i've had some really crappy jobs in my day. phillip marvels over the fact that i had more jobs in one year than he has in his entire life. what can i say, i bore easily or i refuse to put up with other people's bullshit.
i don't know what made me remember this one job i had back in '97. i was living in beverly and going to school full time. i saw an ad in the paper for someone to sell children's books. i didn't think that was too hard, so i went to the address listed in the ad and "interviewed". since the guy basically asked me my name, if i was a US citizen, and if i was OK with getting paid under the table, i got the job. you'd think that would be a red flag for me, but NO.
here's what the job consisted of: work 4-10pm, cold calling people out of the north shore phone book to try and sell McGruff typeCrime awareness books. the books were not McGruff, but a generic version. anyway, these books were harmless enough, in my opinion. they conveyed the same messages: don't do drugs, what to do if a stranger offers you candy, etc. i think i had that damn book memorized after the third day.
anyway, so i had to call people during dinner time to ask them to "donate" money to this McGruff type program. in return, they would get a copy of the book for every child in their home (under 13) for free. of course, we were urged to get as much money out of these people as possible, and the more money they donated the more stuff they would get. t-shirts, books, plaques, mugs, and that kind of crap.
the place was only open at night, from 4 to 10pm. i had the list of people i was to call copied out of the phone book. when i had someone agree to donate, i had to fill out some paperwork and get their checking numbers or credit card numbers, along with their mailing addresses and where their stuff could be shipped. the more people i got to donate, the more commission i got. the base pay was $5.75/hr with $10 for every person i signed up. if i did only one person an hour, that's still $60 on top of my hourly wage. not too shabby.
on the fourth day i was there, i noticed that no one who was working with me ever saw the guy who hired us. someone took our sheets away every day and signed the log saying they got our paperwork, but no one actually saw the guy.
on the fifth day, there was only one other person working with me, when normally there were 6 or 7 people in the "office".
on the sixth day, i was the only one there. i was able to get into the building just fine and by the time i left, no one had stopped by. it was a bit creepy being there alone, but it was a friday, thanksgiving was around the corner, and the weather was bad, so i didn't really give it much thought.
on the seventh, which also happened to be payday, i made my way to the office only to find the place completely locked up. i could see into the office through the glass door. all the phones, books, and supplies were GONE. the office was completely bare. it was like no one was ever in there to begin with.
so i just stood there, no money in my pockets, face red with cold, rage, and disbelief. there was no way i could get my money. the "boss" never left a number and when i dialed the number that was on the ad i'd originally called, i got the "this number is no longer in service". what was the guy's name? bob? tim? joe? john? i didn't know. i called the BBB and asked if they knew of any business selling McGruff books; they didn't. i called the BPD and told them my story. i never heard back from them. i'd been suckered.
i was not so upset about losing 6 days of pay and commissions that i worked for, but more over the fact that i pretty much unknowingly swindled innocent people out of money. i wish, to this day, that i had a copy of the paperwork detailing the names of the people who had given money to this con job so i could tell them. maybe then they could file a complaint and maybe get their money back. but i had no record, so i could do nothing.
i think that was probably the worst job i have ever had. i felt both mad and sad for weeks after. i wanted to strangle the lying man who not only took these people's money, but stole time away from me in the process, and i wanted to hug and apologize to the people who were swindled.
so here's a warning. don't ever make the same mistake i did. if it seems fishy, it probably is.
what's the worst job YOU'VE ever had?
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2 comments:
1)worked 2 hours as a telemarketer for Craftmatic adjustable beds. the guy that interviewed me had huge gold nugget rings on every finger, and lots of gold chains. he told me i was to go through the phone book and look for "older"-sounding names(gertrude, mildred, herbert, etc) and call them to try and sell them a bed.
2) 4 hours for the knoxville symphony orchesta. not really too bad a job, but was trying to sell season tickets and had to read from a script composers' names i couldnt pronounce, so i sounded like and idiot.
3)glass manufacturing factory job. nuff said.
4)and just this year, went to a job for 3 hours and then left for a plethora of reasons, the main one being zilch training and having no idea what i was doing. they just expected me to come in and start working. the worse part? they were a healthcare provider!
Oh man, that stinks. Those people are AWFUL. How terrible that they would steal money from people!
Hmmmm, worst job ever. I think I have had parts of jobs that I detested. Like I worked at a yogurt/coffee shop in cleveland circle and I used to gag every time I had to use the espresso machine. I cannot STAND the smell of burning coffee grinds. And then my job in NY, I had 100 hour weeks, once had to work 50 hours straight without sleeping or showering and I ended up having a semi-nervous breakdown where I couldn't stop shaking and crying. It was awful.
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