Question Of The Day Sunday 11 August, 2019

[Mia6]

GOOD MORNING AND HAPPY SUNDAY!!

I WAS TALKING ABOUT THIS WITH SOMEONE RECENTLY SO I THOUGHT I WOULD ASK YOU.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB? HOW OLD WERE YOU? DID YOU LIKE IT?

I started baby-sitting when I was 12. I babysat for the golf pro from the country club and his wife. They had 2 young boys who were nice kids and the freezer always had ice cream, there were always chips, and COKE!! We only had coke on holidays. They wouldn't get home till around 2am so I would watch scary movies with the lights off. The dog, Putter, was useless as far as a guard dog but the cat, who was black, would stay up with me and keep me company while I watched old scary movies. Their was one called Horror Hotel that really frightened me but Shadow would sit on my lap. When they got home I could tell the mom had lots to drink, ha!! I would get about $10.00 for the night which was good for the mid to late 60s.

So what was your first job?

 

[verna davies]

That sounds like a cushy job, no wonder you liked it.
I had a Saturday job in Woolworths on the electric counter, thats where I learned how to wire a plug.I was 15. After a few months they moved me to the sweet counter, I would disappear under the counter and come back up with cheeks like a hamster. I must have eaten all the profit that day. Needless to say, I was back on the electric counter the next week. Cant remember what the pay way, something like 7 shillings.

 

[Jem]

My first job was at a jewelry store. Started that job when I was 15 and kept it until I graduated College and started working in my field.
I had other jobs along the way to fill in the gaps (and my wallet) but that was my first.
I know I scored big time. And I didn't even have to apply for it! My Dad came home one day and said, I got you a job, you start this weekend. I was like..."uh...OK". The owner of the store and my Dad were friends and he approached my Dad when he was shopping. He ask if either myself or my sister needed a job. My sister (who was older) already had one, so my Dad said I did. And voila!, I got a job in a fancy jewelry store!

 

[Mia6]

I had a Saturday job in Woolworths

didn't know you had Woolworth's in UK! They had the best cheeseburgers. I can see that you at the sweet center was not good for their profits, ha!

My first job was at a jewelry store

I worked at a jewelry store as well but was fired because I was not a good salesperson.

 

[Talien]

My first "real" job was doing maintenance at a retail store when I was 17 or 18, I'd done other work before that but nothing steady. I was supposed to be the janitor but ended up doing basically everything except running a register. In addition to the usual cleaning duties I helped with pulldowns and stock, I set up/took down/moved displays, I changed the bulbs in the hanging lights (not fun since I have acrophobia), I occasionally worked the sales floor when someone was on break and they were the only one in their department, and I helped unload the trucks.

I made $6.00/hr. which was minimum wage at the time.

 

[Graceful-Lily]

I worked at FabricLand for about... 4 days before I couldn't take it anymore. I was 17 years old. The place was sleep inducing. Dull, nothing to stimulate my brain. Everyone was old and depressed. The backroom where employees warm food and had their break was pathetic. A tiny 3.5' x 3.5' (probably way smaller) table for everyone to eat on. We'd often cram at that table and say nothing to each other. Smacking elbows into each other in the process and always over apologizing. There was a plastic shelf for storing food but no fridge. Did I mention the room was SMALL?! A microwave from the 1800s (it looked that old) that took at least 10 minutes to warm your food enough so that you wouldn't get an upset tummy (not very warm). The bathroom was a joke. Disgusting. Looked unfinished. Everyone used the one bathroom. Even the customers who came in and asked to use it.

That wasn't even the worst part!! The manager, an Italian woman (a lot of the people in management and who work there are Italian), always criticized the way I worked. "Smile more! You look... sad." I didn't see ANYONE ELSE smiling. There is nothing to creepily smile about while I work. I needed to work faster. She often spoke in Italian to the other manager, right across from me. Staring at me while doing so. They were clearly talking about me. I wasn't allowed to leave the store for breaks, to get lunch or anything. I had to stay inside the store until the work day was over. We were also doing inventory at the time and she told me that if I made one mistake, they'd have to start again and it would be all my fault.

AND GET THIS! SHE WAS THE ONE WHO ASKED ME TO WORK THERE FOR SEVERAL YEARS. She asked so much that I finally said, 'Yes!'. This was after high school and I didn't know what I wanted to go to college for so I figured I'd work a year and then go to school. I lasted 4 days. Because of her, I ended up applying to college after I left (I did not quit, I stopped showing up) and I got accepted within the same month I think. And, with me leaving, she called me, she called my mom. Now, every time my mom goes to the store, she is ignored by the manager, the lady who hired me. Childish. They've known each other since my mom was pregnant with me. She'd often go to the store pregnant and took me there as a young child. I've been going to that one store my whole life, basically. All of a sudden, there is a problem between HER (manager) and ME and my mom is the one who gets the silent treatment.

