Newslex Point News in Uganda, Uganda news
Check also: The 15 Highest Paying Companies In United States
Whether it’s cleaning up human excrement or taking care of the dead, many people are willing to pay enough money not to do it, and they’ll gladly pass the buck. Although most of us would rather live in blissful ignorance of what goes on in these nasty but necessary jobs, finding out the grisly details might send us thanking our lucky stars for our cushy jobs. On the other hand, taking a peek into the paychecks might have us considering a career change.
A dirty job may mean working with stuff that grosses most people out, but you can make a decent amount of money and you may also be happier with it. Some studies show that jobs with hands-on, manual activities make people happier than office jobs [BBC News]. In the movie “Office Space,” the main character despised life as an office drone and finally finds happiness in a lowly construction job.
If you want to make a nice living but dread mind-numbing office work and fluorescent-lit cubicles, one of these jobs might be a perfect for you. But check a weak stomach at the door: These jobs entail revolting, dangerous and sometimes psychologically disturbing duties.
Follow @newslexpointWell, these are the 10 highest paying dirty jobs!
10). Garbage Collector
Most of us wash our hands of garbage as soon as we set it on the curb. If we can avoid the chore of taking the trash out, we toss our rubbish in the trash can and forget about it. Not so for the garbage collector.
If you’ve ever noticed an overflowing trashcan on a public street, you may have taken a moment to feel bad for the person who’ll have to clean it all up. In the pinnacle of dirty jobs, garbage collectors have to deal hands-on with our trash, day in and day out. In this thankless job, they make sure it gets from our curbs to the landfill.
Sanitation workers often put in long shifts, traveling up and down our streets to pick up trash while dodging impatient drivers — who occasionally hit the guys who are emptying trash cans. That’s one reason why trash collecting consistently ranks high on lists of dangerous jobs [source: Morsch].
Aside from angry drivers, these guys deal with forces of nature as well — working in rain, snow and sleet. And let’s not forget the smell. The reek of dirty diapers and rotting eggs can’t be pleasant, especially combined with — and particularly after — stewing in the sun on a hot day. Even if sanitation engineers eventually get used to the smell, it probably doesn’t make them popular after working a long shift.
Despite the dirt, the danger and the smell, there’s no shortage of garbage collector jobs. The average annual salary for this occupation is about $43,000 [source: SimplyHired]. In California, the average hourly wage is $16.04, and in some places, the overtime can help shoot the pay to over $60,000 a year [source: CEED, Parsons].
9). Gastroenterologist
Sometimes the hardest tasks have to do with looking within ourselves. And we’re not talking about soul-searching. Whatever we eat goes through a 25-foot (7.62 meter) journey in our digestive tract, and when problems arise, there’s one kind of doctor we can go to for help — the gastroenterologist — also known as a GI doctor. These doctors specialize in the process that most of us wish would remain mysterious — the body’s digestion.
Nobody likes to talk about or describe their digestive problem. Whether it has to do with gas, abnormal stools or a pain in the rear, GIs diagnose and treat some of the most uncomfortable and embarrassing of ailments. So you can bet that the GI’s patients aren’t always happy to see him.
On top of it all, it’s not easy to become a GI. These doctors have to go through four years of medical school, three years of residency and two to four years of a fellowship to become full-fledged gastroenterologists [source: AGA].
Why put yourself through so much grueling training for what’s sure to be an aromatic job? Well, if helping people isn’t enough of an incentive, it doesn’t hurt that GIs make a handsome salary. Most GIs make between $250,000 and $400,000 a year — not too crappy [source: Salary.com].
8). Oil Rig Worker
To say that oil is a booming industry would be an understatement. Given that modern economies largely depend on it, and as prices soar, you can bet that companies will pay a lot to find and drill for this black gold. But for most workers, striking oil isn’t so glamorous in real life. Daily life on an oil rig is dirty and dangerous.
Offshore rig life is especially difficult. It involves spending weeks at a time sleeping, eating and working 12-hour days or nights on a man-made drill rig in the middle of the ocean. Aside from the cramped conditions, heavy machinery and explosive materials make this a perilous job that requires hardhats and steel-toed boots. And the business side of oil drilling isn’t the only part that’s booming — the machinery is extremely loud. Workers are typically required to wear earplugs on the job to prevent permanent hearing loss, and they communicate through hand signals.
But if you can stand the strenuous work and the time away from home, you’ll be sitting pretty. Even lowly workers can get a nice annual pay over $40,000 [source: Miller]. Salaries can skyrocket for people with certain college degrees and for overseas work [source: OilJobFinder].
7). Portable Toilet Cleaner
This job is a sort of combination of garbage collector and GI, and arguably more disgusting than both put together. Although most people in polite society methodically avoid situations where they need to use a portable toilet, modern outhouses can be lifesavers. As gross as they can be, they’d be worse without the folks who clean them for a living.
Using a tank and a vacuum wand, cleaners must suck up all the waste in a portable toilet. After picking up any stray toilet paper, they also wash down all surfaces that could possibly be soiled, including the walls.
This is when a high-pressure hose comes in handy [source: Douglas]. Usually, cleaning one portable toilet takes only a few minutes, and most workers clean from 10 to 60 of them a day [source: AOL]. But it’s not always that easy: Portable toilets that tip over require more damage control.
Nevertheless, some cleaners grin and bear it — and take home $50,000 a year [source: AOL]
Scroll down and click page 2.
This is not a Paywall, but Newslex Point's journalism consumes a lot of time, hard-work and money. That's why we're kindly requesting you to support us in anyway they can, for as little as $1 or more, you can support us .Please use the button below to contribute to Newslex Point, Inc. using a credit card or via PayPal.
