What's your most unusual profession?

[EstimatedProphet]

What weird jobs have you done?

[Fox Mulder]

1. I was a school janitor for a summer a few years back...

that's not very weird, though. :shrug:

[TheBaldyMan]

2. I was a debt collector

that was one job I didn't enjoy, but it put me in good stead when I started a business later.

[EstimatedProphet]

7. I did data entry for a debt collection firm once.

I agree with you-didn't enjoy it at all.

[tuvor]

8. Delete

I'm an idiot.

[tuvor]

9. Oops, wrong place.

Can't get anything right today!

[Dave Reynolds]

3. Cleaned operating rooms.

Necropsy room tech at a research lab.

Autopsy assistant.

[Lochloosa]

56. A long time ago I worked in Maintenance at a hospital

had to pick up the comtanminated waste from the lab and the MORGUE and burn it in the incinerator.
The morgue was the last stop and sometimes the cart I pushed would be full. So if you stack the legs just right you could fill it over the top.....

[spacelady]

4. Monument illustrator. n/t

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. Worked as a housekeeper for rafting company and cabins in Alaska

Fell in love with that state...never have seen such beautiful and raw country again in my life....yet :)

on edit:
being a housekeeper is not so unusual...it was where I worked that made it so very different..Milepost 336 :thumbsup:

[EstimatedProphet]

11. Where is that?

Near Fairbanks, right?

[Whoa_Nelly]

15. Actually just south of Denali National Park

and also south of Healy.

Lived in a wall tent all summer on the banks of the Nenana River, an offshoot of the Tanana which is offshoot of the Yukon.

Had a five month summer there, drove back to US camping all the way...took two weeks. Even took the gravel/dirt Stewart-Cassiar Hwy. for part of the way. So much flora and fauna to see and experience that summer. One of my most memorable summers.

[EstimatedProphet]

16. You're right, that is a gorgeous area

I'm jealous!

[Ptah]

6. My first job off the farm was in a

flower shop. Centerpieces, funeral sprays, corsages, etc.

[tuvor]

10. Production coordinator for an anime voiceover company.

Adapted anime for English-speaking audiences. Hard work, tight deadlines, and a ton of detail.

Shining Finger!

[elshiva]

12. Cuting my grandmother's fingernails.

(wasn't paid, put it is a job, and dangerous)

[EstimatedProphet]

13. I used to take calls in the 1-800-FLOWERS phonebank

so if you ordered from them, I may have been the one that took the order!

[SeattleGirl]

14. Did maintenance on ATM machines

It was after I got totally burned out working in alcohol/drug treatment (I left the last employer without even having a job to go to), and got a job with an S&L working on ATM's in their banks. Sometimes the "picker" couldn't grab the money, so I'd have to call my partner so we could get into the money drawer and flip-flop the bills (it usually happened with brand new bills). That part always made me a little nervous, as several of my branches were robbed -- fortunately not while I was there. I did that for about 6 months and it was actually a very good break for me.

[BrotherBuzz]

17. Grave robber/exhumer

Well sorta. I worked for a private anthropology outfit contracted by local Indian tribes and paid by contractors/developers to unearth Indian remains for secret reburial elsewhere. All very quiet and sworn to secrecy, I sculpted the bones out of the ground and documented EVERYTHING! I loved it and might have continued if politics didn't rear it's ugly head in the middle of it - Contractors vs government officials vs rival Indian tribes - all chasing or protecting the almighty greenbacks - the hell with simply doing the right thing.

[EstimatedProphet]

18. OK, that's creepy.

[BrotherBuzz]

28. Creepy were the politics, the bones were wicked cool...

I developed a reverence for some of the work, like unearthing a child with three quartz crystals in its tiny hand - a special and quiet feeling raced through my body. Other bodies were fascinating, but for completely different reasons - murder. At least I figured it was murder, because there were points in the chest cavity and a beautiful point lodged in the scapula. War? Family or enemy?

