Las Vegas NowU.S. Census Reveals: Vegas Has Its Share of Strange Jobs
(Jan. 2) - With the new year here, many people are considering changing jobs. If you go by the 2000 census , you have your choice of 31,000 jobs in the American workforce.
If nothing else, the recent census tells us how far we've come as a workforce compared to the first census in 1850 when jobs were listed. Women weren't even asked for their job titles until 1860. Back then a good number of people were soda jerks. Today there are limnologists, and dozens of others -ologists that are difficult to pronounce.
Of all the cities in the world Las Vegas may have the strangest jobs of them all, including people who really jump off ships for a living. "I wouldn't call it strange," says Treasure Island stunt man Craig Dunbar, "I would say it's every little boy's dream to grow up to command his own man of war on the high seas."
Only in Las Vegas will you find other "strange jobs." For instance, window washers who wash at an angle, and wall climbers at the MGM.
But you must also consider the path the American workforce has taken in the last 150 years. From agriculture to industrial to service. "So that now most of the jobs Americans have are serving somebody else, you're serving the news public, I'm serving students, it's a service economy now," says UNLV Professor Dr. Robert Parker.
Nowhere is that more evident than in Las Vegas. The game of bingo alone employs five different positions; attendant, checker, clerk, usher and worker.
Another major difference among workers today is our specialization. In the 1910 census, the occupation of aviator included aeronauts, showmen, athletes and balloonists. Michael Jordan may be an aviator of sorts but he is definitely considered a professional athlete today. "A lot of workers like to professionalize what they do, so you have athletes who have formed labor unions and have become professionalized and so forth," adds Parker.
So have stunt men, many of who find Las Vegas a comfortable home. "I was doing wild west shows actually, and wanted to stay in one place for a while, and this was a chance to work in a live show, live in Las Vegas and not be on the road," says Dunbar.
But for those fearing that their jobs may soon go the way of the weight guesser or snake charmer, Dr. Parker says, rest assured, "in terms of the labor force, we're always gonna have one. We're always gonna need people to produce things and serve other people and serve the country and so forth."
We've all heard the line that the guy who pumps gas is really a petroleum engineer. But job titles do carry a great deal of meaning. It can tell us a lot about someone. After exchanging names, what's the most common question asked among strangers meeting for the first time?: 'What do you do?'
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