Friday, September 19, 2008

Your Turn

This week I got into a very long discussion with someone about how they didn't have to work in school, while I had to work my ass off. At that time I actually did have an ass that I was fairly proud of. I remember my first job was in a gas station convenience store type thing. I think I must have lasted there for about oh, three or four months. I think they got tired of all my friends coming by, and me helping myself to as much as I could eat in an 8 hour shift. The pay was minimum wage, and I figured they owed me since they wanted me to clean the bathrooms. I need to stress the word want. I would gather over my several months of employment that I never even set foot in one of the bathrooms.

Anyway, what was your first job?

42 comments:

Kara said...

I had to clean outhouses in my dad's orchard when I was a kid. That was the first job I had.

Gross!

Unknown said...

Babysitting for a little brat.
I dreaded it every week!

Anonymous said...

Busboy from 13 to 16 under an ex-Marine. It wasn't pleasant.

Anonymous said...

My first JOB, other than just baby sitting time to time, was as a waitress. It was fantastic! It was the summer between my junior and senior years in high school, and for the first time EVER I could buy all the 45 RPM records I wanted and buy clothes and best of all, I met so many guys and they all asked me out, and I worked 2 pm to 10 pm every day, and always had a different ride home. Even COLLEGE BOYS!!!

Amanda N. Byrd said...

Hostess/cashier/coordinator for the U.S.A. Steak Buffet - it was especially fun around the first of the month, I lasted 6 weeks.

SisterMaryHotPantz said...

My first job was at the concession stand at the swimming pool starting when I was in 6th grade. Same as Enty, I ate all I could to make up the lousy wages.

I eventually graduated to life guard which was the bestEST job!

daquirigoddess said...

Worked in men's furnishings at a department store.

mooshki said...

After babysitting, my first job (at 15) was working at a park - desk duty and teaching classes. I was always pissed that they took taxes out of my paycheck. No taxation without representation!!! My boss drank over the dinner hour, and one of the other employees was sentenced to the work house for luring boys into his van. Other that that, it was good times - there were a ton of cute boys playing hockey in the winter and ping pong (I could kick all their asses!) in the summer.

Gas station bathrooms are terrifying. That should've been our first clue that Britney was insane. I'd choose behind a bush any day.

Abaddon said...

My first job was at the Humane Society of New York months after graduating from college. Loved it.

TV said...

after babysitting, it was Pathmark at age 16.

Sis said...

Ok..not counting violating the child labor laws in the early
70's, I worked in my parents machine shop. I will smell oil and solvent forever! I was about 11 years old.

My first real job was working in a furniture store as an office clerk. The one thing I remember was the "fax" machine. It was a roller with the paper attached around to it and then you dialed a specific number and the roller sped around and around, I do not know what it was called. I will probably remember tonight in the dead of night.

Sydney in Wonderland said...

My first job, not including babysitting and filing papers at my dad's school, was at a mom-and-pop BBQ shop. I worked there for about my senior year in high school, so I was 16 when I got the job. I got the job without my parents' permission, which went over really well.

The place had a few tables, but it was more of a take-out joint. There were always only two people working at any given time, and my boss was a lazy-ass so, if it was him and me, I did EVERYTHING -- prepare, cook, clean, take orders, fill orders, run cash. I also don't eat beef or pork, so nothing there appealed to me. My boss told me that, if I got a break, which was in no way guaranteed, I could eat anything except the ribs. After a few weeks, he confronted me about being anorexic, instead of thinking maybe I don't like or don't want his food.

mooshki said...

Ooh, Alpine, you just gave me a "Better off Dead" flashback, thanks!

Green Wave Gal said...

I started working at a local drug store 4 days before I turned 14. We were right across the street from the county hospital so we got had some interesting customers.

Some of the most memorable:

-My brother's friend (he was 18) coming in to buy condoms (I was 14)!

-My 16th or 17th b-day I worked and dealt with a guy who had CRABS. When someone wished me a happy birthday, he said "Oh you're a cancer, that's a CRAB".

-This old lady who had a tracheotomy, pushing that button in the whole in her neck to ask me for cigarettes.

Good times.

Green Wave Gal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mooshki said...

Oops, should've changed my avatar before posting.

surfer said...

My first job after babysitting was a one-month stint at McDonald's, while in high school (after school, obviously).

I "retired" after I had three milkshakes explode all over me, simultaneously, I might add. No one ever told me that the seam of the cup must face the back of the machine. Also, just after this happened, a guy I had a crush on came in, ordered, smiled and never said a word. Only when I got home, did I discover I had chocolates spots all over my forehead (couldn't see all the mess with the 3-watt bulb they had in the bathroom)!

Anonymous said...

My first real job was as a part-time student clerk since I was still in high school. Still working here but at another department as an Ex. Secretary. Been here way too long LOL.

lutefisk said...

After babysitting, I moved on to camp counselor.
When I was old enough for a real job, I was a cashier at Waldbaum's.
Except for dealing with crappy customers & management, there were a ton of teenagers there--all cashiers & stockboys. The store had burnt down the year before, & when they rebuilt it, we were all hired at the same time. We all socialized after work. Lots of dating, movies, & parties came out of that. I returned every college break until I was 21 to pick up extra cash.
BTW-- I always bag my own groceries after that stint!

IndigoBlue said...

