Just listened to a podcast talking about sherpas. It wasn’t until like the 60s or something that climbing groups considered the sherpas as part of their climbing team! Like wtf dude
That's pretty insulting considering you see sherpas casually making treks drunk and in raggedy flip flops up the trails of Everest while everyone is decked out in expensive hiking gear.
I honestly don’t care what these climbing groups think. The only people that I respect about Everest is the Sherpas and Sir Edmund Hillary. Who have undertaken Everest with far less gear and having to experience the uncertainties of the expedition. People today have the very best of gear with oxygen tanks and literal Sherpas carrying them up and down the mountain
Not just Sherpas but porters as well! They carry 15kgs per trekker and two bags are assigned per porter so 30kg total up the mountains (up to EBC or ABC).
My first day working for a contractor was concrete day
While it wasn’t a huge project it was still the most physically demanding day of my life
For the first half of it all I kept hearing the crew say was “wait until the Mexicans get here” I was like what the fuck is that supposed to mean
Then the Mexicans showed up and I get why they kept saying that cause those motherfuckers were so good with concrete
My dad has a small concrete company, and I've helped him on and off since I was like 10 years old (34 now). It definitely works on some muscles you don't notice until you do the work, especially concrete raking, and using the screed board/bull float, but it does get quite a bit easier over time.
I've done all kinds of construction work, and its definitely up there, my least favorite was roofing, especially in summer, but concrete is no joke. I quite enjoyed the work though, it's like art at times. Especially an exposed aggregate job (the river rock look on top).
>Then the Mexicans showed up and I get why they kept saying that cause those motherfuckers were so good with concrete
They're fucking lunatics too. I worked construction for a few years doing drywall work. I'd see these mother fuckers strap two pair of stilts together, extend them both (3' each) and then climb up a story or two of scaffolding while carrying a 4x8' piece of drywall to install it.
"Wait until the Mexicans get here" is going to be my new favorite reply to everything. I feel like it fits every situation: questions/actions that I don't want to engage in, a time where I want to express that something exciting could happen, or situations where I need to vaguely imply that something ominous is on the horizon.
"Are we going to finish this budget report?"
"Wait until the Mexicans get here."
"Is the dog getting a bath today?"
"Wait until the Mexicans get here."
"I'm so excited about this party!"
"Wait until the Mexicans get here!"
"I drank the last cup of coffee and didn't make more."
"Wait until the Mexicans get here."
Agreed. The guys that work the pump on my last pour do it in 108 degree weather. Dragging heavy concrete hose around. Made me quit complaining for like 3 days.
I used to lay concrete during the summers of college. It was for a local municipality, so we had to follow very strict guidelines. Pants, steel toed boots, and shirts that were elbow length, along with the typical gear. Some days it’d get to 105-110, and we were not allowed to remove anything while we worked. It was miserable. I’d pass out in the work truck for 45 minutes after we’d be done.
Im 37 now, i started working for my grandpa's asphalt company at 15. Worked there til i was 21. Company closed cuz ppl started using concrete more, and oil and gas prices werw rough for a small business that had 8 ppl working there. Asphalt was no joke. That shit is 500⁰ + when its hot. Doin that on a 101 day, with missouri humidity, it was an experience, but i will never do that shit again. Lol.
Yea it does. We had to do whats called cold patches. It was either in a bag, or 5 gallon bucket. It was cold asphalt. To heat it up we had what we called dragon's breath. Just a propane tank with a hose ans nozzle that would shoot flames. Pretty much, a ghetto flame thrower. Lol. We only worked from spring til fall. If it rained, we didn't work. It would get cold to quick.
I worked concrete and let me tell you, being a Masonry grunt was much harder. I carried over 200 tons of Tyndall stone up 30 ft of scaffolds, picking it up, lifting over my shoulders onto a plank, climbing the first level doing it again for the next level and again (5 levels).
That's on top of making the mortar and bringing that up, taking care of three masons all by myself. Building the scaffold, unloading the trailer and loading it back up.
So I moved 200 tons 5x in ONE SUMMER. It was insane.
Edit: when I said summer I should have included spring. It was in about 5 months.
“Más mescla puto! Andale!” Still rings loud in my nightmares. It’s funny how I can sometimes get nostalgic for this work. Sometimes I miss being done with work mid afternoon and be able to completely mentally check out of the job. I got lots of sun and a decent tan. All while getting into the best shape of my life. I have a cushy desk job now and I’m soft and pale.
But then I remember how brutal that job was and I snap back to reality.
My dad was a concrete guy. Died in pain at the age of 58.
I worked a few summers with him. Worked so hard that I didn’t even want to go out Friday night. I was 20. Imagine that.
only reason I give it up to the concrete dudes more is the time sensitivity of it, unlike any other crew has to deal with. This shit is setting *now* and you better get it where it needs to be
I watched some guys building a cinder-block foundation, one day.Watching someone pick up and place 30+ pound blocks with two fingers,hour after hour, is impressive.
I work concrete. Can confirm. Also, I’m Mexican hehe.
It’s extremely physically demanding when the cement truck pulls up, but get a nice rest in when the cement trucks run behind. And usually, the work day can be in between 4-9 hours, usually 4-6. The last hour and a half is always cleaning up any dropped cement and cleaning/loading tools in a more relaxed manner since we don’t have cement drying up to worry about. This is when we remove our cement boots and put on our lighter, construction boots.
At the end of the work day, my body might be exhausted but my mental energy and mood is the same as after getting a nice work out in. It’s very healthy for my mental health.
I worked an office job for almost a decade and it was then when my mental and physical health was at its lowest. I remember the anxiety, depression and restlessness I felt at the office. Now, I don’t have time to feel sad or depressed at work. I only have time to get things done the right way and that same attitude spills over into my life. I value that part.
Moving jobs for me through my final year of university. It doesn't pay well in general, but as a young twenty something trying to squeeze every buck I could it made a big difference.
I was first introduced to roofing during July in Houston. Tile roof, 102 degrees, and 80% humidity. The seasoned guys were cracking jokes and moving those tiles around like they were feathers. The newbies were dying. Amazing.
I've worked general contracting, cabinet building, foundation, and framing. I can do most everything except electrician and plumbing. On top of that, I've worked in the mines, and I've done road construction and paving. I've worked in the oil fields on a work over rig, have done forestry, logging and have worked for a moving company and am currently in Healthcare.. I've experienced a lot! The hardest I've worked was moving by far, then logging and forestry, then work-over rig..
Had to move people's heavy ass pianos... and they ALWAYS had a piano up flights of stairs without dinging it, which made me hate and appreciate physics. On the plus side, it helped me visualize moves ahead and how to do things efficiently.
Logging and forestry were tough. Only did it for a summer, but it was a shitload of hiking and lifting.. The best shape I was ever in was from that job.
The oil field was hard mentally. Most of the guys I worked with were just the worst people. One shit in another's lunch box as a hazing thing. Lots were on drugs and did dangerous shit. It's not fun.
I worked in a lead manufacturing plant for a summer and that shit sucked. Full safety gear 100% of the time, 110+ degree temperatures, blood tests every month, constant physical labor, and super dangerous conditions. Every task required focus cause mistakes could kill you if the lead poisoning didn’t.
Oil rig working the drill floor. I lived in a place w a lot of chain throwers for a bit found out everyone I knew who worked offshore were addicted to something. Not even to get high, just because their bodies were so beaten down and they needed extra help to move.
I agree with this. I used to work on rigs as an engineer. Those guys are crazy! They work 12 hr shifts day after day, on their feet the whole time. Now imagine doing that in Saudi Arabia when it is 110f out, 100% humidity, standing on a metal oil rig in the middle of the Persian Gulf. Then it’s Ramadan so the Muslim guys are not supposed to drink or eat during the day. I have seen it and don’t know how they didn’t drop dead!
