general What are some unusual jobs you've had?

[Dreambiscuit 9,353]

Have you ever had a job that you think of as unusual, odd, or out of the mainstream? We’ve all had odd jobs, especially when we started out, so what kinds of jobs have you had?

[Creepy Scribbles 4,444]

I was a mushroom sorter. People are collecting wild mushrooms in local forests. Mushrooms of that kind which is impossible to cultivate without their ecosystem. I had to grade them by kind and quality. It was a nasty job but being teen I had no big choice how to make money for my teen stuff =)

[Fluttershutter 2,359]

Nothing unusual, just crappy jobs full of crap.

[SharpWit 2,576]

For a very brief period in 2018 I think, I held the title of Malicious Man, and my job was to place wicks and labels on/in jars for candles. The title was a play on the company name, and as I was the first male employee outside of the family. I did this while the business was still operating out of the owner's home garage, often with her now late pet Bengal sleeping on my lap. Rest in peace Frankie. The candles happened to be featured in a celebrity's homemade gift basket that was presented to Oprah on her show, and from there the business exploded. Now they have a few locations, tons of online orders and partnerships with small touristy shops. They've sold with such success that there's a ton of copy cats out there as well, and there was even a lawsuit over a blatant rip off of their labels.

So if you ever come across a candle that's been poured into a medicinal brown glass with a witty name and descriptions loaded with profanity, you now know of someone who was right near their start and basis.

I was mostly there to help during that early stage and be somewhat productive while in-between more permanent work. I had a blast during my short span with them, and while my perfectionism was appreciated, especially as there's a surprising amount of precision that comes to candle making, but like many other places the speed at which I do things leaves more to be desired. I wasn't part of a regular payroll and the surge in orders provided a great opportunity for them to expand and hire a few faster sets of hands. So not officially let go, but also not asked to come back. It's always a pleasure to come across their products while out and about, and I'm glad to see their success. I hope everyone is doing well, and if Jake is still around, hopefully getting lots of belly rubs.

[Dreambiscuit 9,353]

23 hours ago, Crypty Scribbles said:

I was a mushroom sorter. People are collecting wild mushrooms in local forests. Mushrooms of that kind which is impossible to cultivate without their ecosystem. I had to grade them by kind and quality. It was a nasty job but being teen I had no big choice how to make money for my teen stuff =)

I used to live in Oregon where people would collect Chanterelle mushrooms and they used to make a fortune. Some people used to protect their finds with guns, it was that lucrative!

18 hours ago, Fluttershutter said:

Nothing unusual, just crappy jobs full of crap.

I hope they paid well. 

@SharpWit That's pretty cool. I'm glad you have a good attitude about their success, with or without you. You were there for the important part; getting it off the ground. 

[Creepy Scribbles 4,444]

9 minutes ago, Dreambiscuit said:

I used to live in Oregon where people would collect Chanterelle mushrooms and they used to make a fortune. Some people used to protect their finds with guns, it was that lucrative!

Oh wow! That's a story! Chanterelle are very common here in season. But it's real criminal business around cedar pine nuts here. People around the world want to buy it, so collect it alone in forest isn't safe. Nuts like this https://www.wearesantos.com/products/pine-nuts-250g 

Edited June 15 by Crypty Scribbles

[TheRockASaurus 50,021]

@Dreambiscuit

You work at Dreamland? 

 

3 minutes ago, Crypty Scribbles said:

Oh wow! That's a story! Chanterelle are very common here in season. But it's real criminal business around cedar pine nuts here. People around the world want to buy it, so collect it alone in forest isn't safe. Nuts like this https://www.wearesantos.com/products/pine-nuts-250g 

@Crypty Scribbles

That sounds nuts.

[Dreambiscuit 9,353]

1 minute ago, Crypty Scribbles said:

Oh wow! That's a story! Chanterelle are very common here in season. But it's real criminal business around cedar pine nuts here. Nuts like this https://www.wearesantos.com/products/pine-nuts-250g 

Pine nuts?! Those are everywhere...or so I thought. Maybe not absolutely everywhere. I can just see someone languishing in prison, being asked, "What are ya in for?" and replying in the toughest tone possible, "I'm in for Pine nuts!" 

2 minutes ago, TheRockARooster said:

@Dreambiscuit

You work at Dreamland? 

Close, but not quite! It's kind of a nightmare these days! 

 

So here's my unusual job. I was once employed for three weeks as a professional ‘screamer’ at the MGM Grand Halloween Scream Park for their Halloween celebrations. I was put into a haunted maze and was given a foam rubber ‘Alien’ arm puppet which I would thrust through a hole in a wall at unsuspecting passing guests passing through the maze. This action was usually accompanied by a really guttural scream/shriek sound I made to give the alien some jump factor. But after three weeks my voice was shot and the whole thing was very not worth it.

[Fluttershutter 2,359]

14 hours ago, Dreambiscuit said:

I hope they paid well. 

[DubWolf 17,140]

Honestly, the current one, given my qualifications.

Experience however, makes it less odd.

Edited June 16 by DubWolf

[Iforgotmybrain 5,084]

I did transcriptions for podcasts and interviews for a little bit. Interesting experience seeing and learning how it all worked. Pay was absolutely not on par with the amount of effort you had to put in, though. Would not recommend.

The whole process is probably mostly automated with AI by this point, since this was pre-pandemic.

Edited June 16 by Iforgotmybrain
Reword

[Envy 6,121]

My jobs have been rather standard fare. The only thing that was bizarre was being bizarre for me at my most recent job - a far right Evangelical workplace. Truthfully a strange fit, don't you think? Morally, I found it hard to work there, but it was a stable job and I somehow fit in just fine. All three of my jobs so far have had one or more aspects that were tough for me to deal with (my job before that was extremely painful for me with my chronic illness, so this last job was paradise after that), so I just rolled with it. That's just how I am. I value every job I get and don't leave until I have to (in this case, moving to a far away state) And I mean, I learned so much in that job. Talk about knowing the other side. And to think that this type of radical Christianity is close to me in terms of family, somehow I dodged that bullet. I have to thank my dad for not going down that path. Happy Father's Day, dad.

Either way, I'm grateful for the job.

Edited June 17 by Envy