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.
Christmas elf at the Rainforest Cafe.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 May 2026 source ↗
I worked for a company that stripped an office, including the furniture, over one weekend – so I worked for 48 hours straight.
Gary and I worked in a greengrocer’s on Saturdays and in the holidays. One of my jobs was cooking beetroot – it used to make me gag.
Working in a bottle factory, which lasted one day, and the Radio 1 breakfast show.
In the school holidays, I worked at a soft drinks factory in Southport.
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Endless vomiting. That comes from my emetophobia, which is a huge part of my OCD.
Congratulating Dua Lipa on managing to release a single in such a tough industry, because I thought she was a struggling indie artist. I Googled her the next day and realised that she has 88 million followers.
Anyone who can pick up a house spider with their bare hands.
A perfect cup of coffee – warm, bittersweet, anxiety-inducing and delicious.
Try not to take yourself too seriously.
Greg James, PP Arnold, Maya Jama, Jessica Raine, Jack Dee, Chris Bonington
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