Most of us spend a substantial amount of time at work. For these AskReddit users, the duties they are in charge of completing on a day-to-day basis are quite unique (in comparison to most traditional 9 to 5s). We always knew SOMEBODY had to be doing these tasks. Well, now we know who.
Source list available at the end.
I get paid to be a living mannequin. No, not a model that poses in pictures, gets her makeup done, and gets put in magazines. I’m a completely different type of model. I work behind the scenes in the warehouse. Designers for huge chain stores will use my frame to show off their looks to the CEO of the company who will either approve or reject the looks. Clothing on a mannequin looks totally different on a real person.
julieannluna
I used to make fake children’s art for a TV show set in a kindergarten classroom. Every episode had new themed art. Real kids weren’t good enough artists.
doctor_puppet
You know those fire evacuation maps that are entirely useless because no one’s going to stop and look at a map on their way out of a burning building?
Yeah, I design those.
Stebraul
As a teenager, I used to clean tombs. It wasn’t as creepy as I used to imagine.
hanselpremium
I used to have a job where I got paid $10.00/hr to watch college football and basketball games. I would use software to “tag” every play and put comments on what happened. I even got to rate the plays from 1-4 on how cool they were. Pretty sure it was for some company that made highlight reels or something.
fifthawk
I had a job where I fed folded up and wrinkled dollar bills into test machines. I was surrounded by thousands of dollar bills and was constantly watched by a guard in a locked room. It was boring and weird. The guard didn’t ever talk to me except when it was time to leave the vault for break or lunch.
tigger880
I have been writing fortune cookies for over a year. People usually don’t believe me when I tell them this.
Shadowlast
I attempt to read addresses on mail that machines can’t.
aziraphale60
scrat55
I’m an IT guy at a Buddhist Retreat Center.
manifoldmandala
I paint gym floors.
AnnOccupanther
I work in genealogical research. When someone dies without a will, I trace the family tree back (often into the late 1800s/early 1900s), then trace it back to the present until I find all the living relatives.
Or if someone is named in a will and no one knows where they are, I try to track them down so they can get their money.
sharkapotamus
I’ve been doing closed captioning for over a decade. Most people think voice recognition software does it, not humans.
mike_pants
I scatter rose petals in 5-star hotels in the Sydney CBD for honeymooners and wedding nights.
72697
If you get trapped in an elevator in the US or Canada and you press the emergency button, you’ll speak to me. I’ll locate you, call the building you’re in, call your boss or your family, and send an elevator technician to come release you.
PashaJohanPanda
I walk up and down city streets inspecting trees planted and/or maintained by municipalities for damage, risk factors, condition, diseases, pests, and structural issues.
AcerRubrum
I noticed that they have a guy that pulls out a hanky from his suit jacket to wipe down the pole at the club. I wondered to myself, “What did he have to do to get that job?”
Anonoymous
I write music for all sorts of settings, including marching band, live theater, and of course, the concert hall (orchestras, bands, chamber music).
WamBamsWorld
I install fire hydrants. I put in plugs, valves, etc. Nope, no hydrant seeds that magically pop up on your neighborhood corner. I install them.
riggleStar
Science communications. Museums and research institutions need creative writers and storytellers to bring science to life. It’s the best job ever. You don’t have to be a researcher to exist in the science world.
cozycottage
I work at a small college running the remotely broadcasted classes. All I have to do is turn on the camera that points at the students and the projectors they watch the professors on. I also have to mail students’ papers to the professors.
The most difficult thing I do is calling the main campus to figure out why something isn’t working properly.
PollyGottaCracker
I went around checking safety eye washes for an entire summer at my school. I still can’t believe that it was an actual job.
sercheez
My job is to discover new fashion brands for the masses. Basically, I travel to shop for a living.
Ginger_grl
I’m a pharmaceutical chemist. We test the drugs before clinicals to ensure proper content and a low level of impurities. Basically, I simulate a stomach and intestines all day, then test the samples taken on an instrument that spits out a reading that looks like a boring skyline.
hamsammy4u
I am a calibration technician. I calibrate torque wrenches to ensure that they are in spec.
Cosmok14
I am a pinsetter at one of the only handset bowling alleys in North America. What I do is manually set up and return every ball and pin on two lanes while my coworker sets up the other two lanes in the alley.
AlphaKenniWon
Photographers (mainly wedding photographer) outsource their editing, and I make their photos look pretty. Not just things like removing pimples or making people thinner. It’s mainly just making the overall photograph better, color and exposure-wise. Weddings are mostly candid. Things happen quickly. The lighting changes drastically and is terrible at receptions so every photo can usually use a good fixing up. I edit about 2,100 photos a day and am very good at it.
Anonymous
You know UPS drivers and those things that they use to scan the packages? They’re called DIADs. I write the code that’s used to test them. Automation code.
Dustypigjut
Remote control programmer, and before that I was a parkour course designer.
OnionMan69
I label seating maps for venues with different price categories according to which event it is. So, when you’re buying tickets you can correlate the seat numbers with the map.
Edit: I do not set the prices for the concerts you go to. I am a graphic designer.
Anonymous
I breed button mushrooms in an abandoned mine in western PA.
mak484
My job title is tissue recovery specialist. I cut bones, tendons, organs, and brains out of dead bodies on a daily basis.
bjs525
As a medical coder, my job is to review hundreds (or thousands) of pages of medical record every day to determine how much the hospital I work for will be reimbursed.
IlliterateJedi
I am an American sign language interpreter. I interpret any situation you could be in job interviews, college classes, social security appointments, business meetings, weddings, funerals, and presentations/workshops.
pahphshh
I operate a guillotine, not for executions though.
o0260o
I program the moving/vibrating seats in 4D movie theaters. My official job title is “motion designer.”
pFunkdrag