The Not-So-Wonderful World of Work Quiz / Test | People

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In my line of work - the U.S. Postal Service - postal management decided in the late 1980s that "First Class mail" was a cool name and they would keep that. However, they changed the name of "Second Class mail" to "Periodicals," and they also changed the name of "Third Class mail" to what they considered a more desirable name. What is "Third Class mail" now known as?

Answer: Standard mail

Yep, it used to be called Third Class mail, and now it's semantically upgraded to "Standard." Although most people call it "junk," official USPS bulletins describe it as "printed matter, flyers, circulars, advertising," OR "[some]newsletters, bulletins, and catalogs," OR "small parcels [mailed in bulk]." Keep in mind that all Standard mail "prices are bulk prices, and each mailing must meet a minimum quantity of 200 pieces or 50 pounds of mail.

There is no single-piece Standard Mail postage." Registered and Restricted mail is strictly First Class and Okay mail I made up, although ALL mail is OK by me. [Submitted by snediger]

2. An early version of an Animal Control Officer was a Dog Whipper, employed to remove rowdy dogs from which place?

Answer: churches and church grounds

In some parts of Europe from the 16th up until the 19th century, it was fairly common for dogs to accompany or follow their owners to church services. The Dog Whipper was a church official whose job it was to remove these animals from the church if they became disruptive, allowing the service to continue peacefully. [Submitted by Hineboxing]

3. Modern chicken sexers - those who can distinguish the sex of the chicks shortly after hatching - owe their careers to the arts and methods developed in what country?

Answer: Japan

Invented back in 1933, the method of distinguishing the sexual patterns of newly hatched chickens was critical to lowering costs to farmers throughout Japan and the process revolutionized the poultry industry. Amazingly, chicken sexers are known for their speed and accuracy and they have been known to sort poultry at a speed of 8,000 chicks per day with 99.7 percent accuracy. This profession is also known as vent or cloaca sexing and at one time was almost exclusive to Japan. Today, the industry is fading fast as chicken imports are on the decline, reducing the numbers of sexers from a work force of more than 1,000 to only a few hundred. [Submitted by Hineboxing]

4. Anyone with the money can buy a chainsaw. They are dangerous though, and it takes special training to operate one off the ground and high up in a tree. What are these trained workers called?

Answer: Arborists

To become an arborist one must become acquainted with the sciences of Dendrology, Mechanical Engineering and Management. Related and important bodies of knowledge are ropes, knots, small engine repair and maintenance and old fashioned blade sharpening. Many communities require licensing, insurance and permits when major tree work is to be done. [Submitted by mehaul]

5. In the big-name celebrity atmosphere that is a part of Western culture in the early 21st century, a young up-and-comer would be totally lost without his/her press agent or publicist. What is a publicist also known as?

Answer: flack

The original "flack" was Sigmund Freud's nephew Edward Bernays (1891-1995). Called the "Father of Public Relations," Bernays was convinced that anybody could be made to buy or endorse anything if a skilled manipulator could establish some sort of psychological connection between the person/buyer and the product/idea. For a totally unflattering portrait of a flack, see the 1957 classic "The Sweet Smell of Success." Seeing that movie always makes me think that surely there must be a better job. [Submitted by snediger]

6. My father was often called an "ironist" when he worked at his last job. What would his job probably have been?

Answer: a writer

An ironist is a writer who relies heavily on irony for humorous purposes or to make a point. Some ironists you might have read are Mark Twain, O. Henry, or Ambrose Bierce. While the other occupations listed may have something to do with iron(s) in some way, using irony would never be a defining characteristic of their jobs. [Submitted by seamonster]

7. In days gone by, the local apothecary (chemist or pharmacist) would rely on a helper to stock goods, make and take deliveries, man the counter and in many cases, perform a duty to customers which gave the position a special name. What was that job title?

Answer: Soda Jerk

Old valves for dispensing the soda water formulated by the apothecary were unreliably set to a middle position, allowing the liquid to spray in all directions. They worked best when quickly set to the fully open or closed positions in a 'jerked' motion.

The assistant was allowed to formulate over the counter medications like bromides which were mixed with the soda water. So the Soda Jerk needed to be skilled in the operation of that valve. In many shops that duty also entailed manning the ice cream counter (taking advantage of the refrigeration for the soda water) and making ice cream sodas.

There was often a uniform of white paper garrison cap and full apron that went with the job. The big chain drugstores have made this career (a sometimes stepping stone to becoming a pharmacist) a long gone one. [Submitted by mehaul]

8. Working the night shift for long lonely hours, an ability to understand higher mathematics, an ability to read complicated charts and tables and a love of the great outdoors should appear on the resume of which of the following?

Answer: Astronomer

Sure, the advent of space based observatories has done away with the lonely nights part of the above. But for most Astronomers, it's still required to travel to exotic places that offer nothing but a great chance to view the heavens. [Submitted by mehaul]

9. Okay, back to the US Postal Service. Excluding management (about whose function I have often wondered), the USPS workforce is basically divided into FOUR groups that process and deliver mail. They are: mailhandlers; (city) letter carriers; rural carriers; and WHO? These are the people whose job it is to process and sort your mail, prep it for delivery, and serve you over the counter.

Answer: clerks

The clerks - who process mail for delivery - numbered 157,168 in 2010; city carriers - who deliver the mail in urban and suburban areas - numbered 192,180 the same year; rural carriers - who drive long grueling routes to deliver where the suburbs end - numbered 66,845; and mail handlers - who prep the mail for processing and do the grunt work of loading/unloading the trucks - numbered 48,650 in 2010. [Submitted by snediger]

10. It seems like you spend half your time on your job doing surveillance. Which of these choices would be the best description of your job?

Answer: gumshoe

This common slang word has been used for years to refer to
detectives from Sam Spade and Mike Hammer to their more modern counterparts. Detectives often spend hours following and watching possible suspects, i.e. doing surveillance. Meanwhile, there is not much call for gunsmiths to do surveillance, since they make or repair firearms, and no interest whatsoever from guidons (military pennants) or from guano (sea bird or bat dung). [Submitted by seamonster]

Source: Author snediger

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The Not-So-Wonderful World of Work Quiz

Humorist Sam Ewing said "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all." The following quiz is about different occupations. Can you identify them?

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