Favorite Stupid Job

[MakeItHappen 15]

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The stupid job. You know, the kind of job where you do something mindless and/or non-challenging, you are responsible for very little and the pay is low but reliable. We've all had at least one.

This reminds me of that TV commercial where they had kids say they wanted to grow up and have a menial job.

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I'm in need of another one,

You mean one is not enough?

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I wanna know what other stupid jobs are out there. So tell me, what was your favorite stupid job? Why did you like it?

My very first job was at the 'drinks' station at Burger King. They had TWO people doing this. One to pull the cup out of the dispenser and fill it with ice and another to fill it with what was ordered. It was so mindless they eventually let me do it 'all by myself'.

Warehouse - very boring. And they wouldn't let you use a walkman. Today it would be an ipod.

My first job with Intel was screening computer cards. Put the card in a tester, close the gate, hit a button, wait for the result, place card in good or bad box. After a few months they let me do trouble-shooting. Then it was not so mindless. I read schematics and replaced components. Solder gobblers are really interesting. That was cool. (Years) Later contract jobs with Intel were on the good pay, challenging level.

Entering accounting data. That's something I still have to do. Boring, boring, boring.

Video dubbing at Nationals. Got exciting when the leading teams came in with a dive. Nice conversations, nice people, low pay.

The BEST mindless/ non-challenging job is one I have now. It' a volunteer position for about 4 hours per week. I pick up books at the library and bike them over to home-bound people. The conversations are great. The exercise is great. The pay is zilch- I'm not doing it for the pay. And a perk is that volunteers never get charged late fees. ;) I've spent ~$60 on inner tubes, tires, new rack (because the old one broke from the weight of the books) and two spiffy collapsible carriers. One woman gave me a See's gift certificate just b4 Thanksgiving. I passed it on to the person that pulled the media for her. I met the puller today. She actually went over to personally thank the woman. The home-bound woman is 95 and is lucid as any 20 yo. She lives in an upscale nursing facility. She's blind and needs a wheelchair to get around, but she is one of my favorites. During my 'mindless' visits I've helped her with replacing a battery in her hearing aid, helped with a phone call from a relative, helped determine that a tape was bad and that's why it was not playing right and learned that she occasionally goes gambling at the local casino. One day she asked me how old I was. She thought I was in my 20's. I guess I'm glad I have other work that is not totally mindless or unchallenging, so that I can do this mindless, albeit very rewarding job.

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Make It Happen
Parachute History
DiveMaker

[popsjumper 2]

Retirement.

Hands down the best stupid job ever.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[sinker 0]

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The BEST mindless/ non-challenging job is one I have now. It' a volunteer position for about 4 hours per week. I pick up books at the library and bike them over to home-bound people. The conversations are great. The exercise is great. The pay is zilch- I'm not doing it for the pay. And a perk is that volunteers never get charged late fees. ;) I've spent ~$60 on inner tubes, tires, new rack (because the old one broke from the weight of the books) and two spiffy collapsible carriers. One woman gave me a See's gift certificate just b4 Thanksgiving. I passed it on to the person that pulled the media for her. I met the puller today. She actually went over to personally thank the woman. The home-bound woman is 95 and is lucid as any 20 yo. She lives in an upscale nursing facility. She's blind and needs a wheelchair to get around, but she is one of my favorites. During my 'mindless' visits I've helped her with replacing a battery in her hearing aid, helped with a phone call from a relative, helped determine that a tape was bad and that's why it was not playing right and learned that she occasionally goes gambling at the local casino. One day she asked me how old I was. She thought I was in my 20's. I guess I'm glad I have other work that is not totally mindless or unchallenging, so that I can do this mindless, albeit very rewarding job.

Excellent!! Very Nice!!

-the artist formerly known as sinker

[NWFlyer 2]

Driving buses for campus transit when I was in college. Granted, it did involve learning how to drive a bus, but once I learned, it rocked... flexible hours, good pay (at least for campus jobs), easy work. Got to cruise around a quiet small city, run into my friends from time to time, listen to tunes. It kicked ass!

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[davedlg 0]

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Driving buses for campus transit when I was in college. Granted, it did involve learning how to drive a bus, but once I learned, it rocked... flexible hours, good pay (at least for campus jobs), easy work. Got to cruise around a quiet small city, run into my friends from time to time, listen to tunes. It kicked ass!

