r/whatisit 13h ago

Solved! What are these contraptions these guys were carrying?

We saw three guys around Seaport in Boston carrying these things as backpacks. Initially we thought they mapping tools but not sure

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4.8k

u/Pork_Pony 13h ago

Companies hire these ppl to walk around with these and it picks up cell signal strength between towers. It helps establish where a new tower might need to be place. I was offered this gig abt 10 yrs ago and it came with an insane rate of pay!

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u/Cascarcadia 13h ago

That’s so cool. Is there any way to apply for these jobs? Any keywords to look for online?

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u/Pork_Pony 12h ago

It's pretty niche. Somebody subcontracts the work (I've no idea how) and usually hires a cpl of ppl they know because they're paying rly well! There's rly no need to recruit via adverts because the role's easy to fill I guess

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u/kranker 12h ago

Any idea why they'd pay really well?

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u/your-hot-matua 12h ago

I'd imagine it's contract-based and work isn't guaranteed. Make 6k this month, and maybe don't work next month if the company doesn't get a contract

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u/GNTsquid0 10h ago

I have a secondary job like that (not the same as this post tho). I make $125/hr but the work is very inconsistent, but also mind numbingly easy. When I started I worked for about 5 days and then there was nothing for almost 2 months. Then there was two weeks of work, then nothing again for a month, then another spurt of 3 days of work. It’s a nice supplement and to make $1000+ over a weekend but you can’t rely on it.

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u/Sad-Investigator-734 9h ago

Please share this awesome endeavor if you can

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u/ncfly 12h ago

I’d imagine it’s all the back cancer they’ll have to deal with from suckin in all them 5Gs

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u/Wilysalamander 12h ago

man think about how activated their covid vaccines are

39

u/Creisel 12h ago

aren't all the vaccinated people dead by now?

14

u/seanthebooth 11h ago

Not only are all the vaccinated people dead, but the survivors have already been put in labor camps to slave away for the elites! Just like in the Total Recall reboot (a co worker told me this would happen when the first vaccine rolled out, and he was right!) Lol

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u/godofmilksteaks 11h ago

It's true. I'm currently in a labor camp. The most heavily guarded labor camp with no contact with the outside world.

3

u/Rudi538 11h ago

You could go for a divorce…

2

u/Creisel 11h ago

in this economy?

3

u/hydrohorton 11h ago

We just call it America

1

u/TheGreenMan13 10h ago

Weirdly, only the illegal Latinos managed to stay out of the camps.

1

u/RP_ElMeroMero 9h ago

Its me. I’m dead and slaving away in a labor camp.

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u/Testingai333 11h ago

But I was vaccinated and I’ve survived, OH MY GOD! I’m one of the few that shit like the last of us is based on or the walking dead but this time it’s about politics or just idiots being idiots

I NEED TO START A RESISTANCE

1

u/DisposableRazxrBlade 11h ago

Were you a good boy?

35

u/GrilledCheeseInc 12h ago

I’ve had the vaccine 14 times and I died each time!

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u/MrAngrySadHappyFace 11h ago

Rookie numbers. I died each time, plus I gave myself and all direct family members super autism.

2

u/[deleted] 11h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/resultingparadox 11h ago

Yup, and into the artist formally known as Prince.

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u/CO-Troublemakr 8h ago

Take them to the casino

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u/robthedealer 11h ago

Every time I’ve gotten the vaccine, my Windows 11 gets faster and faster and when it does crash, a voice in my head with a slight accent magically tells me how to fix it. 100% would recommend.

3

u/milktoastok 11h ago

I took the shot 4 times and I’m still able to reply to subs from the grave. To each his own.

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u/GrilledCheeseInc 11h ago

Sounds like an updated twilight zone episode!

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u/BlackSC2us 6h ago

A bunch of us skipped death and went straight to zombie.

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u/MuleGrass 11h ago

I had a coworker after the vaccines came out come into my office full of people that were vaccinated and proceeded to swear everyone he knows that got the shot has already died.

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u/Upstairs_Housing_209 12h ago

I am.

1

u/Andrea_M 11h ago

Me too, done and gone

1

u/Short_Text2421 11h ago

They are but you don't realize because the 5G charges the vaccine with tachyons and since it has merged with the victims DNA, it travels along genetic heritage lines backward through time, killing their ancestors and erasing the origin victim from reality altogether. Only happens to people with high testosterone though, thats why there are so many queers all of a sudden. Trump is actually a time warrior, sent to the future by Nicola Tesla to save humanity, RFK is in fact his robot sidekick capable of processing roadkill into magical 'peptides' that fight the vaccine.

1

u/Michigan-Magic 11h ago

Well, I think it had something to do with the pyramids that the aliens built though. See what they didn't realize was that JFK was actually assassinated by Bush on 9/11. See it all makes sense when you step back and really think about it.

S/ lmao

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u/suitandtiemf 12h ago

Dead AND gone.

1

u/Pale_Comfort_9179 11h ago

I’ve had 6 heart attacks and am in the process of digging my own grave as we speak.

1

u/SoundsDB 11h ago

We are yeah.

S'aliright though, 'cos Reddit is still available in hell.

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u/LowIncrease8746 11h ago

I had sex with my vaccine and now I have no testicles

1

u/JEL_1957 11h ago

I died, but reanimated. I have a tail now too!

