Skilled workers like welders, electricians, and consruction workers often put their lives at risk at the work site but they possess a lot of pride in what they do are very dedicated, hard-working people.
But even they have a breaking point that leads them to walk out on a job.
Curious to hear from blue-collar workers, Redditor imakesawdust asked:
"Electricians, plumbers and tradespeople of Reddit: Have you ever noped out of a job? What was it?"
Hard No
Adverse working conditions and difficult people can determine if a job is worth sticking around for.
Flying Roaches
"I am an automotive tech, the only jobs I utterly refuse to work on are cars that are filled with trash and filth. I have literally had roaches fly out of the ac vents when the ac came on. Y'all would be disgusted at the way some people keep their cars."
Wild Accusation
"I used to work on a crew that built additions on houses. One lady got upset that we were cutting a hole thru her wall for the door. She called her husband who came home from work, he told our boss that she was accusing us of trying to break in and assault her. My boss had us pack up and leave and we never went back."
– Sigg4444
Too Much Wood
"Work in a lumber mill, a loader operator knocked 4 bundles of 2" thick by 6" wide by 16' long into the river, so over 1200 pieces and a boss told me to get it out of the river... during a thunderstorm."
"F'k all that noise sir."
"Edit: the wood wasn't 2 feet by 6 feet by 16 inches, that would be weird just fixed it lol not American my bad."
Unsanitary Wasteland
"Mechanic here.""
When I used to work on cars, I had to pull the front seats out of a horrendously dirty smelly car to remove the center console."
"Proceeded to removed the front seat, and found the whole area under the seat was stuffed full with Dirty used tampons and pads."
"I nearly threw up and I yeeted the f'k outta there. We had to call up and get biohazard guys in because she wouldn't come and clean out the car."
"'Karen' then proceeded to have a screaming match with my foreman about the bill....."
"I've seen alot of sh*t but hands down this was the worst."
When Life Matters More
These people prioritized their lives over their jobs. Because they should be alive to cash their paychecks.
Wobbly House
"Got hired to do a vapor barrier job in a crawl space. Old 1920's home. I suited up and got in about 15 ft and saw that the center load bearing beam had rotted out near the footer. Somebody took a cinder block and a 8 ton harbor freight bottle jack to shore it back up. Whole thing wobbled as folks moved around in the house. Got the f'k up out of there."
Project Of Peril
"I was called out for a termite inspection. Homeowners said they had been told for years they had a problem but it took one of their bedrooms floors collapsing to finally do something about it."
"I hauled a** out of the crawl space when I found the only thing that was keeping the floor from fully collapsing was a single electrical wire that at any moment it could snap and collapse the floor on me."
– dahopppa
Unexpected Shower
"I was working in a newly restarted 130 year old paper mill, they hadn't worked out the kinks in the pulp mill yet. The short version is my toolie and I got coated in black liquor that flowed from an uncapped pipe 70 feet in the air. It was outside, in December, so luckily it wasn't boiling lava hot when it hit us but we still had to make a trip to urgent care. And we lost our work truck because it was white and after the spill was black. We came back the next week, but refused to work on that end of the digester."
"Edit: I'm an electrician."
The Unexpected
These tradespeople found that unforeseen circumstances can be enough of a reason to peace out.
Saying 'No'
"Landscaper here. Honestly it's about 50% of the meetings I go to. Learning how to say no is essential in this business. You can go out of business doing not good jobs quicker than you can not working."
The Panicked Landscaper
"I hired a landscaper once, small-time guy doing it as a sideline. We talked about all kinds of plans, seeding grass, cleaning up overgrown parts of the yard, and taking out two giant, ancient bushes that were crowding the house."
"He shows up to take out the bushes, and a few hours later calls be, all freaked out that the bushes have roots that go down to hell and it was taking a lot longer than estimated to get them out. I made it clear to him that I had half expected that, and that I had no problem paying for however long the job actually took. He was absolutely in a panic, though. He got the bushes done, then noped the hell out on the rest of it and never got back to me."
"Somehow, I couldn't make him understand that I was way more pissed that he bailed on the rest of the work than the fact that he underestimated the job initially."
– DMala
The Clog
"A bit late to this but.... I'm a plumber, went to unblock an old ladies toilet, she'd tried to flush her dead cat, it was stuck, and very wet, and soggy...."
Result Of Depression
"I noped out of a job back when I was a sparky. We had ~100 men onsite at a uranium enrichment facility; pay was good, but the conditions weren't. It was way out in the middle of nowhere New Mexico, with nothing to do beyond go to work then go back to the camp and drink. I got depressed after spending 6 weeks onsite, as did a lot of others. The straw that broke the camels back for me was when we found one of the apprentices dead in his trailer. His girlfriend broke up with him because he was never home anymore, he turned to the bottle.
Based on the comments shared in the subReddit, many of these skilled or unskilled laborers have dealt with their share of hardships.
