What was the hardest or the coolest job u ever had or have?

[NYLIBUD]

I’ve had a lot of different jobs.But I would have to say my hardest,was when I worked as an investigator for our local CPS (Child Protective Services)office…Yup,the pay 💵and benefits were great,but after 10.+years,seeing all kinds of fu%#@ up kids everyday was more than I could handle..However the people I worked with were great.We were all only supposed to really have no more than 15,or so cases,but because of all the paperwork,crazy deadlines,we each had over like forty,or so cases..With tons of back logs,people leaving the job,cause they hated it.A 😖 revolving doorLike I said,there were some good things about the job.We all worked as a team,helping one another with whatever.It taught me a lot…And probably the coolest,& easiest job I had,was when I was 16,and a life guard at a local country club.Got paid to sit around,working on my tan.😆

[Ace-Garageguy]

Hardest is the one I'm doing now, finishing up a lower-high-end pro-touring '66 Chevelle, on my own until I hand it off for paint.

And every day as I get older and more useless, the harder it gets.  

Coolest was probably as a racing mechanic, doing the prep in the shops, test driving, and going on the road with the cars.

Edited Friday at 01:04 PM by Ace-Garageguy

[Tim W. SoCal]

3 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

And every day as I get older and more useless

Bill, do not EVER think you're (or we're, the aged) are becoming USELESS! We have experience and skills that are essential and invaluable that desperately need to be passed on to the younger generations, as well as innumerable resources and retrospections that may benefit them as they travel this journey of life.

[Dave Van]

My favorite job was during high school in the 70's. Back then in NC the high school kids drove all the school buses!! We'd drive in the morning, miss first period while driving the elementary and jr schools. Go to class, get out and drive kids home. It was a great job....nights, weekends and holidays off. You took the bus home every night. I took great pride in the job. Never had any safety issues in 2 years driving. I enjoyed driving too. I feel it taught me some life lessons too. My Sr year bus driver photo.....that's my bus #51 and me in the racing jacket at the door. Thx 

 

Edited Friday at 01:13 PM by Dave Van

[Tim W. SoCal]

  My hardest, yet most rewarding, job was owning my own automotive repair and maintenance business. Not only the responsibilities of being the bottom line in providing outstanding service to our clients, but being ultimately responsible to make sure my techs, who were all on commission, had enough work to provide the income to feed, house and clothe their kids, buy them Christmas presents, etc. and to ensure that each of them earned a decent and comfortable living, as well as making sure that  my shop operated as an asset to the community.

[Rob Hall]

My jobs have all been software engineering/computer programmer positions after college and grad school (during college worked part time at the campus bookstore for 2 years and as a junior sys admin for the Computer Science department for 2 years, taught college algebra, calculus and intro computer programming classes in grad school).  

Almost 30 years in the tech biz, many at startups and Fortune 50 companies, large and small.

I've had a few jobs that started off promising but ended up miserable and exhausting...one at a startup in Colorado where I was underpaid and had a 120 mile commute daily and the people I worked with I loathed, another at a major bank in software development in Arizona w/ a 50 mile daily commute, 65-70 hr work week, horrible people to work with dysfunctional environment (3 people out of 12 had heart attacks in 6 months), and maybe the worst was a contract at a software company in Scottsdale, AZ where I worked 80-95 hrs a week for 2 months.. at least that was an hourly gig w/ 3 meals a day served and a good rate, but it aged me.  

Best might be my current job (work from home, high salary and great benefits, great team to work with) and a job I had in Denver in the 00s where I worked with a strong team culture and was a lot of fun (the company bar was walking distance from the office, we had team golf outings and hiking). 

Edited Friday at 06:23 PM by Rob Hall

[stitchdup]

coolest would have to be the seafood factories but thats cos they are chilled. the hardest was probably nightwatch on the boat. nothing to do most of the time but when something went wrong it was always 3 in the morning and i had to wake up the bosses. a big highlight was learning by phone how to drop the anchor when she broke loose in a storm and because the ship was under refit there were no torches to be found as everything was being certified. i saved the ship but there was a lot of damage. to be fair though, when nothing was happening i built models 

[John M.]

