What did you do at your WORST job?

[yandeereguy]

In 1999 I joined the Union Ironworkers (family footsteps). Showed up on the job with all the needed tools spuds, 8lb beater, pins, belt ect.. the boss asks me If this was my first job, not wanting to seem new I told him, NO!! well he says hit the top kid and start bolting up.. Well I made my way up (after climbing about 6 ladders) theres guys just walking around, Irons swingin over my head, Impact noise, one guys walking across a beam and It's bouncing back and forth so bad He **** near goes in the hole, don't even stop not even for a second just like he's walking down the sidewalk!!! I thought your all INSANE!!, I mean one wrong step at this height and I won't have to be worrying about the ride home!! I remember driving to work the first two weeks, just feeling like I was driving to my demise.... Stuck with it and could'nt see myself doing anything else...

Of course there was that job we had to repair some structural Iron 80 feet underground in a steam line.. it would take 45 minutes just for the manhole fans to cool it down enough just to go down there... a guy told me it was something like 125 degrees down there!!!! It was a miserable job, I'll tell you that much!!!

 

[sweettractors]

Unload train car loads of sand 1 shovel at a time over the side into a concrete holding area in 100 degree temps. Ken Sweet

 

[Arbo]

For the past 23 years I have worked in a maximum security penitentiary. I have been lucky. I have seen fellow staff members assaulted with weapons. I have been assaulted, but never seriously. I have seen homocides, suicides, and more assaults than I could ever begin to keep track of. I have had urine, feces, rotten food and drink thrown on me. I have worked with some decent inmates, and also the absolute scourge of society.

Bad job? Some days yes!
Good job? I guess it is where your priorities are. It has deffinately changed me as a person. I'm not exactly proud of that sometimes.

 

[mjarrels]

Had to change a wind sock on top of a pole on top of a aircraft hanger using a shakey ladder. I don't like heights.

mark

 

[Uncle Doug]

I was a step-father to two young girls, in name only..... never took..... Probably the worst effort I ever had... and likewise the outcome. And one of my biggest failings in life...

If someone thinks being a parent in hard then they need to try the step parent job. One of the hardest in the world. I married into a young family with 3 children, 1 girl 2 boys. It was a struggle at times. Now 27 years later most people do not even know they are "step" kids. They all have kids now and the grandkids are never called step grandkids. I did a lot of things wrong along the way but I must of done a few things right also.

 

[terry.dinerman]

For the past 23 years I have worked in a maximum security penitentiary. I have been lucky. I have seen fellow staff members assaulted with weapons. I have been assaulted, but never seriously. I have seen homocides, suicides, and more assaults than I could ever begin to keep track of. I have had urine, feces, rotten food and drink thrown on me. I have worked with some decent inmates, and also the absolute scourge of society.

Bad job? Some days yes!
Good job? I guess it is where your priorities are. It has deffinately changed me as a person. I'm not exactly proud of that sometimes.

A tip of the fedora to you, Arbo...

I did several years as a Critical Care Medic in the DOC here in Texas...based out of a maximum sec unit but traveled most of the state...

I resigned that gig to go spend several years in Iraq...

Yep...some of those folks just made bad choices...and some need to be freeze dried...

Be Safe, Brother...

Terry

 

[Uncle Doug]

I worked as a industrial electrician for a number of years. Heat, cold and rain and even heavy work was something you dealt with all the time. One day the boss said we need a few guys to go to a job site for only a week and they would rotate us every other week there until the job was complete. I did not think much about it until I drove up the first morning and the smell hit me when I stepped out of the truck. I was at a rendering plant outside of town. Before then I never ever heard of a rendering plant. The smell and just the over all nastyness of the place was more than some people could stand.

 

[mostly_gas]

Worst job I had was cleaning the pits underneath the punch presses. The water oil mixed used during stamping would collect until the press needed maintenance, then one of us would have bail the pit out. Occasionally the stamping jobs required some resulfurized draw oil which added to the smell. Stuff does get amazingly nasty over time.

 

[Taylortractornut]

Sigarms your post reminded me of my Union experience. On the job that I started out on We had a work stoppage from weather and an engineering fowl up. We had a man there trying to get in a few new union members for the locals. I fell for the pay. I talked to my boss and he said give it a try. I went and that week we had a big job layout. We were working with a few trades. I didnt know about union rules. The first foul up was I when to my machine that was a new Cat loader. I climbed up the cat walk and pulled the oil stick out. It was low of oil. I got reamed as it was the oilers job to check it and air up the low tire I aired up from my personal servie truck.


The next foul up on my part was we had a manhole section that had to be set with a 300 Komatsu excavator I was running. I had don this many times in my past as an operator. I hooked the chokers to the section and set it in place. Got reamed for not waiting on a Rigger.

The next thing was the truck crane. I had to fly in a few loads of pipe up and into a building. I got the pick done and had to move up 75 feet to get the rest of the pic done. I was in the cab and stowed the boom and lifted the outriggers and using the cranes remote chassis drive to reposition. Got crawled for that as I was taking away from a teamster and a rigger. That whole week we worked we didnt seem to accomplish anything. Just made the days drag by. Also they seemed to want to pay better hands the same rate as sorry hands.

I went back to running the mix of machines from my old job. be it crane excavator back hoe or a truck.