Besides babysitting, I can't remember if which of these two came first b/c I kind of did them simultaneously, but I worked as a "Phone Girl" at a local Italian/Pizza place, answered phones, washed dishes, cooked, waited on customers, the schtick. My first job in college was in my dorm's cafeteria. Didn't have to mess with any food. I stood guard to make sure students didn't steal the silverware or plates. Still had to wear the hair net, though.

MnGddess said...

K-mart. HORRIBLE.

captivagrl said...

babysitting and then retail, i really wanted the discount and first dibs on the new arrivals. i had so many clothes!

Sydney in Wonderland said...

Mooshki --

Who can forget that? By the way, my old boss makes his boss look positively svelte. And the avatar is perfection.

Jam...previously Jeb... said...

Teller at a Cash Advance store after high school

mooshki said...

Alpine, I'm sure it sucked at the time, but it must be fun to look back and laugh.

irishstayc2 said...

Oh Kara - that's just beyond YUCK!!

Enty - another fun one,thanks! I was second cook (prep and cook all but main entree) for a ritzy hunt club in Malvern called Radnor Hunt and I was barely 14. I worked there until I got married along with any other jobs i was doing. The manager was a dirty old man and the chef would never leave me alone with him - BUT if he the manager was drunk (80%) of the time he would totally over pay me.

to this day I still cook like I'm feeding 50 instead of just a few. LOL

BlahFrickinBlah said...

I worked at Burger King for one month. Worst.job.evah! The only cool thing about it was coming home and shoving my onion reeking hands in my mom's face to freak her out. My second job was at a grocery store. Not a cool union one mind you, privately owned so it sucked. One day waiting on my friend to go on break with me, the friggin' deep fryer malfunctioned on my leg. 2nd degree burns on both legs and the bakery girls had ripped my pants off (which is the only reason I didn't have 3rd degree thank god) However, my pervy old ass manager saw me in my skimpy panties. Well, half the fucking staff saw me in my undies. Good times.

Kara said...

Irishstacy - it was gross but the rest of my jobs got better. I swear!

My first job not working for my dad was working for a local caterer who now has a restaurant into. I worked his parties. It was awesome. I got all the free leftovers I wanted. I was 16.

The next year I worked at the local public defenders. We had a murder case. Those were my first autopsy photos.

I have to say I liked the free cheesecake better.

Ms Cool said...

Cashier at Hardees. Blech.

Anonymous said...

My first real job was as a meatcutter's apprentice. I still can pick out the best damn steak in the city and quarter a chicken in 20 seconds or less.

bionic bunny! said...

@ sis: was it a mimeograph?

ah, memories! mine was six flags over georgia, at "mustard's last stand"--foot long hot dogs & chili dogs. at that time, we were seasonal, the park only open in the summer, with two weekends in march (march madness, of course!) for training. i LOVED it there! they told me i was one of a very few who made assistant manager in their first season, and i quit in a rage when i was promoted to manager and they moved me to a different stand! i saw it as a slight instead of an honor. i also won the record for making the most hot dogs at one time. unofficially.
because we were seasonal, i started at $1.80 in march of '76, 1 was 16, and got over my fear of roller coasters. but to this day i cannot eat chili on a dog or a burger--and i can still smell the way my shoes smelled of onions! ugh!
oh, and that onion smell!

PollyPureBred said...

I lived in Iowa and everyone worked the corn fields - piled into a pick-up truck at 6 am and dumped into a field with a hoe (not a 'ho) until someone passed out from heat stroke or was threatened by lightning. We were paid $2.01 and hour (yeah, long time ago).
It sucked. The next year I got smart and got a job at Baskin-Robbin. It was heaven

WriterMommy said...

Small town grocery store cashier. Easy work for minimum wage, not very many customers, got Friday nights off (but worked Saturdays)...not too bad for a first job.

trashtalker said...

I can't remember if my first job was the one at the library or the one at the women's clothing store. Either way, it was the same shit at both places: People did not return items (books/magazines and clothes) to their proper place. I always hang clothes back on the hanger after I try them on. What is wrong with some people?

Sydney in Wonderland said...

Bunny --

You know exactly why I couldn't wear my work shoes from that job -- they eternally smell like a BBQ sandwich. I bet they're still in a bag at my parents' house somewhere, smelling it up like pulled pork.

AMD said...

My first job was at Wendy's. I loved it! My sister and one of our friends worked there, too. Everybody got along really well. One of the managers was so damn hot. When there weren't any customers, we'd all (including Hot Manager) hang out in the drive through area eating fries.

I remember we used to have these awesome chocolate chip cookies, and they had to stop selling them because we'd keep sneaking them.

Damn good times.

k said...

I worked in layaway at Target when I was 14. When business was slow I was told to pretend to be stacking chocolate bars so that I looked busy. And pretending to work is what I do best, so it was a breeze.

Geebz said...

Cashier, server, cake designer for Baskin & Robbins. I was 14 and it was down the street from my high school, so I got plenty of visitors from school trying to get a "sample" for free. Actually loved it.

Geebz said...

Oh yeah! In 1989, the minimum wage was $4.25...can you imagine?

jagerlilly said...

Nightime librarian on a Marine Corps base. 16 year old girl, young Marine recruits - you do the math! LOL - it was a lot of fun...

GossipTank said...

Baby sitting and working at the college supply shop. I used to leave at 6.30 am, college all day, 4pm at shop, train home and baby sit till 12/1 ish but the people and kids that i babysat for were lovely.

triunfopark said...

Charlies Coffee Shop at The Farmers Market

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