First Job

Now that sounds like the best first job so far.  Mine was working as a gas jockey at a full service gas station.  Not fun at all, and hot work in the summer.

TW

Ahhh!  I remember those days of filling out job apps.

Besides the standard-issue babysitting, my first "real" job was at an upscale children's boutique in West Bloomfield, Mi.  This was back in the mid-80s, so I'm sure my pay was something like $4.00/hr.  I was only 15. 

I also spent some time in an OB/GYN office, an ACE Hardware, Linens'n'Things, etc.

Actually, I made pretty good money as a babysitter and kept myself pretty busy with that during college.  I had a regular schedule and managed to pay my car payment and tuition and books off that -- I lived at home so rent was free.

At 13 I delivered papers - and I did it the "old fashioned way" where you get up at 4:30 in the morning, ride your bike to the paper office, fold your own papers and ride your bike around town throwing them on peoples porches.  Not  the way they do it now, where the spoiled brat's parent drives them everywhere.

At 14 I picked apples in an orchard.  By hand. Just for the one picking season, but it just about killed me, even at that young and resilient age.

At 15 I babysat.  For 5 kids for $2 bucks an hour.  Kids who babysit now make more than I do.

On my 16th birthday (in November, in Iowa) I walked 5 miles across town to fill out an application at Tommy Tucker burger place - I got a job there at the counter for $1.10 an hour.  Sometimes people who knew me would give me rides (town of 5000 people), most of the time, I walked.

At 17 I got a better, closer to home waitressing job at Gus and Tony's Pizza place.  One of those coveted jobs that all the girls want because there were TIPS.  I worked there until I graduated from high school.  Funny side note - this July while I was on RAGBRAI we went through one of the small towns and I saw a sign for Gus and Tony's restaurant.  I thought to myself, there is NO way there could be a different Gus and Tony in Iowa - so I stopped in and sure enough, it was MY Gus! (Tony had gone back to Greece many years ago).  We had the nicest visit - it was really fun.

Other than staying home 1 year when each of my two kids were born, I've been working for 29 years!  Wow, I need to retire soon!

I pierced ears for Claire's. At 14. Would you trust a 14 year old to pierce your ears? You shouldn't!

And then I made coffee. For both Starbucks and Caribou. I was an excellent barrista

The best retail job I ever had was Barnes and Noble. I would go work there again anytime. You got paid to talk about books all day. It was awesome. And the other people who worked there were really well read, so at the very least, you had interesting people to talk to. Yeah, it was all part time work and everyone was kind of a drifter, but they enjoyed reading, and so there was always semi intelligent conversation going on. It was awesome. 

Cutting weeds out of a Soybean field. $1.25 hr.  Hot, Humid, gnats, skeeters and muddy shoes.  Fields were a half mile long (back then it was forever-now I would run it and consider it a speed workout)

And since I grew up on a farm, did a lot of jobs that were really not paying jobs.  Just roll up the sleeve work.