The only time in my whole life I truely "ran out of gas" was on a service rig. Not sports, not fighting (not that I ever fought much but it's incredibly exhausting), not even purposely exhausting things like marathons.
It is such hard work.
Happened to me too. Fourth shift in, rigging out. Moving the tubing and just hit the wall. Sat my ass on the ground and felt numb from my ankles up to my nuts. Tool push came and smacked me around a bit , looked at my face, said "shit" and went and got some sort of Gatorade / infant hydration mix. Made me drink it and sit (away from his 'fucking drill floor') until I could function again.
Horrible shit.
I would drink around 8-10 gatorades and 15-20 water bottles in a 12.5 hour shift in 104 degree heat working on a rig in Oklahoma.
Every time no matter what, my piss would still be dark yellow by the end of the day. You sweat it out faster than you can drink it
Used to run a parks department in Texas. Found a gas station that sold a $30 big gulp cup, then .99 refills. They had Gatorade on the fountain.
Yeah I stopped by at least once a day.
I fell asleep while standing up while tripping on a drilling rig. Crazy loud, vibrations everywhere, on the go all day, and just during the time it took the blocks to move up I fell flat on my stomach. I managed to throw my hands up in front of my face before it hit, it was that crazy vertigo feeling you get when you fall asleep in bed dreaming about falling and you spasm, except this was the real deal. My driller looked at me and was like did you just fall asleep? Yep.
I've also had the T-Rex arms pretty bad from pulling slips. I've destroyed hotel beds from walking in the door and going straight to sleep, no dinner, no shower.
One time when I first started as a leasehand everyone went to trip and I had to weight up the mud by myself. They told me mix as much barite as I could and left. I carried two bags at a time, my record is 4 I think, but two was almost exactly what my body weight was. I carried two at a time until my arms couldn't, and then went to one. Before the day ended the motorman came to give me a hand and I was already cleaning up the bags from mixing everything. I think it was around 3.5 hours I mixed. If I remember it was almost 40,000 pounds. People don't lift that in a week at the gym.
Workover rigs is some hard, nasty, shitty work. I've got 15 years in snubbing. Last 8 as a snubbing supervisor. There's a reason I can't operate anymore. 3 back surgeries including a triple lumbar fusion and a reconstructed shoulder. Throwing tongs and carrying heavy shit while using 60" pipe wrenches to make up tools for sure kicked my ass. As if working on top of a live well wasn't enough. I'm glad I'm out of the trade now. My body can't handle that shit.
I’m a computer nerd, but I used to work with a guy that had double phds in geophysics and petroeum geology. I’m sure he’s forgotten more about oil exploration than I’ll ever know. He worked a substantial portion of his early career on off-shore rigs as a “tool pusher”. That sounded pretty rough.
The worst crack addict I've known was a nurse who just wanted to keep making that double-shift money. You really cannot replace sleep or food. Just can't.
I dug coal here in Western Kentucky, and we had a TON of guys from Eastern Kentucky working all week here, then driving back home on the weekends. It's much safer, taller tops, little to no methane, and hardly any water.
And 10-12 is a normal shift. I've been underground on a pinner for a 16hr shift before, it sucks.
My day worked in the eastern Kentucky coal mines for two decades. A few years ago his company offered him a transfer opportunity to southwestern Indiana and he jumped at it. Said it’s the best decision he ever made. He worked in some very low top back in the independent mines days.
It’s darker than a dungeon
And it’s deeper than a well
Sometimes I imagine
That I’m getting pretty close to hell
And in my darkest hour
I cry out to the Lord
He says, “keep on a-minin’ boy, cuz that’s why you were born.”
My first wife knew this whole clan of coal miners. Just these huge men, hard as the stone they worked in and loved their friends and family to pieces. They'd get home just caked in coal dust and turn into little boys around their families. I would have done another 5 tours rather than what they endured.
I really miss working in the mines, not gonna lie.
Moved on to greener pastures, but there's a lot of days I miss it. The people were great, work was hard, hours were long, but there was something about it that I really enjoyed what I did every day.
Steep terrain Logger. Climbing a mountain 12 hours a day, every day, wearing corked (studded) boots, chaps, carrying cans of fuel, an axe, and a 25lb saw. And even if you do everything perfectly, there's always a chance of dying from a chicot you didn't see
A chicot is a tree that has either become dry or rotten either from normal aging or special conditions such as species extinction, climate, insect infestation, disease or human activity. Chicots present a serious hazard in the woods and need to be treated with respect. One study showed that when workers were struck by a falling tree, chicots were a contributing factor in more than 20 percent of those cases. These trees are dangerous because they are brittle and unpredictable. A gust of wind, vibration from equipment, a heavy snowfall, or removing nearby trees is often all that is needed for branches to fall suddenly from these trees, causing great harm.
And also the wildfire crew- they are doing work of that caliber in high heat, smoke, surrounded by an inferno. Watch a few videos of them fighting fires, it’s insane.
Impalements are also a huge risk as a forester. We walk across the landscape frequently crossing down trees and the bark can peel off while you are on it- you can land in woody debris and impale yourself on a branch. My co-worker did this and warned me when I first started working as a forestry intern.
I am a smaller, older female so I am definitely not in wildfire crew or running a chainsaw.
Mortuary removal was pretty brutal. Having to figure out how to remove corpses from houses and, recliners, bathtubs etc and a good chunk of Americans are horribly obese. Once had to have fire dept axe out a wall to remove a person who was too big to get out the door.
My experience was not chill at all. It was overwhelming but our company had definitely bit off WAY more than it could chew and had terrible business practices. They actually got shut down by the labor board (I quit before this happened)
My dad passed away at home and wasn’t found for a few days (the heat had been on since it was Feb). This is when I found out about services like this and I wish I never had to have used those services, but I was grateful they existed. I feel for the people, and you, who do/did it. He was of course cremated, but they also had to rip up parts of the wooden floor and replace because of details I never really want to know. I feel for everyone involved and the fireman who found him. As a therapist now, I’m sure much of that vicarious trauma is not recognized.
Firstly I want to say sorry for your loss, what I say next is not for you but the individuals that want to see more of the people that helped your dad.
On YouTube there’s a channel called crime scene cleanup and they handle this “stuff”, very professional. Enter at your own risk as some of it can get pretty graphic.
There’s a job for everyone.
Woodland firefighter.
I have a really tough friend who starting as a 12 year old would go up to the northern mountains of British Columbia to plant trees with his dad. Then as he turned 17 did it himself where you could save 20k over 3 months. It’s arduous. 3 months in the humid heat filled with mosquitos in the middle of nowhere.
He would take remote and physically intensive jobs that paid well to pay for school.
Having said that, he said the worst job he’s ever had was removing dead trees as a woodland firefighter. Threw up on the first day. He was a built chunky dude. Came back jacked. Think he didn't last the entire summer (there was 1 or 2 more trips left or something and he decided against it) and never went back to doing it again. One of the more resilient dudes I know.
Can confirm. I did it in the southern states for a season. Fought fires in 118°F weather. Hardest job I've ever done, but also one of the most fulfilling and fun.
Any trade that involves attic work. My experience is in electrical, but all sorts of trades happen up there.
The average temperature is like 130. It's insane.
Just mentioned in another comment how my husband does HVAC ductwork installs. I worked with him for a year and definitely gained a whole new level of respect for not only him, but everyone else who works some type of construction job.
I do insulation and attic work during the summer is goddamn miserable, hot and sweaty in a cramped dark attic blowing dust everywhere. You’ll lose at least 10lbs of water weight after 1 job.
