Star Trek: 10 Starfleet Jobs You Won't Believe Exist
There's the bridge crew, the lower decks officers and then there's this sorry group.
This article owes thanks to Mark Malebranche, who inspired us here! In the 23rd and 24th Centuries, there are menial tasks that must be done, though this seems a bit odd. When replicator technology has advanced to the point that clothes can be simply materialized or dematerialized at will, why are tailors and quartermasters still a thing?
There are several bizarre roles that exist in the Star Trek universe, from ship's historians and librarians to those in charge of making sure the toilets flush and those poor folk that need to take down the minutes of every meeting. There are the exciting teams that get to go on away missions and then there are those that get to clean the bio-filters. One of these things is not like the other.
Arguably the worst job in the future must be whatever poor soul answers to the captain's every beck and call, something that could not have been an easy role aboard Captain Kirk's Enterprise. Sure, serving aboard the flagship was exciting. But at what cost? Those poor, poor souls.
That said, there is one role in all of the franchise that seems to be a never-ending punishment, like Sisyphus and that boulder...
10. Holodeck Waste Extraction
Even in the 24th Century, there are still officers and non-commissioned assigned to waste extraction on starships and starbases. It is generally considered to be the worst assignment, with Chief Miles O'Brien using the threat of sending officers there as 'encouragement' to keep on top of their tasks.
Enrique Muniz was often to be found joking about O'Brien, calling him 'an old mountain man', with the Chief cheekily quipping that one more line like that and the man would be scrubbing the waste extraction system when they got back to the station.
Conversely, Rom was very proud of working on that system when he quit his job in Quark's bar and transferred to the engineering staff. He felt having a working waste extraction system was one of the most important features of a functioning station. Ensign Beckett Mariner on the other hand found no pride whatsoever in having to clean out the system. Particularly, in the episode Moist Vessel, having to scrub the holodeck's waste extraction system.
It honestly doesn't bear thinking about, what came out of those canisters.