Diary of an Employee--sub topic: Your Work History
 

I thought it would be interesting if we posted our various jobs and what we're doing currently as well as post your work-related horror stories, all on one thread. Of course, I'll go first!

• waitress
• day care assistant (nice way of saying diaper changer)
• counter girl at a posh wine tasting room (would have stayed with that one forever had the owners not shared a brain cell and fought over money)
• Salesperson for a Fur & Leather company (yes, I sold "beaver")
• Salesperson for a high-end Furniture Store

:
Currently:
Telemarketer for Surewest. I never thought I'd enjoy telemarketing and I don't really, but the benefits are swell. I don't have to harass people at home because I only call businesses and I don't have to actually sell anything. I just set up appointments for the owners to meet with a rep. I get paid really well by the hour and make commission off what the rep sells. Anyhoo, I have some swell phone conversations to post.

Phone Conversation:
Me: *the usual intro* asking for the person in charge of handling advertising for the business...
Her: *creepy monotone voice* We don't accept phone solicitations
Me: Oh, well, I'm not selling anything right now. I'm just helping business owners to know the benefits of advertising with Surewest Phone Directories by setting up an appoinment with a rep--
Her: *exact same voice* We don't accept phone solicitations
Me: *pause* Are you a robot?
Her: *longer pause* No.
Me: *laughing* You said that exactly the same way twice...
Her: *silence*
Me: Can I send a rep out? That would be a "face to face" solicitation. How's that?
Her: Why don't you fax us some information?
Me: Isn't that a "phone"?
Her: *click*
I guess I was being a smart ass. :laugh:

The only job I've ever had was as a cook at a seafood market in northern VA (Crosby's Crab Co, repasent). I started working there when I was 15 or 16 and quit when I was 19. I loved that job so much. I started off on the bottom and by the time I left I was the kitchen manager, booyahkasha!

That job was so much fun simply because the people I was working with were all just incredibly awesome. I'd have a riot working my ass off during the summer, sweating to the core in the back. There were times when the temperature got in excess of 160 degrees, I kid you not. That's what happens when you have 4 giant crap pots and 2 shrimp pots cooking at full blast. I'd come home reeking of the foulest smells on earth and it didn't bother me one bit.

I even had a blast loading up the trashcans full of thousands of dead crabs into the back of a pickup truck and driving them to the top of the dump. The view from up there was simply gorgeous. It was the highest point in Prince William County, you could see for miles in every direction. And the seagulls, my god the seagulls. I'd sit in the cab and look up and see a thousand seagulls drifting in the air above me, I felt like I was underwater. I actually looked forward to going to the dump, which was kind of a bummer since when I became the boss of other people I no longer got to go anymore since the noobs would have to deal with the trash.

The job itself, though often gross, was something special. I was really glad once I quit a couple months ago, as it marks the first time I've had weekends to myself in the past 3 or so years. But I can't wait to go back and work there over X-mas.

I love throwing ***** out at the dumps and dead crabs must have fun! Why is it so rewarding to smash junk up at the dumps? My sisters and I used to fight over who got to go with my dad to the dumps...


That was a cool work story, P. So often people don't enjoy their jobs and it's obvious when you're a customer and the person helping you, looks like they'd rather be dead then doing their job.

Haha, well the customers and our reaction to them, that is a different story entirely. Crosby's customers have spurred much, much hatred among the workers. People are so incredibly stupid and rude much more often than you'd think. Sigh. We were all very good at feigning interest and keeping a smile on our face, though.

Except for this one time. My boss was having a really bad day. Everything was going wrong and the sign out front had just fallen over during a thunderstorm. Then in comes this lady complaining we were falsely advertising the prices of our crabs, which was an absolute lie. She started to demand to talk to the owner, so Bob (already angry) goes to talk to her in a very civil manner. The lady started to accuse Bob of being a terrible business person, a liar, a scumbag and that she was going to be suing him. Yah...my Boss exploded and yelled for her to get "her c*nt ass out of his store". His reaction was obviously pretty harsh, but she deserved it. That lady was an idiot and a bitch to boot. And all of that stemed from her complaining that a sign that reads "Crabs from $6 dollars and up" is false advertising because the best crabs cost more than the $6 dollar crabs. People are retarded.

Reminds me of when I waitressing at this Italian Place which is a Family Restaurant but also has a bar. The town is this tourist trap so you get these people drinking Bloody Mary's at like 10:00 in the morning. Anyways, I'm doing a Friday lunch shift with my co-worker Melissa and this woman at the bar keeps jostling around on her barstool, which is not that big of a deal, except she's wearing a short skirt and thong underwear. There's a party of seven (including little kids) sitting directly behind her.
The family is getting an eyefull.
I politely ask the lady (she totally drunk) if she'd stay in her seat.
She looks at me like I have three heads.
I whisper in her ear that the family behind her doesn't want to keep seeing shots of her underwear.
She laughs and tells me to shut the f*ck up.
My boss, overhearing the whole thing, must have been in quite a funk already because she casually grabs the woman by the collar of her blouse and walks her to the door.
The lady struggles a little but mostly she wants the drink she just paid for.
My boss picks the drink up and gives it to her outside and tells her to keep the glass.
When my boss walks back in the whole restaurant was silent and looking at her, right about when she was going to apologize for the "incident" the woman breezes back in and sucker punches my boss, throws her empty glass on the floor and with a huge sweeping motion of arms, sweeps all the glasses off the bar. Then she ran out the door.
I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants.

