Not everyone has the luxury of slaving away in a cubicle. While millions of people stare at computer screens for 8 hours a day (interrupted only by a half hour lunch break and 14 trips to the water cooler), a lucky few get to go to work every day knowing they’re making the world a better place. Their jobs prevent deadly armpit odour, comfortable train rides, tasteless dog food and poorly dressed dolls, plus many other societal flaws.



Jealous? You should be. These jobs might not seem like they’re as difficult as being an accountant, a teacher or a virtual health technologist, but don’t be fooled. They’re tough, they’re stressful and they require a lot of explaining.

Karaoke Taxi Driver

Credit: telegraph.co.uk

The only thing worse than listening to karaoke is listening to karaoke and being unable to leave.

Train Pusher

Credit: Unknown

Credit: Unknown

In Japan, a train isn't full until it's 200% full. But as you've probably noticed (the "Move to the Back of the Bus" syndrome), people don't willingly sardine themselves. So, train stations hire passenger arrangement staff who physically shove people onto trains until they can shove no more.

Barbie Fashion Designer

Credit: Damian Dovargane

Credit: Damian Dovargane

In an interview with the Financial Times, this girl mentioned how a couple of Barbie designers showed up at her fashion school one day, saw her portfolio and offered her a job. Would you take that as a compliment and accept? Or would you envision a terrifying pink future where humans will never wear your clothes?

Odor Tester

Credit: Nancy Rica Schiff

Credit: Nancy Rica Schiff

The Health Journal says deodorant testers sniff around 60 armpits an hour and probe thousands of armpits each year. A gross job, but each and every one of us should send them personal thank you notes.

Dog Food Tester

Credit: dailymail.co.uk

Most of us have tried kibble at least once (we all get curious sometimes), but this dude eats it all the time. For money. In an interview with the Daily Mail, he admitted that no one actually asked him to taste it. He just feels that eating the product is a fundamental part of his job. His favourite? Organic luxury chicken dinner with vegetables for cats.

Golf Ball Diver

Credit: scubadiving.com

It's super annoying to land a ball in a water hazard, but it's even more annoying to get it out. Water hazards are murky, muddy, turtle-y and often full of chemicals. And depending where you are, you might get snapped up by a gator. All for a few pennies a ball.

Dice Inspector

Credit: Wikipedia

Credit: Wikipedia

Other than checking for the correct number placement (how obvious), dice inspectors go through obsessive security measures to make sure the dice are cheat-proof. If they're found to be defective (not square, improper serial numbers, etc) they're either destroyed or marked and sold.

Human Vending machine

Credit: Gizmodo

Credit: Gizmodo

Japanese vending machines are known for selling weirdo things (potted plants, anyone?), but now they have something even weirder inside: a real creepy person. It's just a promotion for a brand of caramel corn snacks, but it's still wrong. It's okay for machines to be inside people, but it's not okay for people to be inside machines.

Ski Trail Map Painter

Credit: jamesniehues.com

If you've always wanted to be the person behind those amazing ski trail paintings, fat chance. According to Fortune magazine, this guy pretty much owns the market. He's done about 75% of the major resorts (12 to 20 illustrations a year) and spends 80% of his time detailing trees.

Vomit Cleaner

Credit: Thorpe Park

Credit: Thorpe Park

Due to uncontrollable amounts of vomit, a British theme park has hired an official vomit collector. His name is Rhys Owens and he cleans up "maybe one or two bits of sick throughout the day," according to a BBC article. During the downtime, he gets to ride the rollercoasters as much as he wants, which makes it all worthwhile.

Puke fact: In 2008, customers expelled 150 litres of puke, with Easter being the busiest vomit season (apparently there's a direct relation between chocolate consumption and vomit production). Despite the chunks and the smell, Rhys doesn't seem to mind his job.

Human Bed Warmer

Credit: telegraph.co.uk

If the thought of dirty hotel sheets grosses you out, then human bed warmers aren’t for you. Guests at a London Holiday Inn have the option of falling asleep in a bed that has been pre-heated by another human. According to an article in the Telegraph, a staff member will dress in a full-body sleeper suit and lay in your bed for 5 minutes. Apparently there’s scientific evidence that sleep starts when body temperature starts to drop, so a warm bed is a good way to start his process. But just because science says it’s okay doesn’t mean it actually is...