Bad Jobs

Bad Jobs: My Last Shift at Albert Wong's Pagoda and Other Ugly Tales of the Workplace, Carellin Brooks (ed.), Arsenal Pulp Press, 1998

In the world of employment, there is a huge range from interesting and fulfilling jobs, to mind-numbingly boring, dangerous and otherwise stupid jobs. The stories collected here look at the latter type of job, for which "bottom of the barrel" is sometimes too generous.

One person delivered flyers for two years while dealing with obnoxious homeowners and guard dogs that supposedly love people. A night parking lot attendant, who spends most of his shift reading books, nearly gets robbed. An ice factory worker reveals what really goes into Crushed Party Ice. A female employee at a fabric wholesaler has a male co-worker who insists that he never raped a woman who didn't enjoy it. A phone sex worker tells of bringing men to orgasm while reading Ms. magazine. A caucasian delivers Chinese food to obnoxious white people. A golf course cabana girl sells liquor to golfers in the middle of a Phoenix summer.

Actually experiencing these jobs must have been hell, but reading about them borders on hilarious. Whenever your job gets too much to handle, get this book and read about people who have it even worse.