Emilie: That's pretty bad, but I still think I've got you beat.

Have you ever been to Wyoming and seen those big silos, built for the purpose of dumping coal into trains, which have covered "45-type degree" tunnel inclines leading up to the top to feed them?
Well, I got a job at an engineering firm out of Gillette for testing the coal, making something like $8 an hour (which seemed like a huge amount of money to me back in the 1980's) and the duties, in part, consisted of this...
You know those big metal garbage cans that we all used to have for trash? Okay, in 100 degree type weather, take one of those, drag it up the 45 (or whatever it was) enclosed mesh catwalk style incline, (which is much harder than you might think), and when the belt temporarily stops, fill the entire garbage can full of coal. Mind you, inside of this structure, there is no air conditioning, and it is horribly hot. Then slide it down to the bottom. After you get there, now actually carry it down a couple sets of stairs, and eventually lift it onto the bed of a truck a few feet high. The can is very heavy at this point. You can test this yourself by taking your own garbage can (probably now made by Rubbermaid), and filling it mostly full of dirt. Then try carrying it around. By yourself. The experience was similar to that.
The best part of the job starts now. And it was this, sitting on the truck as you ride it back to the lab a short distance away. A 100 degrees never felt so good.
After arriving at the lab, lift, sift and grind through the coal, in an excruciating process, until the entire massive garbage can is reduced to some extremely small amount of material. I don't even remember how small now, but basically figure the size of a sandwich. (I just watched
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy again last night, so it seems strangely appropriate).
Then repeat. Then repeat again. And again. All day. Day after day. During the hottest time of the year. People around me were dropping like flies. My doppelganger from a previous job showed up once, and quit by 10AM on his first day, refusing to do any more work after his first trip. I actually managed to ride it out.
Now that was a bad job, however it is still far from my worst...