# What is the most selfless job you ever had?



## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

Mine was i worked for the low bid contractor on the chemical weapons disposal arsenal here in arkansas.:buds:


----------



## CraterCove (Jan 24, 2011)

Wait... did you mean selfless or insanely dangerous?


----------



## plowjockey (Aug 18, 2008)

Most worthless?

I worked for a "company" that painted phony tire whitewalls, on used cars for sale, on sales lots. 

A customer would look a the whitewalls and assume the tires were new, even if they were mismatched and nearly bald.


----------



## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

No selfless like your life might end for you for the good of others in your usual day.


----------



## nchobbyfarm (Apr 10, 2011)

Does volunteer firefighter count? 7 years till I moved closer to the big city where they pay folks to fight fire.


----------



## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

nchobbyfarm said:


> Does volunteer firefighter count? 7 years till I moved closer to the big city where they pay folks to fight fire.


Yes this is what i'm talking about .The greater good being served selfless.


----------



## whodunit (Mar 29, 2004)

Police Officer
Youth Pastor

As far as meaningless, mundane, and mind-numbing jobs, it would have to be folding and boxing clothes in a dye factory.


----------



## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

Police dont spend all day with a gas mask and 2 anti chemical weapons shots on their side.The shots only worked for certain chemicals some it would not work against and you would just die from anyway.


----------



## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

Here is it.http://www.cma.army.mil/pinebluff.aspx


----------



## myheaven (Apr 14, 2006)

Would mom of 9 blood children and oodles of stray children count.?


----------



## unregistered358967 (Jul 17, 2013)

I've held the same position since 1997 with no pay raises, long hours and virtually on call 24/7. The work is sometimes demanding, sometimes dull but I wouldn't change a thing. As a mom I would lay down my life for my kids without question.


----------



## unregistered358967 (Jul 17, 2013)

*jinx*


----------



## handymama (Aug 22, 2014)

CNA on the Alzheimer's unit. Didn't pay much and they beat the fire out of me. But I loved them anyway.


----------



## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

Did your job save 100 thousand lives when the sirens went off ?We were disposing 4 ton drums of mustard gas from the 1sth world war old decrepit stuff and vx chemical rockets. I'm sorry but motherhood does not fit selfless as you have a interest in those children.


----------



## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

A alzheimer's unit must of been hard. I worked at nursing homes to put myself through hvac school.


----------



## unregistered353870 (Jan 16, 2013)

michael ark said:


> Police dont spend all day with a gas mask and 2 anti chemical weapons shots on their side.The shots only worked for certain chemicals some it would not work against and you would just die from anyway.





michael ark said:


> Did your job save 100 thousand lives when the sirens went off ?We were disposing 4 ton drums of mustard gas from the 1sth world war old decrepit stuff and vx chemical rockets. I'm sorry but motherhood does not fit selfless as you have a interest in those children.


Is it a competition to show us your selflessness is better than everyone else's or are you really interested?

I'll share mine if it's the latter, but I don't see the point if it just a peeing match.


----------



## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Debone in Poultry Processing Plant.

big rockpile


----------



## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

No i am really interested jbrarnt How many combat vets do we have out there?You must admit being a mother and working at a chemical weapons arsenal is not the same.Someone receiving combat pay or should be . I am sorry if i came off rude but some lately have been talking of the government they have never been a worker for. :buds:
P.S. anyone working a alzheimer's ward should get a medal. 
I made $15 a hour at the time.


----------



## CajunSunshine (Apr 24, 2007)

I suppose the purest definition of selflessness is self-sacrificing for FREE. 

Working for money is a self-gratifying endeavor, regardless of the amount or degree of danger.

Motherhood is being on call 27/7 every day of the year, without any hopes of monetary gain whatsoever. Yes, it is a vested personal interest, but with absolutely no guarantees of success or outcome.

I vote motherhood as the most selfless pursuit on Planet Earth.


----------



## handymama (Aug 22, 2014)

Haha I agree! I made ten an hour at one nursing home for four years, then did a year making twelve at another. I'm not kidding when I say they beat the daylights out of you. I've went home with bloody teethmarks before. But I really did love my job. And I'll go back to it when my youngest gets a bit older.


----------



## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

How many thousand perished if you did a bad job as mom ma?:buds:


----------



## handymama (Aug 22, 2014)

Here's the reason I am not at the nursing home now. But I don't get days off from her lol!


----------



## CajunSunshine (Apr 24, 2007)

And folks like Michael and Handymama should get the medals for humanitarian awards.  Same goes for those in combat...along with honest policemen, the doctors who work in programs like Doctors without Borders (think Ebola), etc. etc. etc.




