I waited in a virtual queue today for 5 hours, then finally drove to the location when prompted by text. Get into the building and have to wait another 30+ minutes until I get my time with a clerk. One of the 1st things out her mouth was to ask me if I have a bill of sale in addition to the vehicle's title. She then turns to a coworker for instruction on how to do her job. Thought I was gonna be sent away to procure another bs piece of paper.

People haven't a clue wtf they're doing.

DMV employee calling over coworker because they don't understand the requirements of a simple form is so completely standard, I don't get it.

Last time I was in the DMV it was to transfer a title to me on a car my dad gifted me. Filled out everything in advance, including the Sale Value of 0 for a gift in family per the instructions. DMV Clerk spent 5 minutes lecturing me about all the errors I made, most notably the 0 sale value before calling over her coworker to inform her that I did fill out all the paper work correctly lol.

Just wait until you have one of those people make a typo of your VIN on the title. Talk about fun times getting that straightened out ...

Cuhhh-reepy.

Yeah, you never know what will catch Mrs. RG's attention. I guess she's just learning what's going on.

She obviously hasn't figured that one out yet.

Mr. 27 is kind of mean to RG, but he probably deserves it.

Thank you, old forgotten beer. I get it now. But, I'm pretty sure RG isn't into Asian girls. Usually.

Mr. 27, I'm sorry. I'm not a stalker, sometimes. And I did see your ring. How does that "incognito" thing work?

I'd tell you, but I try to steer clear of stalkers.

I met a guy today whose job is to pick live chickens up and hang them by their feet in shackles to get their heads cut off.

He's been doing it on and off for 5 years. He's worked at all the local chicken plants. He does about 10k chickens a day by himself but they work in teams of 7 to unload full trucks. He said the worst part of the job is the chicken piss and clawing but you get used to it. He had some fresh nasty scrapes. He gets paid 12/hr + good benefits. He's 26. Nice guy.

He kinda looked like Napoleon Dynamite.

Turns out we both ran the 5k in 20 minutes or less exactly twice in high school. So we had that going for us.

$12/hr. Jesus christ. I can't fathom what I would need to be paid.

Yeah, and his uncle gets paid twice that to putz around the warehouse and smoke cigs all day.

Sounds about right. What else you gonna do? Chase them around the yard with a hatchet?

He said the last time he sees the chickens they are alive hanging by their feet being carried away on a turnstile (think of a dry cleaner).

I took a wild guess that the next step is off with the head, but maybe they rinse them off first or something.

He also has to snap their neck. They are not hanging there alive. Or maybe they have updated their killing methods.

You have just met someone who has one of the worst jobs possible.

From what I gather from my chicken plant acquaintances, one has to work their way up to the live hang dept and receives a pay boost there over the menial jobs. It's a pretty big step to a coveted position for some of those folks.

Yes, they are.

My mother-in-law (91-years old) hung them on the clothes line, then chopped the heads off. That prevented them from running around the yard. You know, "like a chicken with his head cut off".

Now, go to sleep.....

Edit: Yes, that would be Mrs. RG's mother. Just sayin'.

Yep. They start off at 9/hr and not many people can hang. From what I learned today it is very fast paced (think 20 chickens a minute for 8 hours) and unpleasant conditions (mainly the clawing).

He has to slow himself down to 20/min otherwise it messes with the line and it gets out of whack. Oftentimes he's not allowed to take the lead because he gets too many of the chickens as they first come out. They will put him in the middle or the end. He doesn't like the end though, not enough action.

His current plant is a big nationwide company and is very cushy. His last job at a smaller plant he was cranking out 30-40 a minute.

He only stays at the jobs for about 8-10 months or until his coworkers piss him off. He just wants his music and birds and when that is disrupted, it is time for a break. Then he switches plants and goes again. He likes this one though and the benefits help.

Notsureifserious

I haven't posted here in nearly a decade. Some of the threads are the same, as are many of the names.

Cool!

Great post with great content.

Very serious.

Confirmed by Villian's follow-up post about his newfound friend.

Any job in a poultry plant is an unpleasant and low-paid job that not many Americans want to do. I've talked to dozens, maybe hundreds, of people over the years who have worked at some of these processors. Just listening to them talk about their work and working conditions is so unpleasant that I try to avoid the subject or tune it out.

I'm trying to imagine how it's even physically possible to hang 20 chickens per minutes upside down. He must be really earning his $12/hour.

I'm picturing 3 chickens per hand.

I just have to add that I read this post, just now, while standing in line outside the dmv to transfer a title on a car I got from my dad.

Do you do some sort of work that brings you into contact with these guys or have you just randomly ran into them?