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A couple of summers before I graduated college I wanted to get some kind of job or internship vaguely related to oil exploration, my ultimate employment goal. Of course with only a HS diploma I wasn't going to get hired as a prospect generator but did get a job with a geophysical surveying company doing marine seismic acquisition.
However, before getting to go out on surveys (which turned out to be a blast, BTW), they made me "pay my dues". In a hot sandy industrial park on steaming Galveston Island Texas the whole month of June I had to take miles-long hydrophone streamers (look like giant plastic sausages with electronics stuffing) out on a fork-lift, unspool it, and clean the oil, garbage, and unspeakable, unidentifyiable "slimy stuff" off. It was near 100F, 99% humidity, and a tropical sun beating down on us all day without a tree in sight. We had to pick up off the ground this heavy, scalding-hot, oil-slimed sausage and put it over your knee and use this nasty toulene-based chemical to cut through the oil sludge and it made the hands feel like frost-bite and any little cuts (which you got plenty of doing the work) sting and burn. I'd get off at 5PM and come home by 5:15 and be asleep without dinner by 5:30 many nights.
Cashier at a Salvation Army Thrift Store. I really needed a job and it was full-time, so I took it. It sucked so bad. It was in August (MI gets very hot and humid that time of year), the place had no air and all we had was an Industrial fan that blew hot, rank, dirty air around. The place was filthy and many of the patrons were awful and mean. Everything had a coat of dust on it and turned your hands black. If you made a mistake on the register or forgot to apply a discount (and you had to do this to each individual item), you would have to page a manager to come to the register to adjust it. And this happened all of the time. The worst part about it was on Senior discount day; some people (usually women) would get mad if you asked them if the discount applied to them, and others would get mad if you didn't automatically give them the discount.
While in college, I worked at the cafeteria at the main hospital in town. I prepped the salad bar mainly, but also delivered patient trays and washed dishes.
I have never seen so much backstabbing in my life. These were middle aged losers with no ambition. Sounds harsh, but it seems like middle aged adults working menial jobs seem to be worse than the younger people and teenagers. They complained about everything. It was awful.
I came home every night smelling like food and dish water. Working at the cafeteria made me value a college education.
I figured that when he said USAF...but what about the striper part ?lol
Did they paint stripes on the plane or what?
Phoenixscorpiogirl, the "1- & 2-striper" refers to the low ranks (Airman & Airman 1st Class) I held back then. The fewer stripes (lower rank) you have, the more "grunt" work you get to do!
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