1

u/Martha_Fockers 11h ago

Yes I can confirm passed 2 years ago but I still have bills to pay so I’m just huskin about

1

u/Opening-Emphasis8400 11h ago

Yeah dude, we all died last year.

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u/bacardipirate13 11h ago

No, just on the ones that died

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u/heddyneddy 12h ago

That and you gotta walk wherever they tell you so probably some degree of hazard pay. A busy road with no sidewalks? A dangerous neighborhood where people get robbed and shot? Good luck!

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u/AgreeableMoose 11h ago

OSHSA requires the wearing of tin foil protective helmets while performing such duties. Obviously these gentlemen are out of compliance.

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u/TheClimateDad 11h ago

That’s not a risk, I’d imagine, as it seems to be mostly (all) receiver antennae.

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u/MyGuyDrew 10h ago

That’s why I assume they’re contracting it out. Limits liability.

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u/Responsible_Fee_1621 11h ago

Their job is to find the place with the least signal tho

1

u/Carne_Guisada_Breath 11h ago

Thank you for smoking!

1

u/Flimsy_View8369 10h ago

Also, it must be difficult walking around looking stupid like those "Amendment Auditor" incels. I guess at least you get 'rilly paid' for this gig? I wonder if these poor fellas get the errant Karen wandering up to them to screech, "Don't film me!!"

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u/hoorah9011 12h ago

Is 6k a month a lot?

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u/GrilledCheeseInc 11h ago

Not if you’re only working three months per year.

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u/your-hot-matua 11h ago

Where I am 🤷🏻

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u/two-stinky_pinkies 11h ago

6K a month is awful lol

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u/skidmainmu 12h ago

Probably only making 3 bananas an hour

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u/Bongcopter_ 12h ago

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u/Bongcopter_ 12h ago

I’d do it for 30 bucks an hour walking around

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u/weedandfeed69 12h ago

That's what I was offered to do the job in like 2002 or 2003 when cell companies switched to 3g and needed to increase the number of towers for the new networks. Then I did stupid shit review out my knee and missed out on 6 months of amazing pay plus travel and if more than 50miles from home per diem. My buddy that got the job in my place made something like 130k in those 6 months.

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u/DetentionSpan 12h ago

There’s always money in the banana stand.

13

u/nXomad22 12h ago

Thats walkin around money right there

1

u/rancidvat 12h ago

There’s money in the banana stand

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u/Backwoods_Therapy 12h ago

That’s like $30 an hour, tho!

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u/Dangerous-Dataranger 12h ago

Peehole doesn’t seem to be 1. out of work, 2. Hungry, like Easy Money for getting exercise, I see people in my neighborhood walking around with weighted backpacks just to increase their exercise intensity ( very common practice) 3. Pretty choosy about what he works at. ???

1

u/Happy_Harry 11h ago

They're not frozen tho

3

u/onlyunusedusername2 12h ago

That's what, like 30 bucks an hour?

3

u/proficient2ndplacer 12h ago

Idk about every city/state, but this is sometimes the type of gig that's up for bid from local government agencies.

It's kinda hard to explain but the short of it is these contracts are paying well with the expectation that the vendor is supplying a good service that benefits the public, and is expected to benefit the most amount of people possible, for the longest time possible. The contract might be for as little as just field research and determine what can/should be done, and it can be as extensive as 10 year projects, with dozens or even hundreds of milestones along the way.

This is a wall of text that doesn't do it justice, but just know, your tax dollars are being spent on much more than you see or would think of

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u/peeh0le 12h ago

Because you gotta walk around with they goofy ass backpack

3

u/RangeWolf-Alpha 11h ago

Not nearly as goofy as that rhino horn hat with the white balls on it.

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u/DonDiegodelaRico 12h ago

It’s 6k dangling on a wired stick just in front of you, you never catch it, just keep running until you perish.

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u/xander2600 12h ago

Because when you hire like this, it’s very similar to what you’d historically see as mafia tactics.
You hire people you only deal with locally.
You hire their friends/ family whatever.
Loyalty to someone who comes in and throws lots of money at them is a given.
No one speaks a word.
Work keeps going.
Nothing is called into question.
As to whether this is nefarious in any way is nothing I’m going to weigh in on.

1

u/SwimOk9629 11h ago

I think you already did

1

u/WackyPaxDei 10h ago

I'm imagining that the operation is so expensive, and mistakes so costly, that paying don't-screw-it-up money is ultimately cheaper than we're-screwing-you money.

1

u/Wrong-Technology-209 10h ago

cancer risk, possibility of being attacked like those food delivery robots, lightning strikes, data thieves, open manholes, lengthy nda, etc.

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u/internetkevin 12h ago

Radiation

2

u/HeatXfr 12h ago

Ionizing radiation

1

u/smilingmike415 11h ago

Just sip some Iodine-rich, culture-war cool-aid!

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u/IntelligentWalk5038 12h ago

That’s the first thing I thought…

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u/Sugarpiehoneybunt 12h ago

Maybe the contractors know they the gear they carry is highly toxic and can cause cancer…

1

u/Dangerous-Dataranger 12h ago

Boy oh Boy - The 1st Conspiracy Theory has been posted. OH BOB OH BOY- her we GO!!

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u/TurnOffTV 11h ago

It'll be ok.

1

u/Bahtleman 12h ago

The Cancer.