Still another odd one was a body that was buried 180 degrees opposite from all the others which were aligned facing north. Homosexual? Shaman? Sacred Clown? Republican?

Digging bones ain't creepy, and given enough time, I could have found my answers - I just know it.

[EstimatedProphet]

31. Actually, just playing

I used to collect animal bones myself.

[Allenberg]

26. Spreading raw sausages on a coveyer belt

Had to spread them out even so they didn't get into piles before they went into the oven.

[BrotherBuzz]

29. Tell me the truth (I can handle it)....

Do sausages really contain lips, ears, and anuses? :rofl:

[Allenberg]

50. Not the sausage I've seen.

Mostly ground up regular meat, though the fatty content was through the roof.

[Kali]

39. I have family doing this...

NAGPRA, good for science eh?

[BrotherBuzz]

45. Good and bad because science often takes a backseat to politics

Remains in a drawer need to be returned, for sure. But I would desire more field testing and study be done before reburial, and that's where the politics and money get in the way. In my area, we have two tribes fighting over who are the rightful decendents of the buried. The tribe presently awarded custodianship won't allow any testing done that might prove otherwise. Why? It's driven by MONEY and POLITICS, and the hell with doing the right thing.


Meanwhile, science takes a backseat while they sort it out.

[Kali]

58. Science takes a backseat (gets run over) when remains are reburied

in secret locations. Frequently with damange from improper handling. Just look at the advances in dating and dna for two examples that have happened in the last few decades - then think of all the information lost to all of humankind because of some PC appeasement process that is as you say driven by money and politics (using religion and superstition)

[BrotherBuzz]

67. Sister, you said it better then me...

Attempting to be PC, I pulled some punches.

As for DNA and dating, what good is something that's been handles a million times and contaminated? One of the nuggets I found that our Biologist got really excited about was a huge, I mean HUGE, pestle that was uncontaminated and untouched for centuries. We got permission to remove it and a peck of researchers went to work on it looking for pollen. Pollen? The observer/Indians couldn't spin that one; one small victory for science.

[Redstone]

19. I worked for (a company) doing research for (a branch of the military)

which resulted in me being in (a city) and immediately thereafter in (a much smaller town) in (a country) where there were people shooting at me. Some of them didn't miss.

That's the best I can give you. I could probably give you the acronym of the program, but it wouldn't help....I've never seen a reference to it on the Internet, even though it wasn't all that big a secret, just obscure.

Redstone

[Heddi]

20. Worked in Cancer Research & dissected ovaries & uteruses

Worked for Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center in Seattle as a "Collection Specialist". The projects I was working on focused on early detection of breast & ovarian cancer. The main part of my job was to sign women up to partake in the study, and most of them just had to fill out long questionnaires and get their blood drawn a few times a year (we were looking for genetic markers that could aid in early detection, like the PSA blood test for prostate cancer).

We worked alongside a group of gynecologic oncologists who would refer women who were either high risk because of history (personal, family, etc), or who were suspected of having ovarian, uterine, or cervical cancer. WHen these women went in for TAH/BSO (total abdominal hysterectomies, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomies---removal of the uterus (hysterectomy), fallopian tubes (salpingo) and ovaries (oopho)), I would go into the OR with them, take blood and urine samples, and then just hang out while the surgeons did their work.

When the organs were removed, they would be handed directly to me and I'd take them to the pathology lab. The pathologist would have to do a quick slide to see if the organs were cancerous. Once the pathologists did their work, my job was to take samples of the ovaries, fallopian tubes, endometrium, and other tissue, and cut it up and preserve it in a variety of mediums for further research.

GREATEST job in the world! AND I didn't even have a degree (but I was waiting to get into nursing school at the time---I'm getting ready to graduate nursing school in June). It was great. I loved it.

