Meg Ruggieri

I’m sure being a Starbucks barista is cake. Or coffee. Whatever. I was NOT a Starbucks barista. I worked at a coffee shop that valiantly attempted to compete with Starbucks for a while but ultimately, much like my job itself, failed.

This is a picture of my best friend and I in high school after having a giant thing of spoiled whip cream explode in our hair, our faces, all over our bodies..etc. etc.

Don’t be fooled by our goofy grins and laughter, this is to keep from crying. I got paid minimum wage to essentially be slave-driven by sugar-crazed seven year olds.

You see, our most popular drink was the “Cookie Monster” otherwise known as THE DRINK FROM HELL. It involved ice cream, oreos, whip cream, cappuccino mix, ice, milk and god knows what else. I made about 50 of these a day. The clean-up involved in these kind of drink masterpieces was a fate worse than death but worse yet, we had to clean out the pressurized whip cream containers. In over-preparing for the after-school child apocalypse, we occasionally made too many and they went sour.

This would be fine, if the bottles themselves weren’t suicidal and exploded every time you cleaned them. As a result, I spent the majority of my sophomore year in high school smelling like the inside of a college coed dorm room refrigerator after winter break.

Yup, THAT BAD.

Brooke Stover

These dummies may look harmless at first glance, but they’re not, they’re creepy, and will strike a blow to your pride. Imagine wiping an oversized baby doll’s backside in front of ten other strangers… humbling experience, but one that must be endured to obtain your CNA license.
I have worked as a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) for about six years. Throughout these years I have come into contact with urine, poo, and any other bodily fluid you can imagine. I have cleaned diarrhea off the floor, been projectile vomited on, brushed the food out of dentures (not as pretty in real life as they look on T.V), and stood in a bathroom next to people while they’re doing their “business”. Sometimes you get a thank-you in the form of a pinch to the tuchus from an old man slightly past his prime and other times it’s a heartfelt thank-you.
To be completely honest, I’ve loved every minute of it, well besides the inappropriate groping, but most of the minutes. I wanted to post this because others may think it’s a crappy job, but it’s not too bad. It’s a rewarding experience, I’ve learned more about life behind hospital and nursing home doors than watching t.v.

D. Champoux

College students are poor by nature, my attempt to solve my own personal occurrence of this began with a transcription coding job at the Bureau of Sociological Research my sophomore year of college…yes, it is as boring as it sounds.

Throw in a boss who sounds like Bill Lumbergh from Office Space and you can call it a day.

This type of soul sucking work would make anyone want to burn down a building.

Krista Meany

When prompted, people don’t enjoying giving out their home addresses. Or their places of employment. People especially don’t enjoy giving out this information when they have thousands upon thousands of dollars in credit card debt.

I work at a debt collection firm. If that isn’t glamorous enough, I spent one summer working the phones for the appropriately named, Phone Team. The company positions the “Legal Account Representative” job as a promotion, or as an award for being a great employee. Instead, I explained the terms of a bank garnishment or set up payment plans, all while defendants screamed at me.

At least it was entertaining.

Aaron Mackel

Working 10 P.M. to 8 A.M. is never fun and then throw in stocking and facing cans mindlessly the entire time. At least drugged up and drunken idiots show up throughout the night for some comedic relief.

Kristin Bauer

It’s too bad they can’t clean up after themselves. Since they can’t, someone has to do it.

Last summer, I had a part time job cleaning kennels for a small breeder. I spent my afternoons cleaning up after 12 toy poodles and their puppies. Yeah, they’re cute, but I still have nightmares about the incessant, non-stop barking and the stench that seemed to bind itself to my clothing.

D. Champoux

In my previous major of Biochemistry, students were very competitive acquiring jobs at the County Coroners office…I did not envy them.

Nothing like the smell of formaldehyde to make you feel so alive!

Matt Wengert

Yummy hay!

Like a mama bird feeding her chicks you could spend all summer chewing and regurgitating hay for old Duke who can’t quite do it himself.

Poor old Duke who is willing enough to put their dignity aside for your sake?

Kristin Webb

Screaming children… enough said. My first semester of college, I started (and ended) a job at a child care center. I have always loved children and have babysat previously, so I thought this job would be easy and enjoyable. Not even close. Children are adorable, don’t get me wrong, until they are crabby, whiny and hard to handle.

I started out working with the Preschool 1 group; they were little angels. This group was easy to keep track of and were fun to be around. Preschool 2 lost an employee and sure enough that’s where I was placed for what I thought would be a week or two, but turned out to be indefinite. Comparing Preschool 1 to Preschool 2 reminded me of the scene in Toy Story 3 where the characters are looking through the window of the older children’s room that are playing so nicely with their toys and the other room is destroying everything in sight.

On any given day, one child would throw the biggest tantrum for no reason that anyone could understand. Others would fight with about pointless “problems” and then tattle to me. Over the years, I have seemed to erase other incidents from my memory. Now I know I never want to be a child care provider, but I admire those who are.

Kristin Brehmer

Any referee that has to put up with Bo Pelini’s furious fits of chewing gum, spit and yelling is promised a long game and a difficult time in doing the job right.