The Absolute Worst Working Environment? 1716
goodEvans writes "As I write this, there is a window open behind me with a small jet engine outside. This is supplying vast amounts of compressed air to the aircraft undergoing heavy maintenance in the hangar right outside my door. There is a 6-inch diameter air hose going through the office and out the door. All this requires that I sit at my desk wearing a body warmer to keep out the cold, and both ear defenders AND ear plugs to keep out the noise! And this will go on for half a day once a week! What are the worst conditions you have ever had to work under?" Can you top that? (If top is the word ...)
Thats really minor (Score:5, Insightful)
How about a PCB etching line where you have clouds of nitric acid..
Try a coke processing plant ( the black coal stuff, not the drink ) or a casting plant that uses graphite as a release agent.. Both will cause black lung, among other things...
This stuff kills you
Crap job vs. working in hell (Score:3, Insightful)
I could start rambling about people in third-world countries walking miles to get clean water for their families, or some 8-year-old kid in a sweatshop, or whatever.... but you get the picture.
How about any of these? (Score:5, Insightful)
I was going to make a crack about an OfficeSpace like big mutual insurance company where I was consulting, but then I got to thinking a bit more. I think that we all probably have pretty good working environments, all things considered. Think about these environments (among others):
Software engineer at SCO (Score:5, Insightful)
Think about what it would be like to be a bit slinger at SCO in Utah:
First of all, SCO is looking to hire people in India - in other words, you know your job is going to be outsourced soon.
Second of all, you likely are a Unix or Linux programmer - and your company name is reviled in the industry you are in.
Third of all, if you ARE looking to move, nobody wants to hire you for fear of SCO suing them for some imagined infringment.
Fourth of all, the only company that MIGHT hire you as a bit slinger is Microsoft.
Fifth of all, you know points 3 and 4 won't change until AFTER the company collapes - and then you are out of work.
Granted, unlike soldiers in Iraq nobody is shooting at SCO employees or trying to blow them up (AND NOBODY SHOULD, EITHER!). But still, for tech jobs, being a programmer at SCO has to blow.
Re:Are you being shot at? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Women (Score:5, Insightful)
I think you people need a reality check. You don't have it that bad. Try unemployment for a while, and then working in a factory! If you think this will not happen to you, then be prepared because it will!
Re:my employer (Score:3, Insightful)
Imagine yourself in India, doing the same thing for 80% less pay.
Or on the street wondering if a Masters in Computer Science will help you get an assistant manager job at a Taco Bell because your employer imagined your job in India costing him 80% less.
NOW GET BACK TO WORK!
Being a temp (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Women (Score:5, Insightful)
Two words: private shitter.
Re:Women (Score:1, Insightful)
BA in Computer Science??? I thought Computer Science was a Bachelor of Science type degree???
Edwin Muir's Autobiography (Score:5, Insightful)
In effort of understatment, I'll just add that that would kinda suck.
Does the military count? (Score:5, Insightful)
Infantry have it even worse: we've at least got the beast to haul our stuff.
And that was peacetime. I was never shot at: feel for the folks on the front lines. They're doing a shitty job for almost no pay and they might come home in pieces.
Re:True Story (Score:2, Insightful)
I had to deal with something similar like that as well. In my case it was a massive PBX telecom box whose EM output was giving me severe headaches if stayed in that room for more than two hours. I just waited until one of the other desks became vacant and just made it my permanent spot.
Re:that's their cover (Score:3, Insightful)
I've worked with enough schizophrenics (see some of my other posts) to know that what you are saying is exactly what someone with schizophrenia would say--and that you are wrong. Medication is effective, and if you are not trolling, you NEED to go see a competent clinical psychologist. Even if the embezzeling is real, I strongly urge you to seek help from a clinician.
Re:Thats really minor (Score:3, Insightful)
There's always something worse out there... (Score:2, Insightful)
As we were telling our "war stories," one co-worker (a guy who grew up in a Southeast Asian country) sat quietly listening. When the last person had ended his tale of a nasty landscaping job he'd had as a teen, our co-worker jumped in. "Well, when I was fourteen, I was walking through a swamp carrying a rifle over my head..."
Needless to say, our stories paled in comparison to his remarkable (and sometimes painful) stories of his childhood. The moral I took away from the situation was that there is always someone out there who has it far worse than you.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to whine about our jobs, but its always good to keep a little perspective.
Taft
Re:Question: (Score:5, Insightful)
And to the AC post, yup, that's the place, and those are the monkeys. Are monkeys into anal? I just know they like the doggy style position. I guess that does explain the gay monkey pr0n in all the bathrooms. And I just thought the doctors were kinky.
I had my heart ripped out daily (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:2guys dept store (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm not making excuses, just adding some background for your understanding.
If it happened today, I would certainly intervene - that kind of behaviour is so unacceptable.
I sometimes wonder whatever happened to Ming and John. Ming was in his 50s then, and that was 27 years ago, so he's probably dead by now. JOhn would be in his late 50s now. I hope he's well.
RS
Re:My sad tale.. (Score:2, Insightful)
It's coz witches are made of wood... everybody knows that...
Re:Women (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:My short job last year (Score:4, Insightful)
You're right though, they didn't train the poor guy at all. That's a real problem on the old systems. Schools teach stuff way beyond those old systems, but student's don't get a clue about how they work...they do grow on you. Also, most of the systems are in the hands of 50-somethings that were hot in their day, but are stuck on doing things the same old way...they're too busy to want to take time to learn the newer easier ways of doing things...it's not uncommon to find 10+ year old programs these guys wrote still in use every day that these guys tweak from time to time... But it's a tough world because most of these guys learned that stuff from scratch and hacked their own way of doing things to get stuff done with minimal interaction with any "collegues" in the industry...they're also not the best at training new people to help them out.
Re:Does the military count? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:2guys dept store (Score:3, Insightful)
I have done exactly what you did not and hauled off and just "fucked someone up". I didn't get 30 days I got a year in jail...2 years on probation after getting out....and a 5 year deferred sentence. I cannot get the felony off my record for 5 years after the 5 year deferment (2007) and I cannot start a business that deals with alcohol (I've wanted to start a small brewery for a couple years now) or own any sort of gun (I own a home and have been trained with many weapons and I enjoy target shooting)....
Let me tell you...it was extremely satisfying giving someone "what they deserve" and even for years after it happened I was not sorry...in fact I'm not sorry now...I am, however, sorry about what happened after the fact.
Considering consequences is important...unfortunately I didn't....
So to the person that replied to you...I would say either:
1) don't get caught being the tough guy you think you are
2) think about it before you do it...consequences are sometimes more far reaching than you think