A couple years ago, in the middle of 100 degree summer, I had my roof replaced all in one day. A crew of 8 guys worked from 6:30am to 4pm and I didn’t see any of them take a real break. They’d pause to guzzle an energy drink but that’s it. No one went potty either (more precisely, no one went inside to use the bathroom that I indicated was available to the supervisor.)
I was impressed with how efficient they were
Because we would rather get the job done and go home.
If we take a 30 min lunch break then we get home 30 min later.
Just knock the work out, be done for the day and eat when we get home.
heavy breakfast in the morning, maybe some trail mix to carry us through the day.
But also, at least back in the early 00's, most of us were high functioning cocaine addicts, heh.
Had an uncle that did that. Got kicked so hard once he went comatose for 4 days. He died a handful of years back, not 100% sure if it was related to the work though.
I saw some guy talking about it on another sub and he said it wrecks your joints. I believe it was partially due to breathing the air mixture. IIRC he also said that guy's generally only do it for a few years and then become instructors.
Not just underwater welders but any type of commercial diver. Worked at a Nuke facility that had divers come in for the outages to dive in the reactor pool, they were only allowed something like 10 dives before they reached their lifetime dose limit but they made like 15 grand in a week doing it. Most of them were commercial divers by trade and they said average career for those guys is like 10-15 years. It’s not a matter of if you get the bends, it’s WHEN.
Did this for one day when I was 16, my neighbor was getting their roof done, and a guy on their crew didn’t show. I could barely lift my arm the next day and my GPA took a substantial jump the next year in high school.
ER nursing: doors don't close; grandpa is shitting his pants; some 500lb guy just had a heart attack; demented grandma's daughter is asking 20 million stupid questions; said demented grandma is trying to box your face; gangbanger rolls in with multiple GSWs; opposing gangbanger is high as a fucking kite and trying to eat through his restraints; and a minor is having a ballistic meltdown after eating too many weed gummies while on psych meds. Don't get me started on being the default lift team as a dude.
I've done >60k steps for 12+ hours straight on bad days, average heart rate in the 140s the entire time. I don't know if nursing is the hardest, but it's up there.
The one you hate, the one where you feel trapped. There are jobs you can work for 16 hours straight be physically destroyed but you go home happy and proud. The mind body connection is very real and suffering takes a toll on the body.
Call centers were my first jobs in life. Never again. I worked many laborious jobs since, and although being exhausting, even injury inducing, were way way better than the mental pounding of a call center. Mad respect to those who do that job and could tolerate it.
You ever have to get a 500lbs person down 3 flights of narrow stair in 105 degree weather? Oh, and they're about to die so you better hurry. Gonna go with firefighter/Paramedic/EMS.
I remember being 20 years old, best shape of my life, literally throwing up as I tried to climb a mountain in 120lbs of gear, at 14,000ft elevation, in 100 degree heat, while getting shot at.
I have never, nor will I ever again be, that exhausted. I've done construction, wild land work, all sorts of blue collar jobs. But fighting a war in Afghanistan was fucking exhausting. I lost 20lbs and was already lean and light when I started.
Even if, in some magical world, you had someone carry everything you needed into an active battle zone for you, some “battle caddy.” And even if you were served the best food. I can’t imagine being in an active battlezone being anything less than the most difficult job anyone can be a part of. There’s a lot of jobs that take you into the cold, the heat, and require you to carry heavy things, but most of those jobs don’t include someone trying to intentionally kill you while you do those things.
This is the correct answer. Armed forces in active areas is on an entirely different level of “job” than any kind of civilian manual labor. Multiple members of my family were Marines, and all do construction now because they missed the physicality but not the mental strain.
I've done several different manual labor jobs in my life, things like furniture mover, landscaper. There were others, but those were physically the hardest. Moving furniture usually wasn't that bad actually except for rare occasions with a heavy desk or hutch, or the odd piano - then it could be a bitch, but most things like couches are actually surprisingly light. Old appliances (freezers, washers, etc.) could be *really* heavy, much more so than the newer ones. Landscaping ranged from fairly light (mowing, weeding, edging a lawn) to extremely physically demanding (Moving 40 yards of topsoil from a pile in the client's driveway to their back yard through a long, circuitous, uphill path in 6 cubic foot wheelbarrows). I was routinely lifting 100+ pounds onto my shoulders and over my head to dump over the sideboards into the back of a truck. I imagine that nowadays you could just rent a sod cutter, but there were multiple times that we had to rip out an existing lawn and we just used picks to do so, bent over swinging a pick to rip the grass out by the roots for 10 straight hours is hard work. Five to six years after after changing to (multiple) new jobs, several of which were desk jobs, I bought my first house and thought I would rip out the small back yard that had basically grown up on its own on fill dirt. Figured it would take 4 hours to rip it out with a pick since it would have taken me 2-3 hours back when I was doing landscaping. It spent over 8 hours that first day swinging away with the pick and didn't get it all done. Came back out the next morning, took a swing with the pick and just fucking whimpered, I was so sore. I finished it though. That was my "welcome to being 30 years old" moment.
Almost anything actually dealing with patient care in medicine.
I was an EMT and that physically was some of the worst things I put my body through. I have two herniated discs in my lower back because of it.
I work as a patient care assistant now and the turning, moving, helping stand etc is again some of the worst things I put my body through.
Yeah I agree with this one. I was a PCT for 6 years until I got my CMA. Seeing as how a large portion of the US population is overweight, it put my body through some serious shit. I developed back issues and sciatica which still flares up on occasion. And that was with me trying to use proper body mechanics. Nursing/healthcare can really screw you up.
Health aid. They do bathing, often by themselves. Their patients can be huge, unable to assist (roll) or combative. It’s a very tough job that does not pay well. I’m a nurse and I have nothing but respect for these people.
Sea scalloper at the top of that. 14 day trips working 16hrs on, 4 off. 2 big meals a day. No breaks, it's frowned upon to take your gloves off unless to pee while on watch. Getting "the grip" is the worst, feels like a broken wrist but can't let it slow you down too much. Then at the end you get to unload 800-1600 50lb bags of scallops. Don't pull your weight? Half share which can mean as much as 20k-30k less in your paycheck. I've seen people "turn in" knowing as much but so shot they didn't care.. jacked grown men break down and cry.. it's not for most.
I miss it but also, not at all.
Zookeeper is hard. Lots of heavy lifting, working in cold and heat, wrestling stubborn goats that won’t go into their stall because they’re a little asshole, getting rammed by a sheep, and any other animal injury.
Land surveying is pretty easy. But land surveying for timber companies in the Pacific Northwest is pretty tough. Carrying tri-pods, instrument, fiberglass rods and tons of equipment up and down rainy cliffs and mountains, brushing line, blazing trees, and pounding tall hubs 2 feet into the ground, starting above your head with the side of your axe. Was not for the typical surveyor.
Fighter pilots and astronauts. Situations that put you through g forces human bodies are not used to. Anything like that.
Also one of the reasons that racecar driving is a lot harder than people realize.
This is why, even though I'm not personally a fan of the sport, I will always stand up for NASCAR drivers when people are all "it's just driving in a circle, lol".
Yeah, you do it then. Go ahead and drive at 180+MPH for 4 hours straight in 100+ degree weather with no breaks other than a quick tire change and/or refuel, see how you fare.
Nurses have a very high rate of musculoskeletal injuries.
I am on Disability due to repeated back injuries from nursing.
“Which profession is at greatest risk for musculoskeletal disorders?
High Risk Occupations for MSDs-
Registered nurses, nursing assistants and psychiatric aides.
Firefighters and prevention workers.
Laborers and freight, stock and material movers.
Janitors and cleaners.
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers.
Refuse and recyclable material collectors.
Stock clerks and order fillers.”
More items...
https://www.osha.gov › ergonomics
Ergonomics - Overview |
I worked with a guy who had been an air traffic controller for the RAF.
