza. I worked for a landscaper while in high school and have had it as a hobby most of my adult life. Now retired and spending a lot more time with plants.
 

day-day

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I will only mention my best job. College Work-Study job manning the front desk of a couple of girl's dormitories. Can't remember the name of one, it was a sorority house that was taken over by the school; the other was Tutwiler. At the smaller dorm, I was able to keep up with the All My Children soap opera and provide updates when needed.
 

selmaborntidefan

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I have no idea. I'm approaching 50 and have no friggin' idea.


What I liked when I was 18 (other than Alabama football) is largely not even in my interest zone now.

Same for what I liked at 28 and 38.

I think I'm like the late Mike Deaver of the Reagan administration, who Nancy Reagan liked but her theory on him was, "I don't think he really knew what he wanted to do with his life."
 

rolltide_21

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Worst: Subway- I worked there right after Jared dropped all his weight. So we were slammed all the time. We stayed open on the weekend til 2 a.m. so I would close Fridays & Saturday’s and then open on Sundays. I’d leave @ 3 am Sunday morning and be back @ 8. Plus the Subway smell got on everything. I don’t think I ever got that smell out of my truck even years after I had quit. True story- one woman came in at lunch & supper every day & ordered a meatball sub combo so she could “lose weight like Jared.” She noticeably gained weight. I guess it was the WOW Lays (made with the laxative olean- remember those?) and the Diet Coke she got with it that convinced her it had to be working.

Best: what I do now- I’m a full time minister and an adjunct instructor at a small liberal arts college (undergrad). I’ve worked with the same congregation for 15 years and they have been so good to my family. In addition they allow & support me in doing short term missions. I’m very blessed and not worthy to be allowed to participate in this work. A year ago I was offered what I used to consider my dream job- full time college instructor. I couldn’t bring myself to leave these good people.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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UAH

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In nearly thirty years of corporate life the best part I can think of is the many very talented people that I had an opportunity to work with and learn from. I was fortunate enough to work with some great leaders and get to know them close up. In other cases I worked with leaders who weren't prepared at all to be running an international business. I had an opportunity to work with a CFO who had extraordinary talent and learned a lot about financial management. Over the years worked with union leaders in very stressful situations and will always remember the honesty of the guys on the shop floor. Toward the end I had an opportunity to work with Bain Capital in an LBO and participate as a partner in what turned out to be a very successful business. There was a steep learning curve on that for sure.

The hardest part for me was the feeling many times of being in over my head and not having the answers. There were some pretty severe challenges for an Alabama cotton picker. It was really difficult to put together a management staff that has the talent and commitment to do a job in a high demand environment. We can see in all types of organizations how difficult a challenge it is to attract and retain talent. This is the area where I would most like to have some do overs.
 
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Bazza

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In nearly thirty years of corporate life the best part I can think of is the many very talented people that I had an opportunity to work with and learn from. I was fortunate enough to work with some great leaders and get to know them close up. In other cases I worked with leaders who weren't prepared at all to be running an international business. I had an opportunity to work with a CFO who had extraordinary talent and learned a lot about financial management. Over the years worked with union leaders in very stressful situations and will always remember the honesty of the guys on the shop floor. Toward the end I had an opportunity to work with Bain Capital in an LBO and participate as a partner in what turned out to be a very successful business. There was a steep learning curve on that for sure.

The hardest part for me was the feeling many times of being in over my head and not having the answers. There were some pretty severe challenges for an Alabama cotton picker. It was really difficult to put together a management staff that has the talent and commitment to do a job in a high demand environment. We can see in all types of organizations how difficult a challenge it is to attract and retain talent. This is the area where I would most like to have some do overs.
Great post! Lot to absorb there, for sure.

Funny how different things look in the rear view mirror, huh?
 

TideMom2Boys

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I haven't had many jobs. (my best job will explain this)

Worst: Working at an auto insurance call center. I hated being on the phone all day. Also, they would time when you would go on "restroom break" and would send a scrolling message if it was too long. I was there for a couple years right out of high school.



Best: My current job. I left my "worst" job for this one and I am going on 15 years with the company. It is a pretty big company, but they treat their employees well. We have a lot of people that have been with the company for many years. I actually worked from home for about 7 years out of my 15 years. I moved up to a higher position, so I am back in the office now. But, I work in a great department and I really like the people that I work with. It is nice to have great coworkers..that makes a huge difference!
 

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