Everyone's had the odd job they were forced
to take when times were tough, and sometimes you can find yourself responding to some pretty
odd job postings. Millions of people every day show up at laboratories
and medical facilities around the world to be guinea pigs for dangerous drug trials or
to test new gadgets and devices. While these jobs can be risky, and probably
more than a little weird, what are some of the worst jobs in the world- that have ever
existed?! vb
One of the worst jobs in history certainly had to be that of a Punkawallah- a royal fan
bearer in ancient India. With temperatures reaching a whopping 122
degrees (50 C) and humidity as high as 80-100%, it's a wonder that people survived before
the invention of air conditioning! But survive they did, and while the common
man was forced to endure the heat best they could, Indian rulers, or Maharajas, enlisted
fan bearers to constantly fan them all day long. Being so close to the Maharaja, deaf servants
or slaves were preferred for the role, as they wouldn't be able to overhear any secret
conversations. Eventually ceiling fans were invented- but
without electricity, guess who had the job of pedaling the complex system of pulleys
all day long to keep the fans rotating? All that labor works up a lot of sweat, so
it's a good thing getting clean is just one shower and a soap bar away. But for centuries the process of making soap
was dirty, disgusting, and more than a bit dangerous. Up until the industrial revolution most soaps
were made by combining animal fats, various oils, and harsh chemicals such as lye. First animal fat was slowly melted and then
strained to remove any meaty bits, then mixed with water and brought to a boil. The mixture was left to harden overnight,
and the next day lye would be slowly stirred into cold water. Because of its volatility, adding too much
lye to water, or the reverse- adding water directly to lye- could create an explosion! Even if the mixture didn't explode though,
it would heat rapidly due to lye's exothermic reaction with water, and without any protective
equipment, any lye that got on the worker's skin would leave horrible burns. The fat mixture would then be added to the
lye/water mixture and blended for hours. Soap may leave you feeling fresh and clean,
but it was definitely a smelly and dangerous affair to make for thousands of years! Melted animal fat can be kind of gross, but
nothing tops the gross level of the next worst job in history. Medieval Europe is remembered mostly for epic
stories about brave knights, but one thing it's not remembered for is its indoor plumbing-
which did not exist in most Medieval castles and villages. But people still had to use the bathroom,
and all that waste definitely had to go somewhere. Enter the Gong Farmer, a polite term created
for the peasants who's job it was to clean latrines, outhouses, and royal privies. Forced to empty cesspools full of human waste
with nothing more than buckets, gong farmers were responsible for digging, emptying, and
then disposing of the waste of entire villages. While sometimes it could be used as fertilizer,
often the gong farmer had to burn all of that waste in giant bonfires, creating thick, choking,
and very smelly smoke. Exposed to all manner of diseases and parasites,
gong farmers were the absolute lowest of the lowest social classes and often died of terrible
infections. Even though our own jobs can often be stressful
or difficult, let's at least be grateful that most jobs today aren't as disgusting or dangerous
as those in the past, and that when works get to be too much, we can always take a quick
vacation for some much needed R&R. But for Fuzzy and Nutz, their adventure exploring
the past has just started, so make sure you tune in next time to see where they're off
to next!