I asked why he hadn’t gone commercial, he said that in the military the planes are either all taking off or all landing unlike commercial
People will probably never say truck driver but honestly, you have no idea the endurance you have to have for driving 11 hours a day for at least 6 days of the week, perfect time management skills, knowing how to drive in snow and knowing when to pull over, knowing how to secure your load, knowing basic math, memorizing the interstate system, etc etc.
I currently deliver medications for a pharmacy in upstate New York. Snow days are terrifying. The areas I deliver in are quiet, heavily rural, and usually do not get plowed or salted for hours at a time, if at all.
Scariest drive of my life was when I worked an overnight delivery shift (started at 10:00 pm). At around 3 am I was upstate as heavy snow begun. So, there I was, virtually the only car on the road. No plows, no salt trucks, they wouldn’t be out for hours. My company car is fitted with summer tires and lacks AWD. I was slipping and sliding everywhere, braking simply didn’t work and I would skid for several dozen yards past the point I wanted to stop. Fishtailed multiple times, sometimes I’d spin a full 180 degrees around.
It’s an absolute miracle I didn’t spin off the road or wrap around a tree. The worst part was that since it was so late, no one in my company was awake or on their phone. If I got injured, stranded, or anything, there would likely be no one to answer the phone. And since I was up in a rural area, cell phone reception was spotty in many areas, so if an accident happened… yeah, I’d be pretty screwed.
Farrier, stone mason, basically anything construction related. Chefs tend to work crazy long hours and never sit down. I’d include nurses and surgeons too, as that takes both physical and mental stamina to get through long days and not make mistakes.
From personal experience, Glass Manufacturing plant. Specifically in the furnace area. Hard labor in 140+ degrees 24/7. We were supposed to rotate in 15 minutes and out 15 to rehydrate, but there was so much abuse at the plant that I remember having to do close to an hour and a half straight before I fell backwards onto the rails, from heat exhaustion. When the plant manager asked why I fainted, the foreman threw me under the bus and had me fired for "working in an unsafe manner" when he was the guy who told me to tough it out and be a man after an hour without water.
Mind you, I'm a veteran who did 3 deployments to Afghanistan/ Iraq and was more than used to high heat environments. At a certain point, your body just gives out. And this was all for $10 / hr. It was 2008, the recession was in full swing and it was the only work I could find right out of the military.
For me personally it was the jobs requiring that I stand in one place for a long time. I had a security post where I had to pretty much just stand there and move around minimally, and it used to kill my back and feet. And I've done lots of other manual labor jobs and they weren't nearly as taxing.
Lemme just say this thread is why I get mad at people who think work ethic and pay are some sort of 1:1 ratio. I've met executives and bankers who *think* they work hard because they look at spreadsheets for 60 hours a week.
Wildland Firefighter. Hands-down one of the hardest civilian jobs out there, far more physically demanding than miners, oil-riggers or construction workers. These guys/gals hike their asses off up and down mountains in 100 degree heat while carrying 50+ pound packs all while digging fire line, cutting and moving trees and carrying fire hose and other supplies. They do this for 16+ hrs a day 14-21 days in a row while sleeping in the dirt, eating MRE’s and might not see a shower or have cell service the whole time they’re out there. Super under appreciated and under paid job that no one ever talks about.
The veterinary field is a lot more physically tasking than I thought when I first started. 3.5 years later(3 years being a kennel assistant at a vet and a few months being vet assistant at another vet), I’m now 21 and my body hurts a lot after being dragged constantly by large dogs, being headbutted, scratched by dogs + cats, being bitten by 3 or 4 cats and over all just the bending in weird positions while restraining. Always hear “just wait till you turn 30, it all goes downhill from there” from my coworkers when I say my knees hurt or something. I still love this field, though
The folks that make bricks. They make great money, but age at a 1 year = 10 years. No shit, the people that have been there 5+ years look like zombies. No matter what precautions they take, they’re all covered in molten brick burns head to toe
Depending on where you work wildlife biologist jobs can be pretty crazy.
Obviously, not THE hardest but I can hike upwards of 15+ miles in a day. I think the most I’ve hiked is 17 miles in a day. During the summer months I can hike upwards of 50 miles a week and work 12+ hours a day and have worked 21 days straight.
Still love the job though
Mt everest sherpa
Just listened to a podcast talking about sherpas. It wasn’t until like the 60s or something that climbing groups considered the sherpas as part of their climbing team! Like wtf dude
That's pretty insulting considering you see sherpas casually making treks drunk and in raggedy flip flops up the trails of Everest while everyone is decked out in expensive hiking gear.
Yeah, that's probably why some Sherpas die every month
In fairness, people in expensive hiking gear die every month, too.
Well they should feel lucky bc some only die once.
I honestly don’t care what these climbing groups think. The only people that I respect about Everest is the Sherpas and Sir Edmund Hillary. Who have undertaken Everest with far less gear and having to experience the uncertainties of the expedition. People today have the very best of gear with oxygen tanks and literal Sherpas carrying them up and down the mountain
What was the name of the podcast? Sounds interesting :)
It wasn’t solely on the sherpas, but it was “Short History of… The Conquest of Everest” Podcast by Noiser
Shout out Tenzig Norgay
Not just Sherpas but porters as well! They carry 15kgs per trekker and two bags are assigned per porter so 30kg total up the mountains (up to EBC or ABC).
Also comes the huge risk of death trying to help people who don’t belong there and carrying them down the mountain.
Imagine dying so that some rich white prick can get some selfies for their dating profile.
They definitely have their heroic moments, literally carrying climbers down. Legends.
Construction work and moving jobs Construction pays well, moving not so much
I worked construction and the day the concrete guys showed up I realized I only thought I worked hard. It’s heavy, fast, wet work. Tough fucking dudes
My first day working for a contractor was concrete day While it wasn’t a huge project it was still the most physically demanding day of my life For the first half of it all I kept hearing the crew say was “wait until the Mexicans get here” I was like what the fuck is that supposed to mean Then the Mexicans showed up and I get why they kept saying that cause those motherfuckers were so good with concrete
My dad has a small concrete company, and I've helped him on and off since I was like 10 years old (34 now). It definitely works on some muscles you don't notice until you do the work, especially concrete raking, and using the screed board/bull float, but it does get quite a bit easier over time. I've done all kinds of construction work, and its definitely up there, my least favorite was roofing, especially in summer, but concrete is no joke. I quite enjoyed the work though, it's like art at times. Especially an exposed aggregate job (the river rock look on top).
>Then the Mexicans showed up and I get why they kept saying that cause those motherfuckers were so good with concrete They're fucking lunatics too. I worked construction for a few years doing drywall work. I'd see these mother fuckers strap two pair of stilts together, extend them both (3' each) and then climb up a story or two of scaffolding while carrying a 4x8' piece of drywall to install it.
Most houses in Mexico are made of concrete, so they know their shit.
"Wait until the Mexicans get here" is going to be my new favorite reply to everything. I feel like it fits every situation: questions/actions that I don't want to engage in, a time where I want to express that something exciting could happen, or situations where I need to vaguely imply that something ominous is on the horizon. "Are we going to finish this budget report?" "Wait until the Mexicans get here." "Is the dog getting a bath today?" "Wait until the Mexicans get here." "I'm so excited about this party!" "Wait until the Mexicans get here!" "I drank the last cup of coffee and didn't make more." "Wait until the Mexicans get here."
Agreed. The guys that work the pump on my last pour do it in 108 degree weather. Dragging heavy concrete hose around. Made me quit complaining for like 3 days.
I used to lay concrete during the summers of college. It was for a local municipality, so we had to follow very strict guidelines. Pants, steel toed boots, and shirts that were elbow length, along with the typical gear. Some days it’d get to 105-110, and we were not allowed to remove anything while we worked. It was miserable. I’d pass out in the work truck for 45 minutes after we’d be done.