But the situations prompting many laborers to bail out on a job were mostly the ones where their lives were in jeopardy.
Because would you rather have an old home come crashing down on you and bury you alive, or come face to face with a mountain of used tampons while working on a car?
No toss-up here.
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
night museum GIFGiphyWorking 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.
Barista
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
Books Lol GIF by UdGGiphyBorders 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.
The Local Spot
At an ale house local to me
It made thai food as well and I was basically a waitress with extra responsibilities but wasn't old enough to handle the alcohol or money
I got a free meal every shift and a free drink (non alcoholic due to my age but older staff could choose any) and it was my parents local so they came and walked me home after my shift and I knew majority of the people who came in as customers meaning I was way more comfortable right from the first shift
- Rose__17
If I Hadn't Been Married
coke thirst GIF by ADWEEKGiphyI was a pool cleaner shortly before enlisting in the AF. I could smoke on the job, work at my own pace (as long as the pools were done and I was back at the shop by 5pm), eat when I wanted to, etc.
Some pools were pretty easy to care for. Others took at least a week to turn from dark green to crystal blue. PRO TIP: If you have a pool, you HAVE to run the pump during the winter, at least a few hours during the week.
Was it like a porn movie? In some ways more than others. Yes, I got to see a great deal of women in bikinis... and less. Yes, I got offered the occasional cold beer during a job. Did I have sex with clients? Well, Christmas don't pay for itself.
Probably would have worked out better for me if I hadn't been married.
The Intern
My internship at an airline maintenance facility. Now, the job wasn't that interesting if you don't like to assemble and disassemble mechanical stuff all day and getting there by train was a constant nightmare. Also they did screw me up on the pay (110€ a month instead of 150€ like the other interns for no real reason) BUT :
- Their cafeteria was incredible. I ate some of the best lunches of my life for like 5€.
- It was in June and there was one of the biggest heat wave ever recorded in my country. Everybody had to endure 40°C all day... except me who worked in a climate controlled warehouse that was constantly kept at 21°C. Hardly environmentally friendly but I didn't mind.
Summer Of Netflix
Spent a summer sorting documents while watching Netflix.
I had a sh*tty data entry job in a college admissions department, and since no one applies to college during the summer (and thus there's no data to enter) they would normally just cut their data entry folks.
But that particular summer they decided to keep us on full-time and help digitize paper files. My role in this process was to remove all the staples, toss any extraneous documents, then put the documents back in the file in the correct order and with a cover sheet added, so the next folks could scan them.
This was also at time when our building was being renovated and full-time staff was moving around and changing offices.
I found an unused office and just posted up in there for the summer. It was easily the most enjoyable few months of my working life. I watched the entirety of DS9 and Scrubs while working that job.
- [Reddit]
Still Family To Me
Hostel receptionist. It was my dream job.
I would party literally everyday, have free access to clubs around, free tours, free beers, free BBQ, meet people from all over the world. Co-workers were and are still family to me. I miss that job.
If you're ever visiting Santiago in Chile, go to La Chimba Hostel. You will not regret it!
The Best And Worst
The best job was an overnight panel operator at a regional radio station.
The pay was sh*t, but it was the best job I ever had. I'd take my dog in, and spend all night doing crossword puzzles and reading comic books.
In contrast, the worst high paying job I ever had was doing the same thing for an adult movie channel. Getting paid to sit alone in a dark room watching porn for 10 hours a day is not as fun as it sounds.
You get desensitized to it really quickly, especially if you're not into what they're showing.
It was just really weird and awkward. Like being a diabetic working at a Cadbury factory.
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Am I a Bank?
rich danny devito GIF by QuickBooksGiphy"Oh you work in finance? What stock/fund should I buy? / you must be making a boatload on your personal investments with all the insider information you have access to!"
A Genius? Ha!
"Oh, you're a teacher? Please explain to me how my child's teacher had the audacity to give them a C despite it being very obvious that my child is a genius!"
Bonus points if they want you to explain the grading criteria in a completely different subject and level of schooling than you teach. Like, I teach high school and community college English and Social Studies - why do you expect me to know the grading criteria for middle school math?
Doctor. Doctor.
Oh you're a paramedic? I have this thing on my toe, Will you check it?
Ask for $5 look at it for two seconds and tell them to go to the hospital/doctor.
I would tell them that if they wanted me to look, they have to call for the ambulance since it carried all of my very specialized tools.
windy taking off GIFThe Numbers Game
"Oh, you're an accountant? Can you add and/or multiply these huge numbers in your head lightening fast?"
No. You have no idea what I do....
Came here to say this. I am in corporate finance. I took a tax class or two back in 2003, so I might have SLIGHTLY more knowledge than the average person, but seriously not much at all. I'm really good at pivot tables though!
For Free Please...
