In a perfect world, jobs would pay well enough for you to survive doing them. But we don't live in a perfect world and pretty much everyone can tell you that lots of jobs don't pay anywhere near a livable wage.
That doesn't mean they're not awesome.
One Reddit user asked:
What's the best low paying job you've ever had?
Consider this article our love song to those crappy jobs that didn't pay much, but made up for it in laughs, snacks, ability to avoid the public, etc.
So this one's to you, summers spent as a pool lifeguard in a small town. My bank account may have been empty, but my tan was flawless and my hamstrings have never again reached that level of definition.
Thanks, Netflix!
Movie store. Free rentals. Netflix was just starting to take off, so it didn't get busy ever. I got to watch movies all day and drink free slurpies.
Same. Free movies before they were "released" and work consisted of bs'ing about movies and playing Gameboy. Best job ever for being 17.
Same, but I worked at a mom and pop's rental store kind of like Blockbuster.
I was always popular because my family and friends wanted the new releases that came out. So I'd hold them for people - and people always had giant smiles when they came in.
That's one thing I loved about working there. People were always happy when they came in.
Kids got their movies and games, adults would browse for theirs and get pumped if something new was in. Popcorn, candy. All cash. RIP good ole days
Living History
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Working at a small local museum. Basically did tours for local kids who didn't care or the elderly who knew more about the stuff than I did. On my first day, my high school history teacher (who helped me get the job and previously ran the place) gave me a tour and pointed out one interesting thing in each room. When I asked if I needed to learn about the rest, he just laughed and said I would.
Every single tour I did for the elderly someone would get super excited and talk nonstop about something they recognized "hey this signed used to hang at the old mill..." "oh my god, this looks just like the nurse uniform I wore in WW2" "this portrait is my grandmother".
The next tour I'd just mention the stories the previous tour told me about. And even if I didn't have much to discuss about the museum, they loved just chatting.
So I got paid to parrot the previous tour or just smile through rooms of the current tour talking. I even had one tour where I spent most of the tour just chatting about fantasy novels as an older lady just wanted to talk. Two weeks later, she returned while I wasn't working and dropped off a bag of books for me (her old books that she knew her son and grandkids didn't want), a sizable donation to the historical society, and a nice long write up as the last room held an old uniform that was misidentified. She was part of the exact unit it came from and gave the museum director a corrected page with the right unit name and a short description of some of the notable places they had served.
My Current Job Is Much Safer
I worked as a bike courier to up my allowance. I was super fit, riding my bike for more than 1500km per month. On the downside I got "run over" by cars three times.
And that's not to mention the suddenly opening car doors. Those got me twice.
One time was bad: My bike was destroyed beyond repair (the frame was bent), I had muscle contusions, a ripped tendon in one of my hands, injured joint capsules, abrasions all over the body ... I couldn't even walk without painkillers for two weeks. I was exempt from sport for two or three months. That sucked.
Luckily enough I suffered no permanent damages. My current occupation as a software developer is much safer and much better paying, but I think fondly of that time.
- _cnt0
The Whole Job Was To Press A Button
Ski lift operator at a ski resort.
Got paid minimum wage , but the whole job was to press a button if someone fell, which a lot of people did.
I would just see some clearly inexperienced people get wrecked while getting off, stop the lift, roll my eyes, maybe help them if it's going to take a while, start lift again. lol
It came with sweet perks like free snowboarding and half price for food. Also my coworkers were a bunch of dope snowboarding hippies
Sweet Trouble
Working at a theatre.
We were all young, had our own cash and places for the first time, and got into all kinds of trouble. Very fun!
Plus, free movies and snacks. Pretty sweet.
Seconded, working at a movie theater was great. Tons of free movies (sometimes before official release), usually fun people to work with, unlimited access to tokens for the arcades, etc.
I'm genuinely thinking about working at one again when I retire just for the enjoyment.
This was going to be mine!
Early in my management career I was a projectionist, I got to break down/build films. Nothing better than sitting in the booth and putting together a film while listening to music. Then after it was built testing it to make sure there were no bad splices.
Also my theatre was extremely slow, so we'd have a lot of downtime to just mess around.
We did a LOT of late-night movie viewings.
- dawrina
Front Desk
Night shift at a hotel front desk.
I spent the night by myself, chilling and watching movies on my phone. Hardly anyone ever checked in at night and when they did it was just a five-minute process. I was also allowed to snack on the food in the kitchen.
I had to make breakfast, and would get to eat that as well every morning. I'd have a big Texas cinnamon roll and some milk just about every night lol.
It didn't pay much, but for someone who enjoys spending time alone and not dealing with the public much, it was great.
As someone who is currently on my nightshift at the front desk, I can confirm it is great however prolonged amounts of time in it can cause health problems from messing up your circadian rhythm.
Also sometimes, like right now, it can get really boring. But can't complain much when I'm getting paid to browse Reddit.
BaristaÂ
Being a Starbucks barista actually isn't bad.
Out of all the food service industry jobs I've had, they had the best health insurance plans and you didn't need to work 40 hours minimum to qualify for it. That left me open to waitress and make more money while still getting health insurance and free coffee!
The work was fun too.
I liked the hustle of making all the drinks and I'm naturally very good at small talk and memorizing the little details of regulars lives so I could pick up the convo next time. The customers were generally very nice and tipped well. We often made about 2 dollars an hour (which was split based on weekly hours worked so the more you worked the more you got) which ain't bad.
Of course we got plenty of Karens - especially in the summer when our town flooded with tourists - but even then the regulars would understand and commiserate with us (often loudly while stink eyeing whatever tourist is hassling us) on how rude city folk are.
Borders
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Borders Books. Dang I miss that company.
$30 gift cards a month to buy books in addition to the employee discount. Also you could "borrow" up to two books at a time to read and return in salable condition. Pretty good bonuses and incentives for a retail job.
And it was nice working with employees (and having customers) who were book lovers.
This what I came here to say! I spent just under 4 years there; their final years. All I did was read and get ARC copies of books. I love to organize and talk books. I don't remember $30 gift cards each month but I do remember it always being minimum wage with no benefits or sick time.
I have all the job perks now, but sometimes I go back to that job in my mind. I loved when someone enjoyed my recommendation and would come back.
I always had books checked out in my name and half the time would buy them to re read. Oh and coffee all day....sigh.
Blueberries and Ice Cream
I worked at a blueberry farm where I worked inside the blueberry store.
They sold homemade blueberry baked goods, homemade blueberry jam and other jams, blueberry (and other flavors) ice cream, and blueberry knickknacks and trinkets. The owner's daughter who worked with me was fun and we just manned the cash register and served ice cream.
I worked there for three summers during college, made a sweet $8/hr and got a bowl of ice cream every day. Best job ever
- why___me
The Work Sucked, But...
I worked in the warehouse part of a furniture store when I was 17.
I was the youngest and the other guys were in their early 20s. We just goofed off, told jokes, and had fun. When we actually worked, it was hard due to assembling furniture and unloading trucks, but the rest of the time it was a blast.
This. Working at a furniture store was my first job. I didn't like the work, but we had such fun.
And No Boss!
Bike rickshaw (pedicab) in Austin on 6th street.
Ferrying around drunks all night is so entertaining and was such an easy way to meet girls. Got to see fights, people falling over, and hilarious shenanigans almost every night. And no boss!
Best days were game days and could make bank from the rich alumni between the beer gardens and stadium. Husbands always paid you to take their wives ahead and they could stay back and drink beer.
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