I've been a bus driver since 1990 and the jobs that I had were headaches in their own right. My first was driving a shuttle bus for one of the rental car companies at Logan Airport and a interstate motor coach. However, the one I have now is the hardest and toughest of them which is driving a school bus. My most important piece of equipment on it is a bottle of extra strength Tylenol. At least my boss pays me enough. 🙂

[JollySipper]

As soon as I had my driver's license I had a job...... The toughest job that I had the pleasure of holding was the several pig farms that I worked at. I worked every department at one time or another, from making babies to sending them off! All the people were cool to work with, I just got burned out with it...........

So I found another trade to learn, painting houses! Got to do some traveling, work on some 100 year old houses, and met all kinds of people......... The best part was that the job site changed pretty often, so there wasn't as much getting burned out just being at one place.

[johnyrotten]

Coolest job was also the worst. Industrial maintenance/milwright work. I got to travel all over half the country and work on crazy, huge equipment while making insane money in my early/mid twenties. The 2-3 day straight through  workdays, not home for a month and corporate garbage took the enjoyment out of that work. 

[TonyK]

I guess my coolest job was back in the '70's when I was a senior in high school delivering pizza. This was before every pizza joint did such a thing. We had a bunch of pickups with an oven in the back and you'd deliver all around town. I'd meet all types of people and deliver to homes, apartments, parties, massage parlors, gas stations, etc. This was also before GPS so you'd learn all the streets and addresses from a paper map.

At the end of the night you'd fill the truck up with propane from a big tank behind the restaurant because that was what powered the engine and oven. Fun times and my first woman boss who was very efficient and fair.

[NYLIBUD]

I was thinking,the weirdest job I think I ever had,was when I was 19 years old.I was “undercover “ store detective for an out of business supermarket chain.It was my ridiculous job to walk around the store posing as a young customer,that’s why I got the job ,I guess cause I was young.No one will think I’m security.I had to get fully trained on how to “blend in.I caught a lot of shoplifters,U just took their picture,and tell them not to return to the store.Meanwhile,you saw them back the next week.Supposedly if they stole over $500,we were supposed tell the manager,who then called the cops.But I would just throw them out of the store.I got the stuff back anyway.Only one time did I call the police.This guy tried stuffing like 20 cartons of kool cigarettes,when they were sold out in the open.🙄You had to see the customer actually steal the item.. I didn’t last long.Too much walking.🥱I applied for an overnight security guard,Idk.I do know I gained like 20 lbs eating the food off the shelves while walking around.🤫

Edited Saturday at 01:34 AM by NYLIBUD

[bobss396]

My hardest job should have been my DREAM job from 1981 to 1986 in a prestigious machine shop i was transferred into.

They had a couple of sadistic lead men and a supervisor that were just plain evil. Very strict, back stabbers, etc. They had personal vendetta against some guys in the shop for years, we never found out why.

Finally in 1985 we had enough. One guy knew some Aerospace union guys, so we met with them at their hall .. they gave us free beer!

So the push was on to get 3 shops, 2 shifts in some to sign up. We had intent cards in every display in every building possible.

Some older guys were dead set against it, their fear was that the parent company (Eaton at the time) would shut all the shops down. There was a lot of yelling going on.

Then they brought in the union goons. Someone (not me) furnished descriptions and plate numbers of all the bosses and anti-union cars in the parking lots. Let me say that the local glass, tire and paint shops were kept busy. Rumor was that they would bring in the bone-breakers next.

I was up for a promotion into another facility. I went on vacation for 10 days, came back and told my wife if I didn't get that promotion, I was quitting on the spot.

While I was gone, lots happened. All the machine shop guys got an instant $2/hour raise, sheet metal and assemblers got $1/hour. I was sort of a hero for some. All we had to do was cancel our union activities.

