Adam Kay: What is the worst job you have ever had?

The question

What is the worst job you have ever had?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

The Guardian's long-running Q&A repeatedly asks this standing question, with minor tense variation.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Adam Kay

British comedy writer, author, youtuber, comedian and former physician

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

A comedy gig at an army barracks for thousands of angry, horny squaddies just back from six months in the desert. I was on straight after the stripper.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 June 2023 source ↗

Others on this question

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Joan Jett American singer, songwriter and guitarist

I had a cafeteria job, serving food, and some people were really nasty. There was a stack of nice, cool plates, and a stack of hotter plates that had just come out of the kitchen. So, if a person was an arsehole, I’d hand them a hot plate with a smile and watch them deal with it.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 November 2020 source ↗

Douglas Stuart Scottish fashion designer and novelist

When I was about 18, I worked on the chicken counter in a large supermarket, and every morning I had to pierce 64 birds on to industrial skewers to load up the rotisserie. That was very grim.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 April 2023 source ↗

Francesca Martinez British comedian

I’ve liked all my jobs, amazingly.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 March 2020 source ↗

Ronald Harwood South African playwright and novelist

Unpacking scenery from a pantechnicon for the Carl Rosa Opera Company.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 November 2016 source ↗