Unique or Unusual Jobs

AmyQ · March 2016

I'd like to see if there's interest in sharing our jobs, past or present, without sacrificing our privacy. More specifically unusual or unique jobs or even an unusual or unique situations that arose in the course of our employment.

I'll start with my first career, I was an insurance fraud investigator. Before computers, Everything was done by legwork out in the field which included knocking on doors, following people with cameras and researching criminal cases at the courthouse. One of my best successes was catching a fellow roofing his home schlepping asphalt shingles while climbing a ladder. He had numerous back and knee injuries and had certified he was fit for light duty office work only. This was also the fellow who competed in rodeos on the weekends.

I have never been a desk person so this was a great job for me and one I had for close to 15 years before staying home with my kids.

Anyone else?

Amy

Kandy · March 2016

Amy, insurance fraud investigator ! I bet you have some really good stories to tell. I am (was) a CT tech. I worked in the field for over 30 years. I loved my job and my patients. I guess I could tell so many crazy stories that is almost unbelievable. All I will say is people do some crazy things.

Becs511 · March 2016

Other than my current job, most of my background is in working for professional sports organizations. I even have my masters degree in sports business. I have worked for some top teams (including one in New Orleans and one in Washington DC) and a pro league for almost 5 years (think cold weather sport on ice).

However, my craziest, most memorable job was the 2 years I spent working for the sports entertainment company. 50% of my time was spent traveling domestically and internationally with the "superstars", acting as the business rep for all of their in-store signings, media appearances, fan events, tradeshows, etc. I have a TON of great stories from the road and about the company's well-known owner. Including one where one of the most popular personalities asked me to send flowers to both his wife and his girlfriend...

GG27 · March 2016

I don't know if I fit this thread or not, but I owned my own antiques shop for 15 years. Everyone thinks it's so romantic & lovely. The reality is going on numerous house calls everynight, sometimes homes that are filled with stuff & trying to find the diamond in the rough & then spending your nights & weekends at the auction. But I loved most of my customers & finding exactly what they were looking for.
Every day was a different adventure.

AmyQ · March 2016

Dee, I think of your job as a dream job, like owning a B & B. Most people think how fun and that they can do that, but as you say, house calls nightly and auctions on the weekends is more than just a nine to five type job. Your job definitely fits the title of this thread! Thanks for contributing.

Thanks to the others that have as well. Moderators PM'd me and asked if this can be moved and opened up to everyone, which I think is fine. We'll find all sorts of interesting jobs from others, I'm sure.

Becs, I'm sure dealing with "celebrities" and sports ones no less offers another set of challenges.

My latest job is a wedding planner, the one I'm retiring from on September 17, 2016, the date of my last wedding. During my tenure I've had some professional athletes as client's, some of whom have been very difficult to deal with. I see how they've been pampered and fawned over so they don't know how to play nice with others. They've been some of my worse client's, so Becs I do sympathize. Good for you working with them so long.

Amy

terri-c · March 2016

I spent 10 years working for a small arms ammunition manufacturer. During my 10 years there, the plant blew up (not our fault, and no one was killed). We had to relocate the plant afterwards, and we re-opened in Mississippi, only to have the plant destroyed by Katrina.

Now I work for the health department, and while we don't blow stuff up, it gets pretty interesting every now and then.

Anonymous · March 2016

Amy, insurance fraud investigator sounds really interesting!

Becs, did the athletes hit on you?

I am an RPCV, for anyone who knows what that means. For those who don't, that's a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. I spent two years in rural Southern Africa teaching about HIV and community health and building libraries. I lived with a host family and basically became a part of my community. After my two years were up, I spent six months traveling Africa and Europe. It was during my travels I met my now-husband. We were supposed to be a vacation fling but liked each other too much.

Working with people with HIV in a way helps me a lot in my current situation. I saw so many medical miracles because of modern medicine. I remember a 35 year old man who was so sick I thought he wouldn't make it a week. But he took his ARVs (anti retrovirals) and made a near complete recovery!

Since then, I've worked with international students and with grade school students. But my husband works in trucking so when my current contract finishes I'm taking a break and going on the road with him, as much as my medical appointments allow.

With the little ones in my host family.

And with two coworkers.

exbrnxgrl · March 2016

bad at user names,

I'm an RPCV too! Afghanistan, 1977-79, so I'm clearly a good bit older than you. It was a life changing experience for a typical middle class American kid. It changed who I was and informed how I view all the people of this world. From the world of the Peace Corps, I entered the then glamorous world of a Pan Am flight attendant (yup, hats and heels were mandatory). I had a wonderful few years and got to see the world for free.

However, I was and still am a teacher to the core so have been happily puttering around an elementary school classroom for many years. It's quite unique because every year I get a new bunch of students who never fail to amaze and surprise me.First grade rocks!

DivineMrsM · March 2016

I lived in Hollywood, California for a year when I was 19, and worked as a directory assistance operator for Los Angeles County. I lived briefly in Louisiana right on the border and had a job in Carthage, Texas printing labels on cups in a factory. I worked as a police dispatcher for a couple years before I got married 25+ years ago.

Obtaining a four year college degree and having a focused career has always eluded me. I'm not sure why. So I've always admired and envied those who found a calling and direction in their life's work outside the home.

Mom2ABoy · March 2016

Oh, this is a fun topic. I did some interesting things when I was in my late teens/early 20s.