I had the exact same job!! It was one of the best paying jobs on campus. It was very flexible with my class schedule too. I drove the shuttle route between the dorms and the school about half the time and charter runs the other half of the time. The charter runs were always fun and interesting. They were everything from driving old people to a play to driving fraternities to lat night parties to driving the football team to their hotel the night before home games, to driving people up to the mountiains to go skiing (and getting some skiing in myself).

It also had the added benefit that I got a CDL which came in handy when I was a raft guide.

[NWFlyer 2]

Yeah, I kept my CDL for a few years after, but then it got expensive to renew for no real benefit.

And I forgot about the charters... those could be really fun. Especially the ones that went like "Drive group to location. Drop them off. Pick up three or four hours later. Get paid for the entire time." Bring my books with me ... woo hoo, paid study time!

I used to do football game charters for the university president's office. Pick up a bunch of his high-donor friends at the house, drive them (with police escort) to the stadium, wait there till the game was over. Got paid to watch the game (only problem was that I *did* have to stay sober.)

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[ltdiver 3]

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You know, the kind of job where you do something mindless ... the pay is low but reliable.

Hear they were looking for an editor for "Parachutist".

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[davedlg 0]

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I used to do football game charters for the university president's office. Pick up a bunch of his high-donor friends at the house, drive them (with police escort) to the stadium, wait there till the game was over. Got paid to watch the game (only problem was that I *did* have to stay sober.)

We had the same charter. I loved football games because the night before the game we would meet the team at their dinner and we would get to eat with them and eat the same food the team did before the game...that was some good food. Then we would drive the team off to a hotel for the night. The next morning we would go to the president's residence and pick up the high donor people (more good food there) and drive them to the game. We were given tickets to the game too. After the game we would drive them back to the president's residence, hang out while they mingled (and get more food) then drive them back to their vehicles. So we would get something like 12 hours of pay, 3 meals and a free ticket to the game on those weekends. Definatly not a bad gig.

[happythoughts 0]

Renting beach chairs, umbrellas, and sailboats on the beach behind the Holiday Inn. (a while back)

"Know any good party spots?"
"Yeah, but Sarasota is easy to get lost in."
"Do you want to hang out with us?"
"Kinda broke."
"We'll buy you a couple of drinks."
"Ok"
"You staying here?"
"Sure, we've got a great room."

[mattmais 0]

Was not my favorite,, But kinda funny why I had it.

When in College, I ran out of money, so went looking for a job. I was down to my last $5 and an empty refrigerator.

So limited the searching to places I could eat. Ended up at a convenience store ...I would eat when I got to work...then eat again right before I went home.

[caress 0]

Well Lisa my first stupid job was painting track homes. I made alot of money that way. Of Course I was 19. It was hard work as far as physical, but it kept me fit. It doesnt take much brain power to rollout walls and cut them in with a brush. I am not sure what part of northern Cal you are in but I sent you a pm with a company name and the guys name who owns it if you want to look into it.-Caress

I've learned.... That being kind is more important than being
right.

[RkyMtnHigh 0]

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Worked in a graveyard. I did paperwork in a trailer they had set up as an office to sell burial plots and cremations.

Up side: the clientelle was pretty quiet (), so I got to sit around a read a book and wait for phone calls. Pay was pretty good actually, because nobody wants to work in a damn cemetary.

Down side: -it either smelled like formaldehyde or BBQ every minute you set foot outside of the 'sales office' trailer. And having bodies all around you wasn't the coolest thing, either... And I unfortunately saw the disreputable side of cadavar disposal as well (how about, "damn, that's the wrong body, but nobody will know the difference after he's cooked." .) There are some sick *&%$s in this world.

You forgot to mention the real perk about working in a cemetary--you've got a lot of people under you.

Walt

Gross, but funny Walt

My "veg-out" job was my first job..washing dishes at Godfathers Pizza since I wasn't old enough to sell beer. It was a no brainer job, but the gross part was picking off gum and lipstick off the plastic glasses. Other than that, I could daydream and pass the time with no stress.

_________________________________________

[ACMESkydiver 0]

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You forgot to mention the real perk about working in a cemetary--you've got a lot of people under you.

Walt

{{{{{{G O N G}}}}}}}}

-Next...

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[hemphog 0]

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Print shop assistant, hands down.

All about the printshop for mindless. 9-5 usually too. Just make sure you have a radio or something

Call centers taking rental car reservations works too...