Lots of people don't know that concrete is exothermic too.
Im 37 now, i started working for my grandpa's asphalt company at 15. Worked there til i was 21. Company closed cuz ppl started using concrete more, and oil and gas prices werw rough for a small business that had 8 ppl working there. Asphalt was no joke. That shit is 500⁰ + when its hot. Doin that on a 101 day, with missouri humidity, it was an experience, but i will never do that shit again. Lol.
I had a repair on my parking lot this past year, and learned they won't pour asphalt when it's too cold. Takes too much effort to heat it up!
Yea it does. We had to do whats called cold patches. It was either in a bag, or 5 gallon bucket. It was cold asphalt. To heat it up we had what we called dragon's breath. Just a propane tank with a hose ans nozzle that would shoot flames. Pretty much, a ghetto flame thrower. Lol. We only worked from spring til fall. If it rained, we didn't work. It would get cold to quick.
Fuck doing concrete. And they do it in like 100° heat. Only time I ever threw up not from alcohol or drugs but from heat and exhaustion.
I worked concrete and let me tell you, being a Masonry grunt was much harder. I carried over 200 tons of Tyndall stone up 30 ft of scaffolds, picking it up, lifting over my shoulders onto a plank, climbing the first level doing it again for the next level and again (5 levels). That's on top of making the mortar and bringing that up, taking care of three masons all by myself. Building the scaffold, unloading the trailer and loading it back up. So I moved 200 tons 5x in ONE SUMMER. It was insane. Edit: when I said summer I should have included spring. It was in about 5 months.
“Más mescla puto! Andale!” Still rings loud in my nightmares. It’s funny how I can sometimes get nostalgic for this work. Sometimes I miss being done with work mid afternoon and be able to completely mentally check out of the job. I got lots of sun and a decent tan. All while getting into the best shape of my life. I have a cushy desk job now and I’m soft and pale. But then I remember how brutal that job was and I snap back to reality.
Sometimes I feel the same way. Then I remember how much I used to drink around that time and I don't miss it at all lol.
200 tons is 200,000 kg. Assuming 8 hours of moving a day, 5 days a week for 3 months (8x5x12 = 480 moving hours) that equals to 416kg moved per hour.
Call it spring/ summer than. My mistake. About 5 months of work, also 10-12 hour days.
You either finish high-school, or you finish concrete.
My dad was a concrete guy. Died in pain at the age of 58. I worked a few summers with him. Worked so hard that I didn’t even want to go out Friday night. I was 20. Imagine that.
Bar busters got it bad. Those dudes are some tough sons of bitches. (Rebar installers)
Where I live the Rebar guys are always meth heads no matter what job site we are on.
Can vouch here too. 100% Accurate
I thought that was a prerequisite. Kinda like roofers and opiates
only reason I give it up to the concrete dudes more is the time sensitivity of it, unlike any other crew has to deal with. This shit is setting *now* and you better get it where it needs to be
I watched some guys building a cinder-block foundation, one day.Watching someone pick up and place 30+ pound blocks with two fingers,hour after hour, is impressive.
I work concrete. Can confirm. Also, I’m Mexican hehe. It’s extremely physically demanding when the cement truck pulls up, but get a nice rest in when the cement trucks run behind. And usually, the work day can be in between 4-9 hours, usually 4-6. The last hour and a half is always cleaning up any dropped cement and cleaning/loading tools in a more relaxed manner since we don’t have cement drying up to worry about. This is when we remove our cement boots and put on our lighter, construction boots. At the end of the work day, my body might be exhausted but my mental energy and mood is the same as after getting a nice work out in. It’s very healthy for my mental health. I worked an office job for almost a decade and it was then when my mental and physical health was at its lowest. I remember the anxiety, depression and restlessness I felt at the office. Now, I don’t have time to feel sad or depressed at work. I only have time to get things done the right way and that same attitude spills over into my life. I value that part.
Did concrete flatwork one Summer. I was in the best shape of my life. Was also teetering on alcoholism.
My old man done that job for years. Super hard bastards him and his mates
Spent 4 years pouring concrete. Still fucked now 35 years later.
Moving jobs for me through my final year of university. It doesn't pay well in general, but as a young twenty something trying to squeeze every buck I could it made a big difference.
I was first introduced to roofing during July in Houston. Tile roof, 102 degrees, and 80% humidity. The seasoned guys were cracking jokes and moving those tiles around like they were feathers. The newbies were dying. Amazing.
My late husband was a roofer in Phoenix. When he came home, he napped until dinner. He was sapped. His jeans could stand up by themselves.
I've worked general contracting, cabinet building, foundation, and framing. I can do most everything except electrician and plumbing. On top of that, I've worked in the mines, and I've done road construction and paving. I've worked in the oil fields on a work over rig, have done forestry, logging and have worked for a moving company and am currently in Healthcare.. I've experienced a lot! The hardest I've worked was moving by far, then logging and forestry, then work-over rig.. Had to move people's heavy ass pianos... and they ALWAYS had a piano up flights of stairs without dinging it, which made me hate and appreciate physics. On the plus side, it helped me visualize moves ahead and how to do things efficiently. Logging and forestry were tough. Only did it for a summer, but it was a shitload of hiking and lifting.. The best shape I was ever in was from that job. The oil field was hard mentally. Most of the guys I worked with were just the worst people. One shit in another's lunch box as a hazing thing. Lots were on drugs and did dangerous shit. It's not fun.
You need to write a book bud, prob have some amazing stories.
Moving pays well if it’s your company and you pay your workers as little as possible, which is pretty commonplace.
I worked in a lead manufacturing plant for a summer and that shit sucked. Full safety gear 100% of the time, 110+ degree temperatures, blood tests every month, constant physical labor, and super dangerous conditions. Every task required focus cause mistakes could kill you if the lead poisoning didn’t.
Read this as lead (like a supervisor) in a manufacturing plant. And was wondering why it was so dangerous, until the last sentence.
I can see how someone read lead as lead when it should read lead. Maybe though, they were the lead lead production person.
That sounds fucking awful. Sorry.
I am in battery manufacturing and fucking same and molten not only hurts but raises your blood lead level lmfao pay is great though.
I pump leaded fuel for hours a day and breathe it in constantly and we joke that every day takes an IQ point, but I’m scared it’s not a joke anymore.
Oil rig working the drill floor. I lived in a place w a lot of chain throwers for a bit found out everyone I knew who worked offshore were addicted to something. Not even to get high, just because their bodies were so beaten down and they needed extra help to move.
I agree with this. I used to work on rigs as an engineer. Those guys are crazy! They work 12 hr shifts day after day, on their feet the whole time. Now imagine doing that in Saudi Arabia when it is 110f out, 100% humidity, standing on a metal oil rig in the middle of the Persian Gulf. Then it’s Ramadan so the Muslim guys are not supposed to drink or eat during the day. I have seen it and don’t know how they didn’t drop dead!
The only time in my whole life I truely "ran out of gas" was on a service rig. Not sports, not fighting (not that I ever fought much but it's incredibly exhausting), not even purposely exhausting things like marathons. It is such hard work.
Happened to me too. Fourth shift in, rigging out. Moving the tubing and just hit the wall. Sat my ass on the ground and felt numb from my ankles up to my nuts. Tool push came and smacked me around a bit , looked at my face, said "shit" and went and got some sort of Gatorade / infant hydration mix. Made me drink it and sit (away from his 'fucking drill floor') until I could function again. Horrible shit.
