Awful jobs now filled by immigrants?

[dawgball]

homedog's thread brought out a few of the awful jobs available to make a decent buck. When I started thinking about some of the awful work that I did on farms, it dawned on me that most of this is now probably done by Mexican immigrants because there aren't too many people willing to do work like that (I don't think I am willing to anymore!!).

Some of my bad summer jobs:

Detassling corn (12 years old) *this was the worst of the bunch
Chunking potatoes (14)
Hauling hay (15-17) -- this one wasn't too bad
Dishwasher at a horse track (after school my sophomore year; by the end of my tenure I got "promoted" to busboy)

When I chunked potatoes, it was in Owensboro (about 30 minutes from my mom's work). She would drive me down before work around 6 am and pick me up after work around 5:30. Looking back on this, I remember being one of the few white people there. Me and the Mexican guys used to play basketball during our lunch breaks. My mom embarrasingly laughs because neither one of us can believe that she was dropping her 14 year old in the middle of a field with a bunch of strange old men. Most of them were Mexicans, which at the time, we were not really all that accustomed to. I think back then most of the immigrants here were hard working individuals where I feel that a certain portion of the immigrants now move here for an easier ride.

 

[DOGS THAT BARK]

Did lots of the hay hauling for 3 years during summer while in high school. My cousins did custom baling for several farms and my job was stacking it on wagon. Got 1 1/2 cent a bale and not uncommonto put up 1000 bales a day. $15 for a day was big money in the 60's--especially for high school.--and worked evenings at gas station/car wash.

 

[JCDunkDogs]

Those jobs sound awful. I had it a little better.

Worked my way through school as a caddy. Got $7 a bag in 1973, and we carried two bags, and packed 36 holes. Of course, the rates have gone up since. By 1983, they were getting about $18 a bag for a round.

What made it awful was the people. Rich types that didn't tip. Those bags were heavy. The richer the player was, the heavier the bag was. Everyone had 14 clubs (some cheated and carried 16 or more). Some guys packed their whole locker in the side pockets of their golf bag: tees, ball markers, extra shoes, rain suit, travel cover, smokes, and 20 extra balls. Must have weighed 40 pounds.

If the bag had a broken or frayed strap, it cut into your shoulder for six hours.

Even in those days, there were a few Latinos in the caddy shack, and as the years went by their numbers grew. Now, the Latinos are probably the majority.

 

[UGA12]

I will just tell you that roofing sucks ass in the southeast in july :cursin: :cursin: :cursin:

 

[dr. freeze]

lol i picked range balls up in a mosquito infested range for 1$ an hour and thought i was doing well

taught me the value of a dollar

of course, most leftists would consider this "abuse" now but i felt fortunate at the time to have a job as a teenager

 

[Chadman]

Washing pots in a cafeteria was probably my worst job. Messy, hot, slimy crap. I worked hard and moved "up" to dragging dishes, and then to driving dishes in the cafeteria. It all essentially sucked, but the pots were so bad.

I also layed sod while working on a golf course in SW Missouri, which is probably similar to the roofing job in terms of hot-sucking...ha. Not quite as hot but dirty/muddy/heavy/fast work. Laying sod on a golf course was way worse than in my yards...long strips and they were heavy, thick grass/roots. I didn't have to do that all day, only on some days, and enjoyed some of the other work. This was on the course where Payne Stewart grew up, to give a historical reference. The golden child used to play through most mornings before high school...we always had to shut down the machinery when he played through or he bitched to his dad. I saw a different side of the lad...than his later in life good guy image - which apparently was deserved.

 

[DOGS THAT BARK]

How about this for bad job.

In Viet Nam on major firebase they had home made out-houses with barrel's cut in half under a two hole shitters.
As part of saniation requirement you had to bi weekly go around and pull half barrels out and pour gas and oil in barrel and burn the shit. You could just pour it on and set fire and leave because just surface would burn so you were required to stand there and stir with pole while it burned until entire contents were reduced to ashes..
However didn't take a person long to pay one of the Viet Namese 50 cents to do it for you.

 

[SixFive]

How about this for bad job.

In Viet Nam on major firebase they had home made out-houses with barrel's cut in half under a two hole shitters.
As part of saniation requirement you had to bi weekly go around and pull half barrels out and pour gas and oil in barrel and burn the shit. You could just pour it on and set fire and leave because just surface would burn so you were required to stand there and stir with pole while it burned until entire contents were reduced to ashes..
However didn't take a person long to pay one of the Viet Namese 50 cents to do it for you.

YUCK!!!

 

[dawgball]

I avoided Roofing like the plague. Luckily I never had to do it.

DTB -- As punishment, the guy in the movie, Jarhead, had to do that. It's one of those things I would have never thought of when thinking of how war sucks.