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"Ya we'll rape the local objects, and maybe do some jumps too!"

[waltappel 1]

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You forgot to mention the real perk about working in a cemetary--you've got a lot of people under you.

Walt

{{{{{{G O N G}}}}}}}}

-Next...

So ACMESkydiver, I guess you're telling me I should keep my daytime job?

I am crushed. (but I'll get over it)

Walt

[Lindsey 0]

Typing. Just typing. I typed a novel for Jack Butler..."Living in Little Rock with Miss Little Rock." The perk(???) was that I also got to babysit for extra money.

Painting the college dorms. Mindless.

Receptionist for an interior designer. The WORST mindless job I ever had.

Patient care tech for adolescent inpatient psych. THAT was a fun job. All you need's a BA or BS....or something along those lines.

linz

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[RevJim 0]

Canning factory, bulk can stacker. Stood in one spot while cans ran down a conveyor and filled one layer of a pallet at a time. layer full, use stick to straighten edges, put on cardboard slip sheet, press button. Machine did the rest. Got interesting when a forklift driver would pull a full pallet off too fast, freakin cans EVERYWHERE! I didn't care though, he had to re-stack em, by hand....

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[FFlyer 0]

I have worked in telesales and as a telemarketer. Although working as a telesales person actually requires a lot of work and puts you under a lot of stress. Especially if your salary is comission based.

But telemarketing on the other side was a breeze. I just sat there and if people were willing to spare a few minutes on the phone I read questions to them off my computer screen and typed in their answers. Not exactly rocket science. Standard hourly rate.

Hmmm, I miss those days. Work these days definitly requires more brain power

[PLFXpert 0]

I did data entry in college for about a year---It was SO easy and yet still paid $12/hr

I could talk to Skymama on instant messenger the whole time, and click in and out of my browser to always check the latest responses on DZ.com.

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[Dumpster 0]

I worked one summer with a cemetary caretaker. Cut grass all day and worked on my tan. On off-weather days, we worked on the equipment. Had to plant a few bodies once in a while. Neat part was the place was over 200 years old - Had headstones dating back to the Revolutionary War. Some of the founding fathers of the Mormons were buried there, too.

Easy Does It

[NWFlyer 2]

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So we would get something like 12 hours of pay, 3 meals and a free ticket to the game on those weekends. Definatly not a bad gig.

Nice. I didn't have to pay to go to the games, so that wasn't a benefit, and they didn't usually feed us. But I can recall quite a few charters where they did provide us with whatever food they were serving.

Best one was the one where we took the MBA students to their annual semi-formal. They gave us a huge tip that more than doubled our pay for the evening. I remember being surprised by how drunk and disorderly they were. For some reason I thought grad students would be more grown up. Little did I know, a few years later I'd be back in business school being just that drunk and disorderly.

[ltdiver 3]

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Stood in one spot while cans ran down a conveyor and filled one layer of a pallet at a time.

That sounds alot like a job I had when I was 16. Stacking cut 2x4's, 2x2's, 1x1's, etc....in pattern on a pallet...stacking them in a predetermined way for stability.

At least we got to talk while working, though. The poor cutters up the conveyer belt line had to stand in one spot and cut, cut, cut...with nobody next to them, just cut and drop on the belt...grab the next length of board and cut the sections again.

It's the job that really convinced me that college education really -was- in my future. Those poor saps are probably -still- at that job 25 years later!

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[Deuce 1]

I agree that temping is a very good gig that pays pretty well.

Another good paying pretty mindless job is loading trucks for UPS. I'd give them a call right now, that's how I got the job. They hire tons of extra help at Christmas and keep all the folks they like. You'd probably get lucky and be able to go out with a driver as a runner. Very mindless, just have to be able to remember zip codes.

[karenmeal 0]

My favorite stupid job was working at the coffee-shop inside of a Border's bookstore. It's an easy job to get, the people that you work with are usually fairly smart and interesting and people who hang out at bookstores tend to be fairly cool. As far as large corporations go, Border's didn't seem to be so evil.

And getting to know the dorky regulars who are desperate for a smile from a girl is a bit of an ego boost.

Oh, and you get to borrow books for free.


-Karen

"Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

[mailin 0]

I second this - my aunt was out of work for months - took this seasonal job at UPS and was hired on full time.

They have great benefits and she loves her job (and she's not the um...motivated type, so if she loves it, thats saying something!).



Jen

Arianna Frances