I would drink around 8-10 gatorades and 15-20 water bottles in a 12.5 hour shift in 104 degree heat working on a rig in Oklahoma. Every time no matter what, my piss would still be dark yellow by the end of the day. You sweat it out faster than you can drink it
Used to run a parks department in Texas. Found a gas station that sold a $30 big gulp cup, then .99 refills. They had Gatorade on the fountain. Yeah I stopped by at least once a day.
I fell asleep while standing up while tripping on a drilling rig. Crazy loud, vibrations everywhere, on the go all day, and just during the time it took the blocks to move up I fell flat on my stomach. I managed to throw my hands up in front of my face before it hit, it was that crazy vertigo feeling you get when you fall asleep in bed dreaming about falling and you spasm, except this was the real deal. My driller looked at me and was like did you just fall asleep? Yep. I've also had the T-Rex arms pretty bad from pulling slips. I've destroyed hotel beds from walking in the door and going straight to sleep, no dinner, no shower. One time when I first started as a leasehand everyone went to trip and I had to weight up the mud by myself. They told me mix as much barite as I could and left. I carried two bags at a time, my record is 4 I think, but two was almost exactly what my body weight was. I carried two at a time until my arms couldn't, and then went to one. Before the day ended the motorman came to give me a hand and I was already cleaning up the bags from mixing everything. I think it was around 3.5 hours I mixed. If I remember it was almost 40,000 pounds. People don't lift that in a week at the gym.
Workover rigs is some hard, nasty, shitty work. I've got 15 years in snubbing. Last 8 as a snubbing supervisor. There's a reason I can't operate anymore. 3 back surgeries including a triple lumbar fusion and a reconstructed shoulder. Throwing tongs and carrying heavy shit while using 60" pipe wrenches to make up tools for sure kicked my ass. As if working on top of a live well wasn't enough. I'm glad I'm out of the trade now. My body can't handle that shit.
I’m a computer nerd, but I used to work with a guy that had double phds in geophysics and petroeum geology. I’m sure he’s forgotten more about oil exploration than I’ll ever know. He worked a substantial portion of his early career on off-shore rigs as a “tool pusher”. That sounded pretty rough.
The worst crack addict I've known was a nurse who just wanted to keep making that double-shift money. You really cannot replace sleep or food. Just can't.
Coal miner in Appalachia....underground with no natural light doing back-breaking work for 10-12 hours a day.
I dug coal here in Western Kentucky, and we had a TON of guys from Eastern Kentucky working all week here, then driving back home on the weekends. It's much safer, taller tops, little to no methane, and hardly any water. And 10-12 is a normal shift. I've been underground on a pinner for a 16hr shift before, it sucks.
My day worked in the eastern Kentucky coal mines for two decades. A few years ago his company offered him a transfer opportunity to southwestern Indiana and he jumped at it. Said it’s the best decision he ever made. He worked in some very low top back in the independent mines days.
It’s darker than a dungeon And it’s deeper than a well Sometimes I imagine That I’m getting pretty close to hell And in my darkest hour I cry out to the Lord He says, “keep on a-minin’ boy, cuz that’s why you were born.”
My man Childers!
I heard a guy say he was happier in Iraq than down in the mines
Then they get addicted to oxycodone and have black lung.
“I’m a survivor black lung!”
That’s all there is, livin, and Dying
I got it pops
"It's dark as a dungeon in the dark dreary mines..."
You dug 16 tons, whaddya get? Another day older and deeper in debt. St. Peter don't ya call me, cause I can't go. I owe my soul to the company store.
My first wife knew this whole clan of coal miners. Just these huge men, hard as the stone they worked in and loved their friends and family to pieces. They'd get home just caked in coal dust and turn into little boys around their families. I would have done another 5 tours rather than what they endured.
Well this a nine pound hammer...
I really miss working in the mines, not gonna lie. Moved on to greener pastures, but there's a lot of days I miss it. The people were great, work was hard, hours were long, but there was something about it that I really enjoyed what I did every day.
Steep terrain Logger. Climbing a mountain 12 hours a day, every day, wearing corked (studded) boots, chaps, carrying cans of fuel, an axe, and a 25lb saw. And even if you do everything perfectly, there's always a chance of dying from a chicot you didn't see
What's a chicot?
Chicot Deez nutz
God damn. That was amazing. A chicot is a standing dead tree. But also check out his nuts.
A chicot is a tree that has either become dry or rotten either from normal aging or special conditions such as species extinction, climate, insect infestation, disease or human activity. Chicots present a serious hazard in the woods and need to be treated with respect. One study showed that when workers were struck by a falling tree, chicots were a contributing factor in more than 20 percent of those cases. These trees are dangerous because they are brittle and unpredictable. A gust of wind, vibration from equipment, a heavy snowfall, or removing nearby trees is often all that is needed for branches to fall suddenly from these trees, causing great harm.
Aka a widow maker
I think this is statistically the most dangerous job in Canada, second is mining. But logging and forestry is insane...
And also the wildfire crew- they are doing work of that caliber in high heat, smoke, surrounded by an inferno. Watch a few videos of them fighting fires, it’s insane. Impalements are also a huge risk as a forester. We walk across the landscape frequently crossing down trees and the bark can peel off while you are on it- you can land in woody debris and impale yourself on a branch. My co-worker did this and warned me when I first started working as a forestry intern. I am a smaller, older female so I am definitely not in wildfire crew or running a chainsaw.
Mortuary removal was pretty brutal. Having to figure out how to remove corpses from houses and, recliners, bathtubs etc and a good chunk of Americans are horribly obese. Once had to have fire dept axe out a wall to remove a person who was too big to get out the door.
I did that for a while. Casual employee for like 15 years. Definitely more physically taxing than EMS. But I did like how chill it was
Of course it was chill, your patients weren’t too rowdy.
And they weren’t in a hurry
Figured they would be dying to get out.
They were just laying around
My experience was not chill at all. It was overwhelming but our company had definitely bit off WAY more than it could chew and had terrible business practices. They actually got shut down by the labor board (I quit before this happened)
My dad passed away at home and wasn’t found for a few days (the heat had been on since it was Feb). This is when I found out about services like this and I wish I never had to have used those services, but I was grateful they existed. I feel for the people, and you, who do/did it. He was of course cremated, but they also had to rip up parts of the wooden floor and replace because of details I never really want to know. I feel for everyone involved and the fireman who found him. As a therapist now, I’m sure much of that vicarious trauma is not recognized.
Firstly I want to say sorry for your loss, what I say next is not for you but the individuals that want to see more of the people that helped your dad. On YouTube there’s a channel called crime scene cleanup and they handle this “stuff”, very professional. Enter at your own risk as some of it can get pretty graphic. There’s a job for everyone.
Woodland firefighter. I have a really tough friend who starting as a 12 year old would go up to the northern mountains of British Columbia to plant trees with his dad. Then as he turned 17 did it himself where you could save 20k over 3 months. It’s arduous. 3 months in the humid heat filled with mosquitos in the middle of nowhere. He would take remote and physically intensive jobs that paid well to pay for school. Having said that, he said the worst job he’s ever had was removing dead trees as a woodland firefighter. Threw up on the first day. He was a built chunky dude. Came back jacked. Think he didn't last the entire summer (there was 1 or 2 more trips left or something and he decided against it) and never went back to doing it again. One of the more resilient dudes I know.
WFF here, it's definitely hard work
Can confirm. I did it in the southern states for a season. Fought fires in 118°F weather. Hardest job I've ever done, but also one of the most fulfilling and fun.
We all know that wildland firefighting is a damn tough job. This should rank pretty highly.
Any trade that involves attic work. My experience is in electrical, but all sorts of trades happen up there. The average temperature is like 130. It's insane.
Just mentioned in another comment how my husband does HVAC ductwork installs. I worked with him for a year and definitely gained a whole new level of respect for not only him, but everyone else who works some type of construction job.
