Debbie Bosak: Even bad jobs seem better on pay day

• Reprints

Updated: August 31, 2011 8:50PM

Earlier this summer, I was talking to an acquaintance about her ongoing job search. She was laid off from her job of many years in summer 2010.

Well-educated, dedicated and a hard worker, I was somewhat surprised she hadn’t found anything. Unemployment benefits were drying up, and she was visibly worried.

“I just don’t understand it,” she said. “I’ve had several offers, but there’s just nothing out there I want to do.”

I wished her the best in finding something she “wanted to do,” but, as I walked away, I couldn’t help but think of jobs I really hadn’t wanted, but they paid the bills.

My earliest lesson came as a teen at the hands of my father. When he offered me a summer job at the family business, I had visions of working in the air-conditioned office, doing whatever interesting things office-type people do.

Instead, he planted me at a counter in the service department — hot, noisy and smelling of all things cars. For hours each day, I manually updated customer service cards in an era before computerized records. It was a miserably boring job, but I certainly had no complaints when pay-day Fridays came along.

This weekend, as we celebrate Labor Day — a time to honor the work force that keeps this country moving, as well as our brothers and sisters who struggle to find gainful employment — I was curious about what jobs our neighbors remember hating the most.

Dorene Pawlik, Hammond: “I was the fry girl at a fast-food restaurant when I was in high school.

“It was hot; it was tedious; it was dangerous. But I think the worst was that I always seemed to smell of grease, no matter how long I showered. To this day, that smell still makes me nauseous.”

Ron Kinzel, Highland: “Right out of college, I took a summer job as a roofer’s assistant. That was a fancy way of saying I got to do all the scut work, including hauling the palates of shingles up the ladders. If you think it’s hot in July standing on the grass, try spending hours in the heat on top of a black roof.”

Carrie Kennedy, Crown Point: “I thought I wanted to be a nurse, but my mom was skeptical, so she suggested I take a summer job at a local nursing home.

“On my first day, Mom bet I wouldn’t last two weeks. I stuck it out for four just to prove her wrong. Trust me, I still have the greatest admiration the job medical professionals do, but Mom was right; it wasn’t for me.”

Gil Trenkowski, Crown Point: “I was a lazy student in high school so, one summer, my day shipped me off to my uncle, who raised horses in Wyoming. I spent three months mucking out stalls. My attitude toward school changed considerably that following fall.”