Weirdest thing was my first day doing a specimen collection. The woman is on the table, the surgeon pulls out the organs and puts them in a tray and hands them to me. The pathologist told me to go ahead and take my samples while I was taking his, and I picked up the ovary and it was still freaking WARM. Freakiest thing I ever did feel.

Got to see alot of "gross" stuff (as most people would say)--I didn't find it gross. I thought it was so interesting. I saw an ovarian cyst that weighed around 10 pounds and was the size of a basketball. I saw non-cancerous tumours and things called Teratomas, which are non-native tissue growing in areas. Like, the ovary would have thymus tissue in it. Sometimes, Teratomas have hair and teeth because hair and teeth are just protein and can grow anywhere. I never saw those, but I saw tons of cysts, and had the unfortunate incidence of actually being in the path lab as the pathologist did a frozen slide and found cancerous cells in the ovary. When the other ovary was taken out, cancer was found in that one as well. They then went into staging it and it was farily progressed cancer. It felt odd for me knowing that this woman had cancer before she did, or her family did, or the people who loved her did. She's still on the table with her abdomen open and having surgery, knocked out and all. It was odd.

Another woman that was in the study was 28 years old. She had breast cancer around age 21 and had a total masectomy of the one breast. The cancer recurred in the other breast and that one was removed. When we saw her, she was 28 and having a TAH/BSO because her risk of ovarian and uterine cancer was so extremely high and it was being done as a prophylactic measure.

[Burma Jones]

21. Law Book Updater and Oyster Shucker

The Law Book Updater job consisted of getting these updates to law books (case law changes daily don't ya know), and replacing the old pages with the new. This was being phased out even as I was doing this job.....

Oyster Shucker was fun because it was at a bar and I got to interact with the customers....

[HEyHEY]

22. Hot dog vendor

[hunter]

64. Not in New Orleans, I hope.

Some guy wrote an entire novel about that.

[momophile]

23. I cleaned animal cages...

for the CA dept of fish of game. Most of the animals had been confiscated. Racoons, desert tortoises (torti?), mt. lions, deer.

[Kat45]

24. I sold lingerie and sex toys at home parties,

you know, like Tupperware parties.

Also had a summer job in a factory making Playboy jigsaw puzzles.

[ragin_acadian]

25. worked for a modeling agency during spring break '98

most boring job ever: i walked up and down the beach handing out jolly ranchers and sprite to hungover fratboys.

i did get some beers though.

[flvegan]

27. Former porn star, here.

Sure, I liked doing the nasty with all those women, but they never called me back. I felt used. I felt like my enormous, um, "equipment" was all that mattered. They didn't care about me, it was all about the money shot. Nobody cared about my hopes, my dreams, my beliefs. "Let's talk" was mocked...

Sometimes, a huge you-know-what is a drawback. Sigh.

[TheBaldyMan]

33. but you're a vegan and don't eat meat !!!!

[flvegan]

34. I don't consume and ingest "meat" but I sure as hell

"eat" selective flesh.

[LeftyMom]

36. at the Y?

:rofl:

[flvegan]

38. The Y is my FAVORITE place to

partake of such delicacies...

Dear Lord,

While at the Y, please assist me in achieving lockjaw.

Knew you'd understand. Thanks.

flvegan

[LeftyMom]

42. Dear God (or whoever handles her email)

I have no idea what I did to deserve this, but thanks a million anyhow. :yourock:

xxxooo,

LeftyMom

[eyepaddle]

30. Paint bulker (paint recycling/hazardous waste dipsosal.)

Yes, it was as messy as it sounds.

[Rowdyboy]

32. Egg trayer...I inserted trays of 48 dozen eggs into a large mobile unit

that was wheeled into a huge incubator. I set the temp, and a couple of weeks later, baby chicks were born. It was a summer job and I loved it!