I got that promotion, a nice raise too. My acceptance was contingent on never trying to get a union in ever again. About a year later I was told that we came quite close to unionizing the shops.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Hardest job without doubt was 25+ years of drywall finishing.

Mostly taping and texturing, but plenty of sheet rocking and painting too.

Cold and miserable in the winter, and hot and miserable in the summer.

I would have to say that the most fun was when I was a delivery driver for a large grocery store chain delivering groceries to people from all walks of life.

Got to know some people so well that they cried on my shoulder when they learned that I was leaving.

Tips were great too!! 😊

Probably most rewarding is my current part time job working as a guest services rep and valet at a cancer center.

Nothing prepared me or surprised me more than how optimistic and cheerful the vast majority of people who are facing the most difficult fight of their lives can be.

It’s very gratifying to interact with and support these folks when I can.

 

 

Steve

[Brutalform]

I was a bread route salesman for 25 years with Holsum bread. Absolutely loved that job, but unfortunately it was purchased by Sara Lee, and ultimately sold to Bimbo Bakery. I was the highest in seniority at my plant, and had an excellent severance. Purchasing and owning my own route was not an option for me. Maybe if I was 30 years younger, I might have, so I took the severance. 
Then I drove tractor trailer for Coca Cola. That, IMO was the hardest job. And I’ll just leave it at that, without getting into details. 

Edited yesterday at 04:04 AM by Brutalform

[Trainwreck]

I designed and built machinery for automation, it was cool and hard.

[Bills72sj]

My coolest job was joining the US Navy. I went from Nebraska in frigid February to Boot Camp in Orlando, FL. I stayed for my 1st electronics school. Next was Chicago for my Electronics "A" school. Next was back to Orlando for Nuclear Power School, Next was upstate NY for Nuclear Prototype school. (2.5 years of taxpayer funded training before hitting my 1st real duty station.) Next was Norfolk Virginia to crew on the USS California. Next was a brief stop in Jamaica. Next was going through the Panama Canal. Next was being stationed in Alemeda, CA (San Francisco Bay). 2 years later, next ship was the USS Vincennes stationed on Coronado Island (San Diego). Between the two of them I got to see Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan twice, Australia twice, Pakistan, Diego Garcia, South Korea, the Philippines at least twice, Hawaii 6-7 times and obviously southern California. I am glad I joined and I am glad I got out. If I had to do it all over again, I would. (Both in and out) I had fun, got respect, and obtained skills and benefits that have carried me throughout my life.

[bobss396]

Coolest job was when I was 19, the summer of 1974 between college semesters. From mid May to late August, I hung in. I also worked PT for Sears slinging tires, 12 to 16 hours.

It was at a local lighting fixture factory housed in 3 old WW2 Quonset huts, they were immense. The owner was an old Brooklyn boxer, his son helped run it too. They ALWAYS had ads in the paper.

They paid minimum wage to all factory workers, no raises, benefits after a year. I'd say that the turnover was around 80%. The assembly lines were filled with women who had been there for 20 + years. The rest of the force was HS kids, drifters, alcoholics, etc.

The conditions weren't too bad, hot though. We were generally treated okay. I also drove delivery trucks locally and made dump runs with a guy named Felix. On those we took our time and sipped beers.

I was "promoted" to assembly line forman of one side of the factory. The previous title owner was always running out of parts and quit in a sissy fit with the son.

So I asked the son to give me a list of what was coming up to build. I have a good memory and knew most of the parts anyway.

The stock room was a shambles. I took one of the HS kids, we spent 3 days organizing an entire stock room and took inventory. I did get an atta-boy.

It was a great life lesson. While I was there, I saw probably 60 people come and go. Some lasted a week, some days, or less. I saw one kid walk in, take one look and leave on his 1st day.

I had status with others who could not believe I had another job that paid me $3.60 an hour. I showed them one of my pay stubs.

