What was your first job?

Working with my dad as we was and still is a general contractor. 10 years later I'm still doing the exact same thing :) I love it. I started working with him as age 10 as did my older brother.
 
Cleaning a small office owned by an acquaintance of my father when I was 13. At some point my mother found out that I had to empty and replace the "gift bags" in the ladies' toilets, and that, as they say, was that.

On the books was a summer at McD's. I was 15 and too young to legally handle the food, so I cleaned everything. This included diaper blowouts in the play area and scrubbing grease spots on the sidewalk and in the parking lot. I had to chase the girls away with a mop, which just so happened to be in my hand the whole time.
 
In the Summer of 1976 I was a 16 year old playing a gunfighter in an 1890's themed tourist trap for $1.72 per hour.

Jeff
 
First paying job was at age 13 when i was haying summers on a dairy farm with about 150 Holstein's. By age 15, summers and after school I was milking and taking care of anything that went into, or came out of every part of a cow.;)
 
Neighbors would hire us kids to help weed their huge gardens.... a quarter or so if we did a good job (1970's) and we got sent back a time or two to do better. Occasional work from 12 -15 years old helping with house painting or small job remodeling projects with various contractors we knew. Mowing yard at home was part of the package called living at home, dad would give me money if I needed it but not connect it to any one task. Later I got in on a project crew as a general laborer, a dumb 16 year old, got to run jackhammer busting out concrete floors in a grocery store remodel, 1981, that one was my first real job where I had grown ups that were not connected by family so if you screwed up you got a real honest to goodness butt chewing. My and another older guy spent a day taking nails out of reclaimed 2x4's, I think after I overheated the aircompressor one to many times they figured I better work on something more suited to my talent level. Several times I got tol to go take a walk when the city inspector came around, they weren't supposed to have a minor on site but I was making big money $4.50 an hour. I was a big kid so they weren't afraid to let it rip around me, learned to stay clear of and quiet around hung over angry men.
 
at 16 I was slinging frozen yogurt for minimum wage, which at the time was $5.25. My folks made me make my own shekels, but the kids I went to school with were born with silver spoons.
 
My first job was a bagger at Safeway grocery, 9 years later I worked my way up to closing manager. Gained some great customer service experience which I apply to my job now as a part time firefighter and EMT.
 
Bella Italia (Italian restaurant). 2002 for $8.25 and tips. Good money for a high school job.
 
While in grade school, spent much time at the local cultural center aka - pool hall, brushed tables, swept the floor, cleaned the black board. polished and cleaned spittoons. Got to play pool free - my dream job in those days.
 
Working in my father's automotive upholstery shop. I was the "headliner king". Whenever I have a bad day at work, I remember the crap jobs I've had, and one of those memories is of crawling around a car taking a headliner down, with the glue, that has long since turned to powder, getting all over me. In my hair, in my eyes. Only a long shower would get rid of all of it.
 
Paper delivery boy. I was 12 or 13. Delivering papers at 6am in Jan in MI really isn't as fun as it sounds. I recall my Dad saying something about "building character".
 
At the age of 13 1978, I had a paper route that had 100 papers. It was a weekday evening paper (after school) and a weekend morning paper. I would deliver 100 papers all month long, and get 100 dollars at the end of the month. I had to collect the payments myself from some of the customers. After that, I worked for my next door neighbor for $3.15 an hour loading her van with houseplants cactus and herbs for sales at hardware stores. Then, at 16, I got a job in a nursery selling landscape plants/fertilizer/chemicals etc.
 
When i was 12 i worked long days till 1am as a dishwasher at a very nice restaurant. They paid me very well
 
1977 I worked 2 hours a day after school 5 days a week at a friends dads office. I was paid $5.00 an hour to take out trash, wash windows a little grounds maintenance. It was enough money to put gas in my car, buy my school lunch, buy my skoal and even had a little left over.
 
First time I got paid for anything: Roadying for parents and friends bands and chorals. Made about $10/performance.
First "on the book" job: Library aid at the local community college when I was 17. Made a whopping $4.25/hour. I'm one of the few guys of my generation who knows how to use a card catalog and can read the LC system.
 
early 70's working Amboy's Drive In....I fixed car speakers & heaters & after the 1st movie was over I sat in a chair by the exit with a huge flashlight to make sure people didn't try to sneak in through the exit. I let people in all the time for beer! :cool:
 
Before 16, it was bucking hay, shoveling horse poop, mowing lawns and changing sprinklers in alfalfa fields. After 16, a nice, respectable job at McDonalds. That job taught me how to organize my time and put some hustle into it. Especially when tour busses would come roaring in and suddenly theres 60 people standing in the lobby and youre the only cook.
John
 
Mowed lawns, washed cars, delivered papers, collected scrap metal, fixed junk bikes and sold 'em, did some pinstriping/lettering, painted houses, wrote term papers for people, y'know, the usual cash-type stuff from about 8-18. First "paycheck" gig was in 1988, cleaning floors at a Kmart before opening, 6AM every morning for $3.35/hr. I still despise the scent of floor wax.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top