frog history X:

salesman in a luxurious Japanese store in Paris
salesman in a less luxurious glasses store in Paris
interpreter in Latvia trying to make French and Latvians understand each other
private teacher of Breton in Paris again
professor in German, French, English and Linguistics at Riga University, Latvia
private teacher of Welsh in Riga, Latvia
cook in a Tibetan restaurant, Normandy, France
teacher in Martial Arts (Jiu-Jitsu, Thai-Boxing, and NHB) in Berlin, Germany
teacher of German in Barcelona, Catalonia
translator Latvian/German into French and Catalan, same place
translator German/English into French, Berlin, Germany

looking for further opportunities........... someone??

I started working in a Italian restaurant (Palermo Villa) as a bus boy when I was fourteen. All the kids in the neighborhood started out working there. They took me in right away because they new my pops.

Some time after that I bounced around from store to store in one of the local malls. Clothing stores, Spencer's Gifts and so on.

I worked at Koss Head phones as a sales rep.

I worked in the public schools maintaing the telecommunications.

Now I work in a Library. I locate materials and send them to blind people and I'm a union rep for other city employees.

Too bad. It would have been more fun to picture you sitting at this huge desk in some persnickety eye glasses telling people to "shush".

Nice, some people shouldn't be allowed out in public. I've had several altercations with drunks while at Crosby's. The one that left me in awe though...I was using the hose at the sink outside when this old guy asks where the bathroom was, we were tired of people asking to use our bathroom inside so my boss had recently gotten a port-a-potty and put it in the parking lot. I pointed to it, which was in plain view, and he got mad, "I'm not going to piss in that nasty thing!". So he proceeds to walk into the walkway between the kitchen and the walk-in freezer, which is a path we all use. He say he is just going to piss right there and I asked him to go farther back, behind the shed at least and then he proceeds to piss all over the wall. I just stood there in awe and sprayed it with the hose for 5 minutes as soon as he got done. I should have just sprayed him.

Chicagofrog...that is a rather impressive list of past jobs...professor and martial arts teacher? Who are you, Indiana Jones?

No little sister. I am a Supervisor in my department, but I don't say shush. I use Dr. Evil's "zip it." I try to hide all day. Today it didn't work. Hey Pete, they found me in the restroom.

well, i wanted to start a career in Martial Arts, at least as a teacher, but if one doesn't have the money to open his own club... plus i screwed up my back and knees - and between throws and blows and kicks, one needs to relax... with languages?? :rolleyes:

Don't you love it? I used to think that someone turned over a large rock and whatever crawled out were my customers that night. I always got the freaks.

Nice. When I first started working at the Crab Co and wasn't used to the heat and physical labor of it I used to go sneak into the bathroom and down a Powerade as my own little breaks. We didn't get a standard break of 15 minutes or whatever, we worked around the clock, so I just took full advantage of the free drinks. :)

:laugh:


Your inside joke with P, is tantalizing and mildly irritating as I'm dying to know what the hell you're talking about.

Background -

Various jobs in the printing industry ranging from bindery work in the late 80s to running process work on presses in the early and mid 90s, moving into electronic pre-press and design late 90s and into digital output for the past few years.

My responsibilities today include:

Sys-admin and IT support for our network of computers and postscript output devices
Scheduling and coordinating of workflow through my department.
Supervision of projects and various employees.
Dealing with various suppliers and vendors.
Monitoring paper stocks and cost-of-goods-sold items, ordering when necessary.
Some client interaction (as little as possible, if I can help it).
Posting on MoFo while pretending to work.

I had a couple of fast food jobs WAYYYYY back in the day, but usually only for a summer or so...

I think we can relate. :yup:

Okay Caitlyn, here comes all the sexy cop digs...get ready. :p

Ohhh, where to begin:

Convenience Store Clerk
Landscaping
Janitor at an elementary school
File Clerk
Receptionist
Video Shop manager
House Painter
Grounds keeper at a little league baseball field
Pharmacy technician
Production Assistant at an AM radio station
Floor tiling....guy (no clue what my title was)
Theater and movie critic

I think thats it....

Funny Story: Worked in a government office building answering phones and filing paperwork, and the guy in the cubicle next to mine was a real wise ass, getting ready to retire. The computer teacher we were expecting that day was running late, so the guy says to me, "Watch this." and picks up his phone and dials the front desk. In a really cartoony arab voice he says, "Hello, this is the computer teacher. I am going to be late for work because I can not drive fast on the highway with so many bombs in the trunk of my car....the police would pull me over." we both fell into fits of laughter. then the entire building got locked down. yeah, and I was supposed to go home in ten minutes, too. so he had to call back and tell them it was him doing a silly voice, no terrorists were coming with bombs. he was lucky to have a job the next day. That was messed up.

Oh, I work for the Salvation Army now.

That's a riot! I love it! It reminds me of that BBC show, The Office. Great show.