I could go on and on. There's probably more I don't remember but, I'll stop here.

OH YEAH! I didn't get paid...

 

[NY cat man]

I had several day jobs- like weeding gardens or baling hay- when I was 10 or 11. I also baby-sat once in a while. My first job that was regular came when I was 14, and it involved working at a garage, going from pumping gas to eventually doing collision and paint work, as well as mechanical repairs. I stayed at it all through high school, earning money to help take some of the load off of my parents.

 

[jcat]

Occasional or regular? I started babysitting neighbors' kids at 12, and my mom's boss would pay me to come in once in a while to straighten up the filing cabinets. My first regular job was working as a short-order cook at a swim club when I was 14.

 

[darkmavis]

My first job was a cook at Pizza Hut when i was 16 after i got my driver'd license. It was about a 3 minute walk from home. It was carryout and delivery only, no dining room. My uniform permanently smelled like grease. Sooo much oil was used in those pan pizzas. I was either cold because my hands were in cold pizza toppings, or roasting because I was on the cut table by the oven. So no, i didn't really like it much, but i did like most of the people i worked with, and the location was perfect.

 

[cassiopea]

My first "Unofficial" job was a dog walker, which I started to do at the age of 9 and continued until 12/13. After that I started babysitting my neighbors kids.

For the dog walker job it was a "Loonie a Loop" - AKA a dollar a walk via a loop around the long street pathway and trail.

Not the craziest amount of money of course, but if you walk a few doggies on a daily basis it can add up reasonably well, and to a 9 year old kid it was all good. And it was pleasant spending time with the local doggos!


My first "Official" job was at Subway at the age of 16. Oh my I hated it there It was the only position where I actually would cry before going to work. The people there were SO TOXIC. I managed to hang in there for a couple of months over the summer then high tailed it outta there.

 

[kashmir64]

My first jobs were training horses and mowing lawns until I got my DL. My first real job - where taxes were taken- was McDonalds when I was 16. I did babysit once or twice but since I don't like kids, it didn't work out so well.

 

[Kat0121]

It was in the bakery at Pathmark

I was 14. That was the youngest age that you could get working papers from school in NY (this was 1984. No idea if this has changed or not). I sliced, wrapped, priced breads and got them on the shelf. The wrapping machine had a huge roll of plastic wrap and a metal bar that heated up. I'd put the bread on a Styrofoam tray, cover it in plastic wrap and the metal bar is what cut the plastic wrap and made it easy to seal the wrap closed. Then I made the tag which was a sticker. It came down a small metal slide which was also hot. That would activate the glue on the sticker so I could attach it to the wrap on the bread. We also had breads that went into bags with twist ties but the majority went into Styrofoam trays. I burned myself on that bar and slide countless times.

There were three guys that worked in the bakery with me. 2 of them were (I think) early 30's and the third one was probably 23 or so. They were all great and so nice to me. Can you imagine that happening today?

 

[Elphaba09]

This sounds crazy, but I started babysitting shortly before my 9th birthday. It started off with me babysitting a five-year-old on Saturday and Sunday for at least 8 hours a day. I think I got $20 a weekend. That summer, when I was 9, I started also babysitting a newborn and a 7-year-old Monday- Friday for 5-8 hours a day with occasional late nights when the parents went out. My typical day started at 5. During the school year, I went at 5 and stayed until the other sitter came right before the school bus picked me up. They paid my mother directly, so I have no idea what I made. I babysat those two for three years.

 

[Lola3791]

I worked at FabricLand for about... 4 days before I couldn't take it anymore. I was 17 years old. The place was sleep inducing. Dull, nothing to stimulate my brain. Everyone was old and depressed. The backroom where employees warm food and had their break was pathetic. A tiny 3.5' x 3.5' (probably way smaller) table for everyone to eat on. We'd often cram at that table and say nothing to each other. Smacking elbows into each other in the process and always over apologizing. There was a plastic shelf for storing food but no fridge. Did I mention the room was SMALL?! A microwave from the 1800s (it looked that old) that took at least 10 minutes to warm your food enough so that you wouldn't get an upset tummy (not very warm). The bathroom was a joke. Disgusting. Looked unfinished. Everyone used the one bathroom. Even the customers who came in and asked to use it.