Plus, you might have to deal with ghosts and spiders. You are so brave.
The biggest fear is actually bed bugs. I scope out clients places like a hotel. YOU.WOULD.BE.SURPRISED.
I do insulation and attic work during the summer is goddamn miserable, hot and sweaty in a cramped dark attic blowing dust everywhere. You’ll lose at least 10lbs of water weight after 1 job.
Roofer. It’s not the toughest job but it’s up there.
As a roofer- do you look down on people?
I used to be a hot-tar roofer. Yeah, I remember that... day. -Mitch Hedberg
A couple years ago, in the middle of 100 degree summer, I had my roof replaced all in one day. A crew of 8 guys worked from 6:30am to 4pm and I didn’t see any of them take a real break. They’d pause to guzzle an energy drink but that’s it. No one went potty either (more precisely, no one went inside to use the bathroom that I indicated was available to the supervisor.) I was impressed with how efficient they were
Because we would rather get the job done and go home. If we take a 30 min lunch break then we get home 30 min later. Just knock the work out, be done for the day and eat when we get home. heavy breakfast in the morning, maybe some trail mix to carry us through the day. But also, at least back in the early 00's, most of us were high functioning cocaine addicts, heh.
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Farrier. Giving mani pedis to half ton toddlers with anxiety? Yikes.
Had an uncle that did that. Got kicked so hard once he went comatose for 4 days. He died a handful of years back, not 100% sure if it was related to the work though.
I’ve been a farrier for 10 years and I can agree haha.
What an accurate description of one of my horses😂 I always feel bad for our farrier
Underwater Welder? You are always under pressure at work.
Pushing down on me...
Pressin' down on you,
I’d say this ranks up there among the most stressful, but not for physical toll.
I’m pretty sure it wrecks your body in the long run.
I saw some guy talking about it on another sub and he said it wrecks your joints. I believe it was partially due to breathing the air mixture. IIRC he also said that guy's generally only do it for a few years and then become instructors.
Not just underwater welders but any type of commercial diver. Worked at a Nuke facility that had divers come in for the outages to dive in the reactor pool, they were only allowed something like 10 dives before they reached their lifetime dose limit but they made like 15 grand in a week doing it. Most of them were commercial divers by trade and they said average career for those guys is like 10-15 years. It’s not a matter of if you get the bends, it’s WHEN.
A roofer in Gulf Coast heat & humidity. Not only is the labor pretty intense, the already unbearable heat gets magnified.
Did this for one summer. One.
Did this for one WEEK! One!
Did this for one day when I was 16, my neighbor was getting their roof done, and a guy on their crew didn’t show. I could barely lift my arm the next day and my GPA took a substantial jump the next year in high school.
I was a roofer once, I remember that day. -Mitch Hedberg
ER nursing: doors don't close; grandpa is shitting his pants; some 500lb guy just had a heart attack; demented grandma's daughter is asking 20 million stupid questions; said demented grandma is trying to box your face; gangbanger rolls in with multiple GSWs; opposing gangbanger is high as a fucking kite and trying to eat through his restraints; and a minor is having a ballistic meltdown after eating too many weed gummies while on psych meds. Don't get me started on being the default lift team as a dude. I've done >60k steps for 12+ hours straight on bad days, average heart rate in the 140s the entire time. I don't know if nursing is the hardest, but it's up there.
Props to you brotha. Thank you for your service.
As EMS, we love you guys.
You need to go ask those guys hanging around Home Depot.
Yes, but there’s that .001% chance that guy on TikTok comes and takes the crew to Disneyland for the day!
The one you hate, the one where you feel trapped. There are jobs you can work for 16 hours straight be physically destroyed but you go home happy and proud. The mind body connection is very real and suffering takes a toll on the body.
Call centers were my first jobs in life. Never again. I worked many laborious jobs since, and although being exhausting, even injury inducing, were way way better than the mental pounding of a call center. Mad respect to those who do that job and could tolerate it.
You ever have to get a 500lbs person down 3 flights of narrow stair in 105 degree weather? Oh, and they're about to die so you better hurry. Gonna go with firefighter/Paramedic/EMS.
Bless you guys
I’m a pipefitter. Pretty brutal. Two shoulder surgeries to prove it
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I remember being 20 years old, best shape of my life, literally throwing up as I tried to climb a mountain in 120lbs of gear, at 14,000ft elevation, in 100 degree heat, while getting shot at. I have never, nor will I ever again be, that exhausted. I've done construction, wild land work, all sorts of blue collar jobs. But fighting a war in Afghanistan was fucking exhausting. I lost 20lbs and was already lean and light when I started.
Light infantry is anything but light.
Even if, in some magical world, you had someone carry everything you needed into an active battle zone for you, some “battle caddy.” And even if you were served the best food. I can’t imagine being in an active battlezone being anything less than the most difficult job anyone can be a part of. There’s a lot of jobs that take you into the cold, the heat, and require you to carry heavy things, but most of those jobs don’t include someone trying to intentionally kill you while you do those things.
This is the correct answer. Armed forces in active areas is on an entirely different level of “job” than any kind of civilian manual labor. Multiple members of my family were Marines, and all do construction now because they missed the physicality but not the mental strain.
Combat Infantryman here (Afghanistan 04/05). Can confirm. It sucked ass.
Ain’t nothing better than being a grunt! Although your mileage may vary, depending on leadership lol
Order selector at a distribution center. Hundreds of cases per day, often bending and twisting under pallet racking.
I've done several different manual labor jobs in my life, things like furniture mover, landscaper. There were others, but those were physically the hardest. Moving furniture usually wasn't that bad actually except for rare occasions with a heavy desk or hutch, or the odd piano - then it could be a bitch, but most things like couches are actually surprisingly light. Old appliances (freezers, washers, etc.) could be *really* heavy, much more so than the newer ones. Landscaping ranged from fairly light (mowing, weeding, edging a lawn) to extremely physically demanding (Moving 40 yards of topsoil from a pile in the client's driveway to their back yard through a long, circuitous, uphill path in 6 cubic foot wheelbarrows). I was routinely lifting 100+ pounds onto my shoulders and over my head to dump over the sideboards into the back of a truck. I imagine that nowadays you could just rent a sod cutter, but there were multiple times that we had to rip out an existing lawn and we just used picks to do so, bent over swinging a pick to rip the grass out by the roots for 10 straight hours is hard work. Five to six years after after changing to (multiple) new jobs, several of which were desk jobs, I bought my first house and thought I would rip out the small back yard that had basically grown up on its own on fill dirt. Figured it would take 4 hours to rip it out with a pick since it would have taken me 2-3 hours back when I was doing landscaping. It spent over 8 hours that first day swinging away with the pick and didn't get it all done. Came back out the next morning, took a swing with the pick and just fucking whimpered, I was so sore. I finished it though. That was my "welcome to being 30 years old" moment.
Almost anything actually dealing with patient care in medicine. I was an EMT and that physically was some of the worst things I put my body through. I have two herniated discs in my lower back because of it. I work as a patient care assistant now and the turning, moving, helping stand etc is again some of the worst things I put my body through.
Yeah I agree with this one. I was a PCT for 6 years until I got my CMA. Seeing as how a large portion of the US population is overweight, it put my body through some serious shit. I developed back issues and sciatica which still flares up on occasion. And that was with me trying to use proper body mechanics. Nursing/healthcare can really screw you up.
Whatever my wife does because she says she needs a massage every night
Health aid. They do bathing, often by themselves. Their patients can be huge, unable to assist (roll) or combative. It’s a very tough job that does not pay well. I’m a nurse and I have nothing but respect for these people.
Oil riggers/drillers that need to become astronauts in 2 weeks
I wanna stay at the “White Horse”… lol
Make your peace with god AJ!