Phone bank caller - My very first real job, I think I must have just been about 18. I was pretty naiive. My job was to call people and sell them tickets to a circus over the phone, supposedly a benefit for a firefighters' or police benevolent organization of some kind. I worked there for two weeks and was paid in cash. Well, I was paid in cash at the end of the first week, anyway. The end of the second week, the day I showed up to pick up my cash, I found the door locked, and every desk inside looked like it had been abandoned mid-call. Half-eaten donuts, half-full cups of coffee, the lights still on, but not a soul inside. There was a sign on the door saying it had been closed by order of the sheriff's office. Apparently, neither the circus nor the benevolent organization actually existed!

Magician's assistant - Yep, I was almost one of those girls that gets pretend-sawed-in-half. (He really did do that trick, which icks me out to think about now.) It's kind of cheating to include this one, because I decided at the last minute not to take the job. But I thought it would be fun to share it. Close call.

Fancy boutique salesgirl - My coworkers were almost all from other countries, the clothes were outrageously expensive designer things that I could never afford, and the customers were ridiculously rich (many of them also from other countries). I remember one woman coming in and buying around five $2,000 dresses, and while she was checking out, she was sighing and complaining to the girl running the register that she was "so bored"! She was a size 0 or 2 or something, and the owner always made sure to buy one of every dress in her size, just in case she might want it.

Leasing company rep - I had to call people who had leased business equipment, and point out to them the fine print on the back of their contract that said they would have to pay property tax on the leased equipment. Most of the people I called had never read the fine print, and boy were some of them mad! Good training in phone diplomacy.

Actor - Just once, I was paid to act in a play. I was the understudy for a woman who was the body-double for a famous actress (and that was the first thing she would tell you as soon as you met her, which was pretty funny). The last weekend of the play she had to go out of town, so I filled in for her. I made all of $40, but it was fun.

Tess53 · March 2016

I found while going thru my first divorce pregnant that the summer sales you could pick up a whole lot of chipped cracked ceramic,glass ware anything breakable for like 2.50 a box.. set up some plywood to make a box behind the garage so when things got really stressed I'd stand back and let fly.. the sound of something shattering, and not it being your grandmothers carnival glass.. etc.. is so cathartic, you can make a target of what you were aiming at.. first hubby mother in law.. boss second husband who married you to just use you.. I mean when you get married and have him scream at you I should just divorce your fat ass in front of my 16 yr old son why staying and trying to keep the marriage going until suddenly he needs surgery his mom has Alzheimer i mean it piled up and up and I was buried in a life I hated with a passion.I sayed because of vows he cared nothing about. I stayed. My periods stopped by 40 and I was happy that there wouldn't be a child.. the abuse was mental physical and keep poor..my money was his, his money was his.. I wasted my vibrancy my life. Then out of the blue a life altering diagnosis hits. I have MS. they call lit relapsing remitting but it's to me a daily thing where is the remission I can be normal in.. never saw it.. Weird jobs I have done em all, going thru college I washed glassware in a plant pathology lab, Sec to school of dentistry dean..data entry about moths..EMT, LPN 10 yrs as a Prison nurse, I covered the 4 male and the only female prison.. I'd run with a trauma kit everywhere.. then 3yrs of being told he's contesting the divorce.. finally he has a girl and wants the divorce so Paying for it Giving him EVERYTHING and I do mean except for some clothes everything boat lake property house 3.5 of land that had a second rental property.. everything.. I escaped then 3 yrs not even wanting to think about another man.. having been celibate for almost 10 years.. I had let my life pass I was looking at 60 in a yr or so.. now January CANCER !! God what have I done so bad.. I mean colon cancer has hit the family 4 generations but breast never.Now all the sudden, it's almost April and suddenly I'm cured.. What is this a joke? go about your life follow up with a mammogram in November. Until then just forget it..I look in the mirror at the mutilation I look at the devastated finances and I am cured.. I've run out of things to break right now.. Hopefully I can find some cheap stuff at a flea market .. I keep wanting to hold my head together cause it feels like its exploding.. I am loosing my mind. My Husband owned the home so his debts on the 1st and 2nd mortgage I never thought about. Now I look at my disability check 1,000 food shelter meds let alone anything else I have been a leech for the last few yrs.. and lord the 25,000 they charged for the mammograms and the biopsy.. then the 30,000 for the surgery ..pathology, dr's, oncologists, neurologists, the colonoscopy to just make sure I wasn't going to be hit with the trifecta as my luck is going.. I won't live long enough to pay em.. I can't do bankruptcy because that tanks the creditcard that family have allowed me to use for emergencies.. my life feel worthless and yet I'm cured I don't have to watch my son watch me die.. money is only money and the way the economy is going Obama is going to bankrupt the country so who gives if I do bankruptcy.

Make a box, stock up on things that will shatter, and just let fly and think how good that shattering sound makes you feel.. it will save your sanity better then any pills.. and no script required.

efletcher · May 2016

Awesome topic!! I was a veterinary technician for awhile, then a special education teacher's aid in my daughter's classroom, and now am a certified nursing assistant at a long tern care faciliity. I also am enrolled at our local community college to earn my RN. This cancer nonsense has put a large bump in my road , but I'll make it over the hump as we all will. Maybe I'll even go into oncology when this is all taken care of. I miss my coworkers and residents and can't wait to get back to work. Good luck and blessings to all!

AmyQ · May 2016

efletcher,

Good luck with your nursing studies. You clearly have compassion for all Gods creatures. I wish you well.

Amy

Unique or Unusual Jobs

Comments

Categories