You’re Hired! Um, No Thanks!

 

As someone who has been a member of the U.S. labor force since the early 1970s, you may have surmised that I have had my share of, shall we politely say, lousy or unpopular jobs. Since this is a family blog, I could have described some of them in far more graphic terms and although tempting, I must decline.

My first post was as a movie usher (remember when we still had them?) at $1.85 an hour and all the popcorn you could sweep up after each showing. And when kid’s movies came to town that was a special treat, keeping throngs of unruly brats in line and warning them not to toss Jujyfruits at each other which they, not surprisingly, did with alarming frequency.

The next summer I applied for a job advertised under the banner of “lot maintenance supervisor.” It was an industrial park and my “supervisory” duties consisted of shoveling huge piles of sawdust from one location to another. That paid a skimpy $3 an hour. And say what you want about the weight of sawdust, by 4 or 5 o’clock it felt like I was shoveling barbells.

Not to be outdone, the very next year the Department of Labor assigned me to help transform a shuttered clothing outlet into a home improvement store. All was routine until the tractor trailers carrying the inventory arrived. I spent the next two weeks in 100-degree heat pushing a hand truck back and forth. On the plus side, I did however shed 10 pounds.

Where am I going with this?

Glad you asked. I ran across an article recently which listed the 100 least popular jobs in America, some of which I assume have appeared on the TV series “Dirty Jobs” with host Mike Rowe.

Others surprised me to say the least.

But without further ado, below is an abbreviated list of some occupations that folks avoid and in no particular order.

 

1.      Parking enforcement officer: Need I say more? Is there a more despised employee than the one who tickets you for being five minutes late to feed the meter?

2.      Fish and game warden: I’m not a hunter or a fisherman but I assume these folks are held in similar contempt as parking enforcement.

3.      Proofreaders: Another career I assumed was swallowed up by the blanket description of “copy desk.” But as a former journalist, I hated to have my storied handed back with scores of unique red markings.

4.      Political Scientists: With what is going on in the Beltway do not paint me as surprised.

5.      Floor sanders: Besides the deafening noise and the mini dust bowls, what’s not to like?

 

For the complete list go here: https://stacker.com/stories/1420/100-least-popular-jobs-america

I think for the time being, I think I’ll stay where I am.