.


----------



## CajunSunshine (Apr 24, 2007)

I would be as nervous as a sunburned bobcat if I had Michael's job!!!!!




I can't imagine what on earth I would need to do so I could unwind at the end of the day???? 

.


----------



## handymama (Aug 22, 2014)

I flat out couldn't do it. Too scary. But then, I've worked with bloody aids patients, so maybe I'm fooling myself? Either way, just the idea of that job really freaks me out.


----------



## CajunSunshine (Apr 24, 2007)

What would freak me out the most is DRIVING with ultra hazardous on board. _*I*_ can be careful all I want, but the pucker factor goes up tremendously when some fool on the road could cause a wreck...

Nope, would not do this for all the money in the world. Not when the outcome is highly dependent on the drunk-driver-of the-day staying out of the way... Or even the sober driver's tire blowing out just ahead of me...

No. way. no. how.



.


----------



## CraterCove (Jan 24, 2011)

handymama said:


> Haha I agree! I made ten an hour at one nursing home for four years, then did a year making twelve at another. I'm not kidding when I say they beat the daylights out of you. I've went home with bloody teethmarks before. But I really did love my job. And I'll go back to it when my youngest gets a bit older.


I would like to thank you and commend you for working, with love, with Alzheimer's patients. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for them, how alone and afraid they must be.


----------



## CraterCove (Jan 24, 2011)

michael ark said:


> How many thousand perished if you did a bad job as mom ma?:buds:


Um about 2 million? Hitler's mom did a pretty bad job.


----------



## CraterCove (Jan 24, 2011)

Also, I really have to put my tin foil hat on. Why do you want to know about combat vets and the number of them here? On other boards you'd be asked to provide proof of your supposed occupation and be accused of collecting data for the feds.

Just saying. :buds:


----------



## Scott SW Ohio (Sep 20, 2003)

I have done various jobs that helped others, but for all of them I got paid so I don't consider that my work was selfless. I do admire nurses (like my neighbor), teachers (my sister-in-law), veterans (my brother), social services workers (my wife's best friend) and others who choose a career path that allows them to help others directly, often for sucky pay. Few are wholly selfless, but a lot of these people I think are admirable for the choices they have made. 

Many here have done volunteer work, I think. I volunteered for years for an organization that sheltered homeless families, helping to manage and renovate housing units. My in-laws helped to run a church thrift store in northern Georgia and have made several mission trips to build water systems, health clinics and schools in developing countries. They are still doing this in their eighties. My daughter is involved with a land conservation organization, doing food service and cleanup at their gatherings and joining work crews to root out invasive species on the lands they protect. 

Then there are those who build strong families, raise smart, hardworking children, and pool resources so their family members never have to burden government or outside charities when they need help - and of course this is admirable too. 

I agree with the poster who said this should not become a contest. Maybe instead we could appreciate the good that others do in various forms, and encourage them? I find myself constantly humbled by the goodness of people I encounter, including those on HT. I increased my charitable giving as a direct result of posts I read here. Because of my work travel schedule I do not at present volunteer, but I am inspired by those around me to want to do this some more. When I retire a few years from now I hope to get plugged in again.


----------



## handymama (Aug 22, 2014)

This whole conversation has made me a little uncomfortable. Though I do appreciate what everyone has said to me, I feel like if we brag about what we do that is selfless...well, then it really isn't selfless anymore. And I'm nothing special. Thousands of people do what I do every day, and probably better than me, too.


----------



## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

Wow stringent standards...I actually had to look up the word "selfless" I guess my time as an Army medic would count as well as my 21 years as a cop...that was like going to war every single day.


----------



## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

2 weeks and 3 days as a porta potty cleaner.

WWW


----------



## beowoulf90 (Jan 13, 2004)

US Army I978 - 1984. A 1/319 FA Airborne, 82nd Airborne Division, HQ 23rd Combat Engineers, 3rd Armor Division

Any more information than that above hasn't been earned. All I see is a "competition"

The original question was "What is the most selfless job you ever had?"

So that tells me it is a matter of perspective, but all I see is personal comparisons..

Basically saying; Ha Ha mines more selfless..

Sorry I won't play that game..


----------



## unregistered358967 (Jul 17, 2013)

Beowoulf, thank you for your service. 

..and that goes for anyone else in this thread as well.


