| Yep. * Unloading fish on a wharf during a violent snowstorm, at night. * Doing the stop/go signs on roadworks for 12 hours in the rain. * Carrying heavy boxes of government records up 5 flights of stairs from a basement for eight hours, and the next day, carrying them up 2 flights of stairs to their new home - blew out the medial meniscus in my right knee doing that * Carrying what Americans call drywall, but like the kind with noise deadening material in it that makes it heavier, non-stop for three weeks during the construction of an art gallery. Ever had that thing where your body just says "no" because you've been pushing your muscles too hard and your fingers go nerveless and involuntarily release? I got a written warning for that because I dropped the expensive drywall. Only kind of drywall that was worse was the drywall used to line X-ray rooms in medical centres. * Working the recycling trucks - the bins we emptied into the sorting tray had drainage holes in the bottom, and you had to lift them above your head to tip them into the sorting tray, so when you did, a lovely mixture of coagulating milk / wine / beer / whatever other fluids came from unclean recycling would run down your arm and until I learned to tape up the cuffs of my overalls, inside your overalls. And when we went to offload, rubbish dump dust would stick to your sweat / recycling juice, so every day ended up stinking and filthy. * Kitchenhand in an airport kitchen so poorly managed I was the longest serving dishpig they'd ever had when I stayed there six months. I outlasted about 8 cooks, I suppose they had options. * Case worker in social security - understaffed, pressured to achieve unrealistic numbers, and often directed by policy to not help people who needed help. * Oh, and roguing for wild oats in wheat fields in near 100°F heat. Those jobs really help me appreciate how privileged and lucky I am to be a developer. |
Other jobs were harvesting lettuce (on your knees with a knife behind a conveyor, my knees were fooked after a few days), building scaffolding in 30+ degree weather (lasted two weeks I think?), working at a DIY store (restocking, mixing paint, cleaning, it was a decent job, I was there for over a year working part-time), delivering newspapers, etc.