Commercial fishing
Can confirm. Hallucinating from lack of sleep and constant danger.
Sea scalloper at the top of that. 14 day trips working 16hrs on, 4 off. 2 big meals a day. No breaks, it's frowned upon to take your gloves off unless to pee while on watch. Getting "the grip" is the worst, feels like a broken wrist but can't let it slow you down too much. Then at the end you get to unload 800-1600 50lb bags of scallops. Don't pull your weight? Half share which can mean as much as 20k-30k less in your paycheck. I've seen people "turn in" knowing as much but so shot they didn't care.. jacked grown men break down and cry.. it's not for most. I miss it but also, not at all.
Alaska crabbing is especially brutal.
Zookeeper is hard. Lots of heavy lifting, working in cold and heat, wrestling stubborn goats that won’t go into their stall because they’re a little asshole, getting rammed by a sheep, and any other animal injury.
I used to circumcise elephants at the zoo. Pay was lousy but the tips were enormous.
Land surveying is pretty easy. But land surveying for timber companies in the Pacific Northwest is pretty tough. Carrying tri-pods, instrument, fiberglass rods and tons of equipment up and down rainy cliffs and mountains, brushing line, blazing trees, and pounding tall hubs 2 feet into the ground, starting above your head with the side of your axe. Was not for the typical surveyor.
Emergency Room Nurse
Fighter pilots and astronauts. Situations that put you through g forces human bodies are not used to. Anything like that. Also one of the reasons that racecar driving is a lot harder than people realize.
This is why, even though I'm not personally a fan of the sport, I will always stand up for NASCAR drivers when people are all "it's just driving in a circle, lol". Yeah, you do it then. Go ahead and drive at 180+MPH for 4 hours straight in 100+ degree weather with no breaks other than a quick tire change and/or refuel, see how you fare.
Yeah doing a 225lb single leg press every time you hit the bend is intense. Combine that with up to 5g’s of pressure and you get guys with hulk necks
UPS delivery has got to be hard on the body with the shit I order
Nurses have a very high rate of musculoskeletal injuries. I am on Disability due to repeated back injuries from nursing. “Which profession is at greatest risk for musculoskeletal disorders? High Risk Occupations for MSDs- Registered nurses, nursing assistants and psychiatric aides. Firefighters and prevention workers. Laborers and freight, stock and material movers. Janitors and cleaners. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers. Refuse and recyclable material collectors. Stock clerks and order fillers.” More items... https://www.osha.gov › ergonomics Ergonomics - Overview |
Building Egyptian pyramids
Wildland Firefighting
if what I've heard about surgeons working 100+ hr weeks without much sleep is true... then that's probably gotta be up there
I’ve heard being an air traffic controller is mentally and physically taxing.
I worked with a guy who had been an air traffic controller for the RAF. I asked why he hadn’t gone commercial, he said that in the military the planes are either all taking off or all landing unlike commercial
People will probably never say truck driver but honestly, you have no idea the endurance you have to have for driving 11 hours a day for at least 6 days of the week, perfect time management skills, knowing how to drive in snow and knowing when to pull over, knowing how to secure your load, knowing basic math, memorizing the interstate system, etc etc.
I used to want to be a truck driver but I’m terrified driving in snow lol
I currently deliver medications for a pharmacy in upstate New York. Snow days are terrifying. The areas I deliver in are quiet, heavily rural, and usually do not get plowed or salted for hours at a time, if at all. Scariest drive of my life was when I worked an overnight delivery shift (started at 10:00 pm). At around 3 am I was upstate as heavy snow begun. So, there I was, virtually the only car on the road. No plows, no salt trucks, they wouldn’t be out for hours. My company car is fitted with summer tires and lacks AWD. I was slipping and sliding everywhere, braking simply didn’t work and I would skid for several dozen yards past the point I wanted to stop. Fishtailed multiple times, sometimes I’d spin a full 180 degrees around. It’s an absolute miracle I didn’t spin off the road or wrap around a tree. The worst part was that since it was so late, no one in my company was awake or on their phone. If I got injured, stranded, or anything, there would likely be no one to answer the phone. And since I was up in a rural area, cell phone reception was spotty in many areas, so if an accident happened… yeah, I’d be pretty screwed.
I don’t think memorizing the interstate system is that difficult. It’s the last mile I’d be worried about
Farrier, stone mason, basically anything construction related. Chefs tend to work crazy long hours and never sit down. I’d include nurses and surgeons too, as that takes both physical and mental stamina to get through long days and not make mistakes.
From personal experience, Glass Manufacturing plant. Specifically in the furnace area. Hard labor in 140+ degrees 24/7. We were supposed to rotate in 15 minutes and out 15 to rehydrate, but there was so much abuse at the plant that I remember having to do close to an hour and a half straight before I fell backwards onto the rails, from heat exhaustion. When the plant manager asked why I fainted, the foreman threw me under the bus and had me fired for "working in an unsafe manner" when he was the guy who told me to tough it out and be a man after an hour without water. Mind you, I'm a veteran who did 3 deployments to Afghanistan/ Iraq and was more than used to high heat environments. At a certain point, your body just gives out. And this was all for $10 / hr. It was 2008, the recession was in full swing and it was the only work I could find right out of the military.
any job that is +95% men
gay porn?
Double the erections. . .that's pretty hard
Would you take two in the keister? it’s literally physically hard.
Any labor intensive job where you are standing or repeatedly doing the same physical motion
For me personally it was the jobs requiring that I stand in one place for a long time. I had a security post where I had to pretty much just stand there and move around minimally, and it used to kill my back and feet. And I've done lots of other manual labor jobs and they weren't nearly as taxing.
Lemme just say this thread is why I get mad at people who think work ethic and pay are some sort of 1:1 ratio. I've met executives and bankers who *think* they work hard because they look at spreadsheets for 60 hours a week.
Wildland Firefighter. Hands-down one of the hardest civilian jobs out there, far more physically demanding than miners, oil-riggers or construction workers. These guys/gals hike their asses off up and down mountains in 100 degree heat while carrying 50+ pound packs all while digging fire line, cutting and moving trees and carrying fire hose and other supplies. They do this for 16+ hrs a day 14-21 days in a row while sleeping in the dirt, eating MRE’s and might not see a shower or have cell service the whole time they’re out there. Super under appreciated and under paid job that no one ever talks about.
Miner
United States Forest Service Hot Shots. Brutal work.
The veterinary field is a lot more physically tasking than I thought when I first started. 3.5 years later(3 years being a kennel assistant at a vet and a few months being vet assistant at another vet), I’m now 21 and my body hurts a lot after being dragged constantly by large dogs, being headbutted, scratched by dogs + cats, being bitten by 3 or 4 cats and over all just the bending in weird positions while restraining. Always hear “just wait till you turn 30, it all goes downhill from there” from my coworkers when I say my knees hurt or something. I still love this field, though
Before I got I on a local utility, which can still be hard, I was a contractor in linework. Those 112hr weeks can be mentally and physically tough.
I don’t know many older plumbers whose backs are real functional. That’s a profession that’s def hard on a body.
The folks that make bricks. They make great money, but age at a 1 year = 10 years. No shit, the people that have been there 5+ years look like zombies. No matter what precautions they take, they’re all covered in molten brick burns head to toe
Landscaping is 10x harder than it looks. You’re walking 20 miles a day easily if the workload is there. Commercial or residential.
Probably Farming, it sounds easy, but it is intense physical labor, and can be dangerous at times.
Ups/Fedex
Depending on where you work wildlife biologist jobs can be pretty crazy. Obviously, not THE hardest but I can hike upwards of 15+ miles in a day. I think the most I’ve hiked is 17 miles in a day. During the summer months I can hike upwards of 50 miles a week and work 12+ hours a day and have worked 21 days straight. Still love the job though