----------



## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

Taking it with the team. My dad lined my brothers and I up to empty a septic tank in bucket brigade fashion. As my dad dipped out of the tank with a bucket and rope, he would fill each of our buckets, depending on what we could each carry and off we would go like reverse honey bees, taking the "honey" in a beeline out into the field for spreading. My dad was selfless. He didn't get to take turns.

I have done nothing that comes close to selfless. I am more shallow than the septic tank, but there the similarities begin.


----------



## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I don't believe there is such a thing as a selfless job. People do things because they get something out of it. 

Would Mother Teresa have administered to the poor if she hated doing it? Do you not think she got pleasure from what she did?


----------



## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

myheaven said:


> Would mom of 9 blood children and oodles of stray children count.?


If it doesnt... it certainly should! Long hours (24/7) with no pay has to count for something when it comes to selflessness.


----------



## unregistered353870 (Jan 16, 2013)

michael ark said:


> How many thousand perished if you did a bad job as mom ma?:buds:


Ask Stalin and Hitler's moms....

ETA: CC beat me too it...but it was a lot more than 2 million.


----------



## hawgsquatch (May 11, 2014)

Selfless people don't talk about it...........................popcorn.


----------



## unregistered353870 (Jan 16, 2013)

I still don't get the point of the question, but I was a firefighter in the Navy...not a combat vet, though over many years I was involved in fighting a few fires in close proximity to combat, with bullets zinging past...it was a job, and a dangerous one, but not really selfless. I was paid a fair wage and I loved the work, so much so that I became a volunteer firefighter after I retired from the Navy. That was probably more selfless but much less dangerous, but I was still getting a lot out of it because I enjoyed it, so I can't really say it was selfless.

My wife's job in raising our children was much more selfless than anything I ever did. She did many other selfless things, some I didn't even find out about until after she had passed and people wrote lovely letters telling me what she had done for them.


----------



## my3boys (Jan 18, 2011)

myheaven said:


> Would mom of 9 blood children and oodles of stray children count.?


Absolutely!


----------



## V-NH (Jan 1, 2014)

Matthew 6:5: And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Probably applies here, so I will restrain myself from sharing. Disposing of WWI chemical munitions sounds horrifying but also extremely interesting.


----------



## V-NH (Jan 1, 2014)

MoonRiver said:


> I don't believe there is such a thing as a selfless job. People do things because they get something out of it.
> 
> Would Mother Teresa have administered to the poor if she hated doing it? Do you not think she got pleasure from what she did?


I'm not sure there was much joy to be had in the role that she played. A lot of her contribution to the world involved helping poor people to die. She was around death and tragedy constantly. It was something she felt she had to do.


----------



## Tiempo (May 22, 2008)

Hmm..don't people have children for themselves, not for the children?

(Not speaking of adopting/fostering)


----------



## Tiempo (May 22, 2008)

This thread does seem bizarrely competitive.


----------



## unregistered353870 (Jan 16, 2013)

Tiempo said:


> Hmm..don't people have children for themselves, not for the children?
> 
> (Not speaking of adopting/fostering)


Yes, they do...which goes to MR's point that nothing is really completely selfless. But beyond just "having" children, raising them well takes a lot of selflessness for a long time...maybe in the sense of "less self" than "no self"...in other words, not giving up self completely, but putting others before yourself, even if there's a subconscious (or not) end goal of having someone to take care of you when you're old.


----------



## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

I can't imagine anyone having a more selfless job than the OP.  he should be commended. 

It really sucks to have to ring your own bell. I'll ring it.


----------



## BlackFeather (Jun 17, 2014)

It seems to me that being self-less is more of a persons attitude. I've seen excellent mothers and mothers who barely considered their children. I've seen people do a difficult job and glad they are helping people and I've seen other do the same job complaining about it almost every minute they were doing it. Where I worked I saw people who would mess another over to get money and I have seen others who would lose pay to help others. So is it really the job or the persons attitude to life?


----------



## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Parenting is not a selfless job IMHO. You do it in the hopes that your genes, hopes and ideals are carried on. It is instinctual.


----------



## J.T.M. (Mar 2, 2008)

selfless job ???? We have what they call selfless car washes here . 
Am I the only one confused 
:shrug:


----------



## bowdonkey (Oct 6, 2007)

My most selfless job was picking fly carp out of pepper in a pepper factory, blindfolded, in the dark, with boxing gloves on. I was No. 1 on my line. I still have the award, a postit from the boss that says "Good job Donk".


----------



## unregistered358967 (Jul 17, 2013)

Nevermind.


----------



## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

bowdonkey said:


> My most selfless job was picking fly carp out of pepper in a pepper factory, blindfolded, in the dark, with boxing gloves on. I was No. 1 on my line. I still have the award, a postit from the boss that says "Good job Donk".