[iamsuperdan]

I've had a couple of cool jobs.

 

In 1991, I started as a lot attendant/detailer for the local Volkswagen/Porsche dealer. Porsche were my fav cars growing up, so this really excited me. Over the next few years, I got a chance to drive all kinds of rare and expensive cars. Here I am, 18 years old, and I'm allowed to take cars home with me. Bring home new 964s, a 928 GTS. I remember getting to spend a weekend with a 964 C4 Cabrio in Rubystone Red. 

I was there until 1997. Spent a few years doing the similar thing at the BMW dealer. Then in 2001, went back to the same VW/Porsche dealer, this time as a Porsche sales person. Again, I was encouraged to take the demo vehicles home on weekends. We were heavily involved with the local chapter of the Porsche Club of America, and did autocrossing every other Sunday from April through September. The training sessions that Porsche did for new vehicles were amazing. Each training sessions was two or three days at a special venue in the US. We got to do some classroom learning, then a day or street driving, then a day on a racetrack. California Motor Speedway, Fireball Raceway, Texas Motor Speedway, Road America, Laguna Seca, Barber Motorsports Park. n 2004, our dealership won Porsche Premiere status, which means we were top 5% of dealers in NA, based on sales numbers and customer satisfaction scores. The first Canadian dealer to ever win that. This meant we won a 4 day trip to Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. We got to go bass fishing for a day with a private guide. Then a fancy dinner and private tour of the Alabama Sport Hall of Fame, hosted by Bart Starr from the Packers. Then we got to spend a day on track, not in the usual 911s and Boxsters. This time it was in Turbos, GT3s, and GT2s. And we got to ride the track in the new Carrera GT. Our instructors were Doc Bundy and Hurley Haywood. The coolest part came after. Because of flights, I was spending an extra night at the hotel, so after the track day, the instructors and hosts were giving me a ride back to the hotel. After everyone left, we were all just hanging around. And that's when it got awesome. "Hey, we still have the track for another hour or so, want to do some more laps?" So I got to go out and do some personal one on one driving with Doc Bundy. And then, I got to take the Carrera GT out on the track. Just an amazing experience.

 

 

My current job is pretty cool too. Sales Manager for Arctic Trucks Canada. I've been able to travel all over Canada, especially up in the north. Have been able to drive a truck up two mountains at ski resorts in the Canadian Rockies. Offroad adventures in Penticton, BC and up in Whitehorse, Yukon. And a couple of trips coming up in 2026, to super remote sites in Quebec and Iqaluit.

 

 

[Brudda]

This is all I know , straightening metal. I have been doing this since 1969. It’s not a hard job , but some say it is. Started by taking Porsches , Ferraris and jaguars apart. To this today. Working on 296 Ferrari challenge cars. Love every minute. Plus the pays not bad either. And the benefits? Ferrari paying for everything like laguna seca a few weeks back. Yes it’s fun. ( the last three pics is a 296 that hit the wall at Daytona, and us fixing that car. Made it to Laguna Seca) 

[ewetwo]

Working for the NYS Senate for 33 years. Bosses changed all the time. Had to apply for my job each year. My last boss of 12 years tried his hardest to get rid of me. No raise for 12 years. But someone must have liked me. And by the time the last boss came around I had too much time invested to leave. 

[Volzfan59]

I try to not dwell on my hardest job/career. To many bad memories take me places that I don’t enjoy. It wasn’t all bad, the some of the bad were really bad.

Best job, that’s easy. My other hobby is bass fishing. After I retired from law enforcement, I took some time off. Applied and got hired at Bass Pro Shops. Worked up from part time to a supervisor in the fishing department. As with everything , the pay could have been better but Bass Pro Shop was the best job I’ve ever had. Excellent upper management staff, great company , low stress, great work environment and they really treat their employees well. I’ve also delivered auto parts for a mom and pop parts store. That too was a great job but nothing like BPS.