"Oh you're a Graphic Designer? Can you make a logo for me really quick? It's for my cousin's birthday. I don't have any money to pay but I'll have multiple revisions that will cut into your actual paying work time, but then get upset when you ask for payment."
I typically respond to those questions with "Sure! Before we go any further, what's your budget?" and once they realize this is going to actually cost money, they get upset that you require compensation for your time (and explain how their relative can do it for free).
For the Music
Cinematography and Photography. I had a guy walk up to me the other day while doing street photography and ask me if I do music videos. I'm like ??? no, and even if I did I wouldn't take a job from some random who walked up to me on the street and tried to make a verbal contract with no discussion of pay.
Walter?
aaron paul what GIF by Breaking BadGiphy"Oh, you're a chemical analyst? You must know how to make drugs."
the fix....
Oh, you work in construction? (Proceeds to ask about fixing things around the house, asking if something was installed wrong because it doesn't "look right", or wanting a price quotes for various projects).
I love using this one, I'm a Carpenter and Construction Project Manager, I get these little requests all the time, easiest way is to say "Yeah nah, that's screwed, gonna take some work to fix, maybe take it back to the frame because it wasn't built for that purpose and needs rework.", you watch their face turn pale and they reply "I... I... I can live with it I think.", works every time. ;)
For the Celebration....
marisa tomei picture GIFGiphy"You're invited to my.. party/event/wedding/celebration.... please could you bring your camera."
No Mary!
Oh you are an accountant, can you do my taxes?
No Mary i can't. I work for a corporate company not frigging H&R block. I mean I probably could but I don't wanna.
Its either that or "you're an accountant? Cool." Then proceeds to talk to other people because you can't delve deeper than those two outcomes into the convo. (Talked to a dude who just said that and we all ended up standing in silence for a few seconds after he did).
Wires Crossed
season 1 episode 3 GIF by Dream Corp LLCGiphy"Oh, you're an electrical engineer? Can you wire my garage?"
On the Road
"Oh, you're a truck driver? Can you come tell me what's wrong with my car?"
Umm, ma'am, I just drive the damn things... You want the shop guys for that.
Edit: Okay, wow. lots of attention on this one. To clarify a few things:
-I know how to do basic maintenance on my truck: Replace bulbs, fuses, etc. But for serious repairs, that's on the shop
-Yes, I know your great great grandpappy twice removed drove a truck since he was 3 and can take one apart and put it back together blindfolded. Most drivers aren't like that. All I'm saying is driving them doesn't automatically equal being able to fix them by any means.
-Yes, I know how to check my fluids and all that. In fact, we're required by law to do it every morning. Too many drivers don't, and that'll come back to bite them in the @ss sooner or later...
The Author
"oh, you're a writer? Can you help with this very important legal letter?"
And a non-job bonus: "you're married to my programmer son, can you help me with my phone?" My husband gets the "you work in IT, my printer isn't working" questions from his mum. She thinks he does tech support. He programs systems for universities, government departments, etc.
Frontline Doc
"Oh, you're a pharmacist? Well I have this huge, gaping wound on my left butt cheek, can you look at it and tell me what I can use over the counter?"
Sir... Please go to the hospital...
In some countries, pharmacists can act as the kind of first line of access to the healthcare system. They have walk-in clinics for people who can ask 'Is this really serious enough to see a doctor about, or can you fix it with a pill/cream?' I've seen that a lot in the developing world, where doctors may be scarce.
Not all machines
"oh you're a mechanical engineer, can you fix my car?"
I'm a mechanical engineer and I'm really good with machines but I know nothing about most actual systems. I always tell people that I can figure out the problem eventually, but I'm probably going to need to have it for a month, strip down the entire thing, and might end up saying "this part is chipped and there's nothing I can do."
Do you think so?
therapist safe place GIF by LuciferGiphyOh, you're a therapist? tells me about their family member who really needs to see a therapist.
Rocks and Stuff
"Oh you're a geologist? What kind of rock is this?" Just kidding, we love that crap and will tell you a long story of the history of that rock and how we saw examples in the field in the middle of nowhere.
Other common questions include:
- Is this a meteorite? (no, it's industrial slag)
- Is this a diamond? (no, it's quartz)
- How much is this rock/mineral/fossil worth? (probably $0)
- Is this a dinosaur bone? (no it is not)
- Is this gold? (no it's pyrite/fools gold) geckospots
The Wild
I work with wildlife and reptiles and get asked all of the time. Many times I have convinced the people to either re-home the animal or drop the $500 needed on proper supplies.
And I managed to have one guy fined because he admitted and had video proof of releasing an invasive species of turtle into the local waterways.
Beneath the Sky
carl sagan space GIF by Feliks Tomasz KonczakowskiGiphyOh you're an astronomer? Why is my outlook as Pisces so negative this month? I heard all the planets are going to be lined up what does that mean for my horoscope?
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