Random and slightly pointless thoughts: Lollipopmen

Ever noticed how there's few (if any) young lollipopmen or women? Well ok, yes it's probably just like a part-time kind of thing for retirees to do, but it's a fairly crappy job all the same. Especially as kids get more and more vile and rude. It's definitely not a job that one aspires to, or if it is then one really needs to reassess one's life.

Now I'm not saying it's a pointless job in its entirety, afterall kids need to cross the road to get home. What I do think is a little pointless though is positioning a lollipop person at a pedestrian crossing. If the driver isn't going to stop at a zebra crossing as people cross or at a red light, do you really think someone dressed like a flourescent banana is going to stop them?

It does bring about an interesting question though; crappy thankless jobs and the people jobs and the people who fil the positions. Dustbinmen and street cleaners come immediately to mind, but it doesn't end there. There are some jobs that require intelligence and qualifications but are still baffling as to why anybody would want to take it up: undertakers, chiropodists, dentists, mortician, tax inspectors (traditionally one of the most unpopular jobs ever!), and pest control to name but a few. Personally I can see no attractive or rewarding attributes to these careers at all.

Of course of all the crappy jobs out there, of all of the most loathed of workers, of all of the most thankless of tasks... traffic wardens must rate as an undisputed number 1.