Nothing to sneeze at. Good work.


----------



## CraftyLady (Jul 18, 2014)

Working with Children with Special Needs. I worked as an Educational Assistant with high need, Special Needs Children. I changed diapers for an 11 year old with profound needs. That child also had a feeding tube. What a wonderful Child and great parents.


----------



## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

I was a volunteer chaplain at a local federal prison when we lived south of here. Had to move due to my f.t. job which ended that, but I really loved it for the 2+ years I did it, and I believe I made a difference in many men's lives.


----------



## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

michael ark said:


> Did your job save 100 thousand lives when the sirens went off ?We were disposing 4 ton drums of mustard gas from the 1sth world war old decrepit stuff and vx chemical rockets. I'm sorry but motherhood does not fit selfless as you have a interest in those children.


 Sorry, but this is not a competition. If it was I'd ask if you got paid for doing this.
My gosh, I can't believe anyone would post a reply like this.


----------



## CraterCove (Jan 24, 2011)

2dogs-mom said:


> This is interesting. I don't see this as a competition at all. The question was:
> 
> What is the most selfless job *YOU* ever had?
> 
> ...


OP has made follow up remarks that does give it the feel like he's looking for a competition--- and he has his own definition of what selfless means. You have to be risking life and limb and saving thousands at the same time. 

Otherwise it would definitely seem like a benign question.


----------



## unregistered358967 (Jul 17, 2013)

^Yeah, just realized that which is why I deleted my most recent post. I hadn't seen his disparaging remarks, apparently directed at me and a few others.

I'm done here.


----------



## bowdonkey (Oct 6, 2007)

bret said:


> nothing to sneeze at. Good work.


lmao!


----------



## Jlynnp (Sep 9, 2014)

I would say the most selfless job I had was working in a home for physically handicapped adults. I do not mean mildly handicapped but most were totally and completed unable to provide any care for themselves. We had about 2 dozen residents ranging from totally bed bound to one delightful young lady who could have done well outside our setting if only her family was not ashamed of her. They residents referred to us as Momma or Daddy as we were all they knew, even when family would come visit on Christmas we were still Momma and Daddy.


----------



## Old Vet (Oct 15, 2006)

I was a volunteer fireman just south of the Pine Bluff Arsenal and did not have any of the protective gear you have. So if the sirens go off I would die. But not before I saved as many people as possible if you screw up.


----------



## Miss Kay (Mar 31, 2012)

OK, the good news - We all know how great you are now OP.
The bad news - This pat on the back is all your getting!

"Matthew 6:5: And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, *They have their reward."*


----------



## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

I am sorry to all that I may have offended. This is not what I meant this thread to go and I may have picked the wrong words when putting yourself in harm's way was compared to having sex getting pregnant and the having a child and starting a family.


----------



## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

:hrm:
Wow.


----------



## Miss Kay (Mar 31, 2012)

I do think you are sincere but when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging!


----------



## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

Sorry but when I think selflessness I think of my wife's grandpa who spent year in a pow camp.


----------



## bowdonkey (Oct 6, 2007)

michael ark said:


> I am sorry to all that I may have offended. This is not what I meant this thread to go and I may have picked the wrong words when putting yourself in harm's way was compared to having sex getting pregnant and the having a child and starting a family.


No worries Mike. Selfless would be relative. Child rearing is probably the most common form, because your attention is mostly directed on someone else's welfare. Where it rates is probably based on ones lifes experiences. I have a friend who lost a leg in Nam. Was it selfless? He was drafted, he didn't want to go in. And he didn't lose it for America, it was just bad luck. Would he do it again? Heck no! See where i'm going? Maybe selfless is a mindset.


----------



## CraterCove (Jan 24, 2011)

michael ark said:


> Sorry but when I think selflessness I think of my wife's grandpa who spent year in a pow camp.


See there is doing your duty and there is a selfless act. No matter your job, you signed up for it and you accepted the consequences and benefits. What I see here and what I think some other see here is you looking for a pat on the back for doing something you chose to do and were compensated for.

Even Mother Teresa was compensated for her work. I don't think there actually are 'selfless' jobs there are only selfless acts and those are committed without forethought.


