Lifeguard.
After college I went out to Keystone Colorado and was a snow-maker, yes I actually made snow (cold water, compressed air, and a nozel to force the two together). It was awesome getting paid to ski 12 hours a day. And when the snow-making season ended I got into a sno-cat and groomed runs at night. That was a very simple time; eat, sleep, ski, work (oops, I meant ski), repeat process.
I was a dump truck driver for a construction company in the summer during university. One day we were removing a large addition to a house, but had to leave the main structure standing. I got to separate the two buildings with a chainsaw. It was great, I would have done that for free.
I still participate but work in technology now
.
I was a stripper.
Close.
I was a DJ in a strip club (Dolphin Club, Broad Street, Philadelphia, 1986-87ish). I think I was the first to play "Sweet Child O’Mine " in a Philly strip club. Quit because there was a rule about the “help” dating the “talent.”
I had a bunch of cool 2nd jobs 1985-88: bartender, silkscreener, recording studio gopher/guitar tuner.
One of my girlfriends at the time got me to work with her backstage at Live Aid. I gave Keith Richards a cigarette, deliverd liquor to Jimmy Page’s trailer and she cut George Thorogood’s hair with chicken shears just before he went on.
Beach Lifeguard in Hawaii, summer of '89… I still wish I would have stayed, dropped out of school, trained with the locals and gave a shot at going pro . Ahhh, good times!!
Oreo
My first summer as an officer cadet in the Air Force in 1986. Spent the summer marshalling in F-18s and refuelling them and then training for tris after 3:30 pm…on the Molina train till ya drop program (see top 5 in 1985 thread).
security guard (yeah yeah I kow the first guy to get shot whenthe bad guys come to town)…got to escort Shania Twain to her dressing room for the Canadian Country Music Awards…a lot of other really cool people I got to meet (Stompin Tom Connors, Amanda Marshal, Jeff Healy, the band The Barenaked Ladies…lots of cool greets)
.
Two cool jobs that I can remember:
-
Worked on a tour boat that used to cruise the Thousand Islands in the St.Lawrence/Lake Ontario for a couple of summers as a student. Did two four hour trips daily. I was first mate and drove the boat when the captain needed a break. Met lots of cool tourists from all over the world and spent the rest of my time on the bow looking at sunbathing beauties on shore thru binoculars.
-
Was a dive master on a scuba charter boat. Was actually my own summer time business. Had a 34 ft. steel dive boat at the time. It was a cool time. Take divers out to the wrecks, dive with them and get paid for it. Was a blast.
The coolest job that I ever turned down was as a scuba instructor/boat captain at a resort in the Caribbean. Would have paid $1000. per month plus tips but with a free room/meals/booze at the resort and a fresh crew of bikinied female tourists every week or two. I had just gone thru a divorce at the time and the time away for while doing a job like that would have cleared my head nicely. But my kids were still small then and we had shared custody so naturally I couldn’t leave.
I also possess this archaic job skill. I’m waiting until I can get a job at some living history museum, right next to the rug-weavers and the broom-makers.
Tough one. . .
-
Marine Corps Infantry Platoon Commander. Have you ever witnessed the destruction 40 screaming Marines can wreak when they are unleashed?
-
Fire Support Team Leader (FIST) for a Marine Corps Rifle Company. Have you ever seen a coordinated attack including 1000lb bombs from F-18s, Rockets and Miniguns from Cobra Attack helicopters, Battery-5 155 rounds (that’s a shitload for you uninitiated), 81mm mortars, 60mm mortars, M1A1 Tanks main guns blazing and just an assload of small arms from .50 Cal M-2 machine guns down to M16s? That, my friends, will tend to make life VERY miserable for the bad guys. And you’ve got one guy really orchestrating much of the dance. . .the FIST Leader. The Commander just sort of sits back and says “Make it so!”
No wonder you’ve been denying knowledge of him.
I was a bartender at a yacht club. Got to see how the well pampered side lived. Found myself fixing all kinds of problems on rich guys’ boats, at the request of their trophy wives.
I was. I worked at the Arapahoe Strip Shop on South Sante Fe St. in Denver (Littleton) as a stripper–of furniture–as in removing old paint and varnish. I used to love to put that on job applications.
I was betting on wetsuit stripper at a local race. Nice 
Command of a nuclear attack submarine on deployment doing stuff I can’t talk about. There is no other job in the world like it.
Spent my college summers working as a lifeguard for Sonoma County Parks on the Russian River in Healdsburg (the nice part of the river…not where they make you swim for Vineman). My last year we rented a cottage on the river just upstream from the beach and sometimes would paddle rescue boards to/from work. Best commute I ever had. Lot’s of great parties and got paid to train 2 hours a day since we were active in lifeguard competitions.
Next best job was “rigger” for yacht broker on the SF Bay. Did this after college before year long sailing cruise. I did prep and set up work on new yachts before we delivered to customers. I lived on a sailboat on the bay and on occasion never set foot on land as I walked from live aboard boat to new boat without ever leaving the dock. Did lot’s of racing and partying. Sailors can be a wild crowd despite the blue blood rep.
it’s a tough call either lifeguard at a country club for 3 or 4 years w/ plenty of stay at home MILF coming to the pool letting me know they were lonely or spending 2.5 years training pretty much full time.
National Ski patrol - got paid to snow ski 14 hours per day!!! Never paid for a lift ticket in over 5 years!
Police Mountain Bike Patrol - Got paid to ride my bike (about 30 miles per shift)
Chief of Police - Pretty cool job for awhile, then got to be too stressful - so i quit and went to the job listed above.
toss up between two jobs, I still can’t belive I got paid to do them.
1981-1989 Scuba instructor in Santa Cruz and Dive Master on a whole bunch of Dive trips to the Channel Islands off Santa Barbara with Truth Aquatics
early 90’s Rock Climbing guide…ah getting paid to lead people up cool rock climbs
Ski Instructor and competitive freestyle skier many years ago. Great fun and got to sleep with ton’s o great babes.(until I got married)
Since then I’ve become a mechanical engineer (NOT a cool job) and been married (faithfully, but tempted several times) for 23 years. I’m not sure if that’s cool or just stupid.
Now ya got me thinkin’ about a fun job again…might have to look around a bit. Damn