“Beta bade hoke kya banoge?”
As kids, we’ve always been asked this question and our mad-cap answers answers have made our parents smile. But little did they know that most of what we said were actually full-fledged professions (there’s even a job where you have to sleep).
Here’s a list of 21 weird jobs across the globe that you will not believe exist:
1. Professional Pusher
Japan is indeed a hardworking nation. It makes sure that all its people reach work on time and that’s why Japan has employed people to push others onto trains so that nobody’s late for work. I love this country!
2. Rental Boyfriend
In Tokyo, if you have the money, finding a boyfriend is as easy as it gets. I don’t really know what all the boyfriend will do, but it sure sounds fun. I’ll be shifting to Tokyo the day the Japanese come up with the concept of ‘Rental Girlfriends’ .
3. Professional Stand-In-Liner
As long as there are queues in the world, Narabiyas (Japanese for stand-in-liners) will never be out of fashion. These freelancers will happily wait in long queues for you as long as you pay them some money.
4. Professional Sleeper
My first reaction when I came across this job was… Wow! You actually get paid to… Sleep! Professional Sleepers doze off while scientists conduct research on sleep disorders. This has to be undoubtedly the most comfortable job on the planet.
5. Wedding Guest
This is a part-time job in Japan where people double up as wedding guests. Don’t believe me? Here’s an ad. Ask a Japanese friend to translate and you’ll know. Apart from the money, they also get free food.
6. Vomit Cleaner
Some roller coasters dip, rise and turn at such crazy angles that your breakfast is bound to come out the wrong way. Amusement park owners knew this fact and thus this job came into being.
Q. Why would anyone do this job? A. Free rides.
7. Deodorant Tester
You have a habit of poking your nose into other people’s business. Well, these people poke their noses into other people’s armpits to test the odour-fighting powers of deodorants. Now that’s what you call a stinking job.
8. Water Slide Tester
All play and no work makes Jack a dull boy. Not in this case, because Jack’s work involves a lot of playing in water. Water Slide Testers have to check all aspects of safety and make sure these rides are absolutely safe. There’s always medical insurance for those who break a bone or two.
9. Electric Shock Giver
Toques as they are called in Mexico are dudes who carry a small wooden box that metes out electric shocks. While sloshed pub-goers undergo this torture to sober down, others believe it gives them a new high. Maddening!
10. Paper Towel Sniffer
Paper towel manufacturers leave no stone unturned (loosely translated to leave no roll unsniffed) in ensuring that their rolls don’t smell foul before, during and after use. How do they check for any unwanted smell after use? Gross!
11. Chicken Sexer
Sure, there are chics involved, but still there’s nothing sexy about this weird job. A chicken sexer’s job is to identify the gender of a baby chicken. That’s about it.
12. Professional Cuddler
If you happen to be in Japan and are missing your girlfriend, just shell out some cash and you get to cuddle and sleep next to a Japanese woman. Just cuddle, mind you.
13. Car Plate Blocker
In a bid to reduce congestion on the roads, Iran has employed a strange policy where cars with number plates ending in odd and even numbers are allowed on roads on alternate days only. Iranians hire men to walk behind their cars so that the cameras don’t capture their number plates . And I thought India was the only land of jugaad.
14. Pet Food Taster
Whoever came up with this job must be a true-blue animal lover or someone who likes to chew weird-tasting food. Do animals and humans have similar taste buds?
15. Professional Mourner
You’ll need these mourners if nobody gave a damn about you when you were alive. It’s sad that you won’t be able to see them mourn for you because you’d be in the coffin.
16. Ostrich Babysitter
This job’s easier than a human babysitter’s job. Why? Because all you need to do is keep an eye on the baby ostriches so that they don’t peck the shit out of each other.
17. Cuidacarro
You’ll meet a cuidacarro when you park your car in Costa Rica. His job isn’t as complicated as it sounds. All a cuidacarro does is watch your car when you are gone so that nobody steals it (unless he himself has taken a fancy to it).
18. Gross Stunt Tester
For every guy who chomps down a grasshopper on a reality show there are many more who’ve done the same thing in real life. These crazy guys are called Gross Stunt Testers and their job includes doing (testing) everything that’s gross. Look at this woman here. *Feels fluids rising up the oesophagus*
19. Furniture Tester
As long as the furniture’s not made of cactus, this job’s pretty cool. You have to sit, wriggle and sleep on the furniture to asses its comfort. This job is so cool that it’s weird.
20. Wrinkle Chaser
The name says it all. Wrinkle chasers make sure there are no creases on shoes when they are whisked out of the factory. Yeah, I said that right – shoes . How else do you think those high-heels look so classy?
21. Bicycle Fishers
Amsterdam is the most bicycle friendly capital city of the world. It’s no surprise then that a lot of these two-wheelers end up in one of the canals, thus giving rise to another profession – the bicycle fisher. Each year Amsterdam fishes out around 14,000 rusty bikes from its waterways.