----------



## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

I guess what i should have asked what job you had did you think you were going to be killed at the most horrible . Mustard gas burns human tissue so i could put on the gas mask so it would not melt my lungs but then it would just melt my skin. The epi and other pens were for for the vx or a placebo for all i know. They have a big pond there that the game and fish takes the problem gators their.From what i was told the 12ft gator that stopped up the interstate in little rock was put in that pond. They had a 10 ft too. When you were driving on base if a chemical weapons disposal was going by you pulled to the side right a way and stayed put till they were gone.No i don't have proof i worked there they did't let me keep my badge to get on the base. Just so you know the i am sorry i Started this thread :buds:.


----------



## Lilith (Dec 29, 2012)

Something to ponder on both sides of the current argument. Mothers give birth to and often raise the young men and women who become the men and women that face incredible dangers. The day to day sacrifices parents make are the examples set allowing for those the OP is asking about.

The most selfless position I ever held was that of a family program coordinator. At the time, I worked with the family members of national guard military personnel returning from over seas deployment with the goal of successful reintegration into civilian life. I was assigned to closely work with a single unit at a time and provide training, access to resources, and help families build a social safety net. It was the most difficult position I ever held. I had many successes with the programs I developed for family members, but it is the one soldier I failed that haunts me; and eventually led to me leaving the program.


----------



## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

Salute. The significance of one.


----------



## unregistered353870 (Jan 16, 2013)

> No i don't have proof i worked there they did't let me keep my badge to get on the base.


This is an odd thing to say...has anyone questioned it? I never doubted for a second that you were telling the truth about your selflessness.



> Just so you know the i am sorry i Started this thread .


Don't worry about it...I don't think anyone is too upset by it...more confused than upset...don't take any of it personally.


----------



## Miss Kay (Mar 31, 2012)

I guess I never thought about the people they hire to move our toxic material around. Now I have something new to worry about!


----------



## hawgsquatch (May 11, 2014)

OK, Ok....after reading all of the comments I must say it....................I AM BATMAN!


----------



## k9 (Feb 6, 2008)

Selfless act, it's -20 and you see a homeless person with no coat, you take your coat off and give it to the homeless person. No one knows you did it,and you are not going to get any money for it, you do not think of yourself, only someone else. How many would do such a thing?


----------



## Jenn (Nov 9, 2004)

1- I feel I do more for humanity with my (two) children- just the genetics but also raising them well- since they may do ANYTHING (or have children who do anything) and might be the salvation of the world (in a Terminator Sarah Connor way vs a Jesus way). However Dad ditto, so it isn't childbirth that is selfless. But I agree moms do a great deal- and actually until the last century first world getting pregnant was a pretty life endangering proposition. I like Joe Biden telling a lady "Mother of 10- my mother always said no purgatory for you, straight to heaven."

2- "Those also serve who only stand and wait." -John Milton. Your chem disposal job thankfully did not jeopardize your or the neighborhood's life/safety- but it was always possible. So during my 7+ years in the service, while I did not serve in a combat zone or give my life for my country in that time, I stood ready and willing to do so. Those who did (die or see combat) obviously gave more but can not deny my willingness to serve if called to do so.

3- I make good pay when I work. But I no longer have a need to do so. So the most selfless thing I feel I did- for a year plus- was continue working at a VA clinic after they shrunk the number of docs/providers 50% and stuck me with a huge workload, for the sake of veterans and coworkers despite great sacrifice of my health and time. I was not selfless enough to continue at it longer term. But minimal risk of death- only a few death threats and pretty good security- worst risk was to my medical license and ability to work again as a doctor if the workload had led me to make errors that harmed someone and led to a medical board concern.


----------



## Jolly (Jan 8, 2004)

michael ark said:


> I guess what i should have asked what job you had did you think you were going to be killed at the most horrible . Mustard gas burns human tissue so i could put on the gas mask so it would not melt my lungs but then it would just melt my skin. The epi and other pens were for for the vx or a placebo for all i know. They have a big pond there that the game and fish takes the problem gators their.From what i was told the 12ft gator that stopped up the interstate in little rock was put in that pond. They had a 10 ft too. When you were driving on base if a chemical weapons disposal was going by you pulled to the side right a way and stayed put till they were gone.No i don't have proof i worked there they did't let me keep my badge to get on the base. Just so you know the i am sorry i Started this thread :buds:.


If you got paid, it wasn't a selfless act, just a dangerous job.

I've worked sandblasting 8" I-beams 10 floors off the ground. I worked at a place where I saw three people gunned down, all in separate instances. I worked with the very first HIV patients we knew of, when we didn't even know exactly what was killing them. I've worked anti-bioterrorism stuff, where we suited up and tested for anthrax. I got a call this week, to see if I wanted to participate in an Ebola Initiative and go to West Africa (I said Heck no!).

Regardless, none of these were selfless acts.


----------