[haydukelives]

35. Newspaper delivery

3:30 am till 7:00 am 7 days a week
could never decide if it was the
best job I ever hated or the
worst job I ever liked

[serryjw]

37. Drove an ice cream truck for a week

Fun but couldn't make any money. They inventory needed to be counted twice a day on pick and delivery which took 2 hours, the gas was your expense and THEY set the price and I made the profit...very little.The truck made me nervous. The freezer was on one side and every time I made a turn I thought I was going to flip over from the weight.

[Beware the Beast Man]

40. For three days, I dipped wicker craft brooms in cinnamon oil.

I couldn't stand the smell of cinnamon for months.

[DanCa]

41. Weird jobs -

well i dont get paid but when I lobby I meet some interesting opposition. I thought anti choicers werent allowed to inbreed..

[trackfan]

43. I put up tents, as part of a crew, for the Long Beach Grand Prix.

During said job I operated the jackhammer; held the spike while somebody else operated the jackhammer; along with a whole bunch of guys, raised the center pole; and, hung the sides of the tent.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

44. Blood salesman

Well, plasma, really. Mine. $20 a pump in the mid-80s at the LabTec company in my college town.

It's a job for a real self-starter. Gotta eat well and re-build those cells to sell!

[Skittles]

46. LOL

sans glasses I read "possession" instead of profession. :o

[NMMNG]

47. My current jobs could be considered weird by some

Over the years they have involved chasing a half-naked woman across a public park, slipping in puddles of enema fluid, dodging soiled adult diapers, keeping a straight face while somebody purposely urinates on the floor to try to get a rise out of me, cleaning "code browns" out of bathtubs, being propositioned for sex by both males and females in exchange for cigarettes, having people drop their pants in public and much, much more.

[radwriter0555]

52. You work in the white house?

It's much nicer than I thought. Pity about being around all those republicans though.

[NMMNG]

73. Thank you so much

You just made me laugh hysterically :rofl:, whereas many of the posts I'd read up to this point had made me sad or infuriated. Keep up the good work!

[radwriter0555]

74. Honestly, I read your job description & all I could think of was midnight

white house frolicking ala Jeff Gannon in the oval office... cause we know those boys are fecal freaks, right?

Sounds like a tough job you've got though.. bless your heart! And be grateful it isn't around republicans!!!!!

[NMMNG]

75. "Those boys"?

Which boys are those?

[radwriter0555]

76. Why... all the bush republicans!

they're surely scatalogical.

[Omphaloskepsis]

48. I made parts..

that went into the International Space Station. It was a wafer fab and our motto was, "They will catch our mistakes during testing."

[RevCheesehead]

49. I was a support worker in a workplace for the mentally challenged.

It was part of their training for entering the workforce. Different factories would send small jobs to be done - assembling, sorting, etc. My job was to help them keep up with the orders (get the job done faster). After a while, the staff realized that I had a great relationship with the clients, so they soon had me out on the floor, working directly with them (I became a floater).

I loved this job! It was one of the most fulfilling jobs I have ever done - and my last "real" job before I entered seminary.

[calico1]

51. When I was a teenager I worked one summer

as a clerk in the homicide division of the local police dept. I filed away reports and also evidence such as crime scene pictures, guns, knives, etc. I learned early in life how sick people can be.

[rug]

53. I represented criminally insane defendants and tried to get them released

[datasuspect]

54. central american death squad commando

just joking

[no name no slogan]

55. Cellarman at a traditional British pub

It was an apprenticeship of sorts. I also attended some classes through the City & Guilds of London Institute to learn more of the trade. If I'd continued I could have probably become I publican one day.

My job was to oversee the secondary fermentation phase of the traditional British ales in the pub. I also helped maintain the beer and wine cellars as well. It was a very interesting job, even if the pay wasn't so great.

[Orsino]

57. Soldier and teacher.

Not particularly weird, but military service is a bit uncommon in America. I was a satellite comminications tech in the Army. Before that, I taught high school physics and chemistry.

Now I fix the Internet.

[oneighty]

59. Navy EOD

Explosive Ordnance Disposal.

Many adventures doing weird stuff some very scary to the point of puking.

