5 jobs everyone should have

[veronica_rich]

I know Cracked.com essays are hardly definitive tomes, but the one about the 5 kinds of jobs everyone in the world should have to work over the course of a lifetime nails it. I've had close to 20 different jobs in my life, some concurrent, and they've consisted of everything from paid-under-the-table wedding catering grunt worker (don't bother coming after me, IRS; it was YEARS ago and what I made was so laughably little you wouldn't be able to tax me on it), to paralegal, to dishwashing, to scouting locations for a film commission, to investigative reporter, to fast food cook, to editor.

Oh, and babysitting. And housecleaning. And pro cake decorator. (And that was just high school.)

Just sayin', I agree.

Comments

[gobsmacked.livejournal.com]

If teaching a course counts as "having power" I guess I've done all of them:
I worked for a couple of weeks in a sit-in fast food place where I was required to clean the baseboards on my hands and knees during open hours. If I didn't do a booth because customers were sitting there eating, I got in trouble. This led to me being suspended and then quitting.
I worked for several summers at a science museum and then held a job in an art museum, all dealing with schoolkids or kids & families
I worked stuffing envelopes more than once.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Taco Bell was the worst fast food job I ever had. Too many bosses contradicting each other and absolutely no encouragement for forethought or taking responsibility outside being ordered what to do - in fact, you got penalized for it.

[finding-neo.livejournal.com]

They left out retail. Far more humiliating than waiting tables if you ask me because at least those customers want your help. And I've had to clean up plenty of messes, including pee, poop, spit and projectile vomit.

I got the "something with kids" covered too, managed a toy store for over 14 years. Oh, guess that covers something in power, but in retail power is relative. I can hardly make any decisions on my own in the store I run now.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Possibly. I tend to lump retail in with fast food/waiting tables only because they're both storefront service industries (well, not online buying, but that's closer to phone tech support IMO) where someone comes in with money and says "OK, I'm going to look around and pick something and you'll likely not be paid enough to put up with me, but I'll either be an asshole or I'll be kind as I can."

[gobsmacked.livejournal.com]

I was going to add this.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

I wasn't aware of this site before. Now I can't stop reading it. *lol*

Definitely agree that the world would be a better place if all able adults had to do at least some of these. I've done retail - fortunately it wasn't too soul-destroying; I actually enjoyed it some of the time. I've also had a small amount of power. :)