That wasn't even the worst part!! The manager, an Italian woman (a lot of the people in management and who work there are Italian), always criticized the way I worked. "Smile more! You look... sad." I didn't see ANYONE ELSE smiling. There is nothing to creepily smile about while I work. I needed to work faster. She often spoke in Italian to the other manager, right across from me. Staring at me while doing so. They were clearly talking about me. I wasn't allowed to leave the store for breaks, to get lunch or anything. I had to stay inside the store until the work day was over. We were also doing inventory at the time and she told me that if I made one mistake, they'd have to start again and it would be all my fault.

AND GET THIS! SHE WAS THE ONE WHO ASKED ME TO WORK THERE FOR SEVERAL YEARS. She asked so much that I finally said, 'Yes!'. This was after high school and I didn't know what I wanted to go to college for so I figured I'd work a year and then go to school. I lasted 4 days. Because of her, I ended up applying to college after I left (I did not quit, I stopped showing up) and I got accepted within the same month I think. And, with me leaving, she called me, she called my mom. Now, every time my mom goes to the store, she is ignored by the manager, the lady who hired me. Childish. They've known each other since my mom was pregnant with me. She'd often go to the store pregnant and took me there as a young child. I've been going to that one store my whole life, basically. All of a sudden, there is a problem between HER (manager) and ME and my mom is the one who gets the silent treatment.

I could go on and on. There's probably more I don't remember but, I'll stop here.

OH YEAH! I didn't get paid...

I'm sorry you had such a miserable time there.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I did some babysitting in my mid-teens but that was only if someone asked. I didn't look for jobs.

My first "real" job was at a Dairy Queen when I was 16. It was not all fun and I only lasted 6 weeks (one of which I was out with strep throat) but looking back it was a good experience for me. I learned a lot about working in general.

My parents did not push us to work during the school years and I spent most of my summer with my Dad in another state so no working then either. They always said school came first. But if I wanted a car I needed to help pay for it. One day I spotted a car for sale that I fell in love with (a camaro ). So I got a job. But not that car. Actually no car at all for a while. It was just too much insurance wise. I probably worked 20-25 hours a week and it was during the school year. (I have no idea what labor laws were back then. That never occured to me.) It became clear pretty quick that I didn't get time for homework or other commitments and extracurriculars. So I quit. And felt guilty for it.

Did I mention I don't really like ice cream all that much? I got the job there because one of my best friends worked there. I still don't like the smell of ice cream and grease. I'm still acquainted with one of the girls I met there though. And her brother ended up becoming good friends with DH and sometimes our kids have gotten to play together. That's the best I got out of it.

 

[Boris Diamond]

I had responsibilities at home - parents weren't around much - and I went to a camp where we did hard physical labor in the morning and used camp facilities in the afternoon. I also mowed lawns in the neighborhood.

But the first real job I had was at Sears. I worked as a counter person at the parts/repair/catalog center. My boss was a great guy and I learned sooo much! We had to get parts for everything Sears sold. We had hundreds of sheets of microfiche that we would put on a viewer so the customer could show us what part to get/order. Also we took items in for repair and took catalog orders. I was only there for the summer before my first year of college, but I liked the job and it paid more than the average starting employee at Sears was paid. We had to do well on testing to get that job.

 

[Willowy]

My uniform permanently smelled like grease.

My brother worked at Pizza Hut for years. I know that smell!

I babysat starting when I was 11 (this was the earliest the Navy base allowed). I had a steady job doing group babysitting for the aerobics class during the day (because I was homeschooled) and took random jobs too. When we moved to the States I kept babysitting, plus my brother and I had paper routes.

My first "real" job was a call center when I was 19. It was pretty decent at first but went through several company changes and ended up being a crummy place to work.

 

[neely]

Although I babysat for the neighbor's two children, my first official salaried job was in my teens doing office work in the legal dept. at an insurance company, e.g. typing and transcription. I kept the job throughout summers during my college years. Except for one summer when my best friend from high school and I thought it would be fun to work in a factory. We were so naive and thought it would be like the tv sitcom, Laverne & Shirley, lol.

 

[susanm9006]

Babysitting since age 12 most Friday and Saturday nights. Car hop at the A&W when I was 16.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

My first job was when I was 14. I worked as an after-hours cleaner for a vet clinic. I was there for like 2 months before I got fired because I wasn't doing assigned tasks. Since it was my first job, I didn't really understand how things worked, so when I wasn't trained on certain things on the list, I didn't do them because I didn't know how. I would hardly call it my fault, especially since the vet clinic never even talked to me about it and they told my dad that I was fired and not me.