Scrabbling about under dusty floorboards as an electrician in my early 20s.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 May 2021 source ↗
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.
Scrabbling about under dusty floorboards as an electrician in my early 20s.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 May 2021 source ↗
I cleaned for a very posh lady in Knightsbridge who made me handwash her knickers. I’d advertised myself in The Lady as a dog walker, so I’m not sure how I ended up there.
Trying to sell frozen food over the phone for a company called American Frozen Foods. It lasted about half an hour. I found myself telling people not to buy too much of it because it could go bad, and my supervisor said, “This job is probably not for you.”
About five years ago, I was in a play that was an unmitigated disaster. I had to rally the troops and go out every night.
Cleaning men’s toilets in the Swan hotel in the Cotswolds.
Dreaming that I am about to go on stage or set but haven’t got the right script.
At the time, not landing the role of Lance-Corporal Jones in Dad’s Army, but it all worked out fine in the long run.
Warmth and security.
Diving in the Virgin Islands. I lost sight of the boat and had to swim to a tiny, deserted island. After a great deal of time, the rescue boat saw me waving for my life on the rocks.
Not getting older at each birthday, but I appreciate it beats the alternative.
Martin Freeman, Paterson Joseph, Aidan Gillen, Steve Pemberton, Dominic Cooper, Cybill Shepherd
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