One of the most unusual I suppose was rendering safe unexploded civil war cannon balls and other ordnance during the renovation of Fort Sumter, Charleston South Carolina 1958/59.

180

[Kali]

60. My current profession (life) is not that unusual (although we are

now down to less than 2% of the US population), but the variety of skills to do it often amaze folks more accustomed to modern life's trend toward specialization. As a rancher I do everything from automechanics to midwifery, "rodeoing" to plumbing, bottlefeeding orphans to castrating steers, monitoring rangeland condition to building fence, branding and doctoring large animals, going to endless meetings with endless agencies, getting $1/lb for my work and paying $7/lb for a steak.

I get to enjoy open space clean air, and a feeling of freedom many office drudges only dream of, on the other hand I drive a heavy, fuel INeffecient vehicle and have to buy large heavy tires annually because otherwise I would have to buy a small fuel efficient vehicle itself every year.

This could go on for many paragraphs but it is time to do one of my favorite things allowed by my job. After a good mornings work, lunch and a bit of time on the internets (we won;t talk about being on here all day yesterday) it is now SIESTA time. Hasta luego!

[skygazer]

61. Greyhound trainer

Road construction worker (strange for a female)
Snowmobile mechanic

[puerco-bellies]

62. Fish Gutter

I worked in a fish plant in Oregon for a couple of months. YIKES!!!!

[Arkansas Granny]

63. I vaccinated baby chicks for Marek's disease at a hatchery.

I could vaccinate 2,300 per hour by hand, which makes me a first class chicken-sticker.

[kwassa]

65. Dogcatcher

I lasted two weeks, at which time I sprang all the dogs from the pound.



Do the dogcatcher, dogcatcher
Do the dogcatcher
Do the dogcatcher, dogcatcher
Do the dogcatcher

Bow-wow-wow-yippie-yo-yippie-yeah
Bow-wow-yippie-yo-yippie-yeah
Bow-wow-wow-yippie-yo-yippie-yeah
Bow-wow-yippie-yo-yippie-yeah

[azmouse]

66. A long time ago I use to sew the sleeves onto teeshirts.

Oh! and I used to be a toe seamer... ya know, that seam sewn across the toe of your socks.
I did that for Gold Toe socks.

[hunter]

68. I was a handyman or an escort. I'm not sure which.

I used to work for an agency that assisted elderly people. Sometimes I'd do minor tasks like fixing dripping faucets or opening stuck windows, but other times I was just eye candy -- they'd ask me to dress up nice and hold their arms at social events so they wouldn't fall down.

Some of the old women and a few of the old men were nasty! I was never sure if they were joking or not when they offered to pay me for sex, but I never took any up on it. Maybe if I had I'd be a millionaire now.

[Trigger Hippie]

69. I worked at Arby's

and I helped my uncle, a priest, organize all his death/marriage records at his church. (sorry, not that interesting).

[Texasgal]

70. I worked as an organist

for a funeral home. I was 17 years old and my Grandmother was also an organist. She hated driving at night, so I would do all of the night rosary's and family receiving. On weekends I
would help out, putting sprays on the caskets or putting tissues in the pews at the chapel.

I sometimes would hang out with some of the directors, and go and pick up bodies... that was interesting!

I can play Ava Maria in my sleep now! :crazy:

[TheProphetess]

71. I worked in a dog kennel

Maybe it wasn't that weird but it was my most unusual profession. I slept at the owner's house when they would go to the mountains (where they were building a new house for early retirement - burnout comes quickly when working with other people's dogs!).

I had to deal with some strange people and strange dogs. In my tenure at the kennel, one dog died while I was working (he was REALLY old and they shouldn't have booked him for a long vacation) and one cat died (it starved itself in protest to being in the kennel). We stopped taking cats after that - they're much more likely to starve in protest than are dogs.

I don't miss that job one bit.

[MiwSher]

72. Animal trainer in a circus n/t/