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First Job | Pad Patter 5.20.16.

jenevang

jenevang

Rocking a two-piece under my scrubs
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So, my teenaged son started his first "gotta pay taxes" job this week. He's been working forever off and on - yard work, cleaning out attics, taking care of pets when neighbors leave town, stuff like that - but he's never had a job where Uncle Sam took out a chunk of his earnings :giggle

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This week he started busing tables at Panera Bread (very busy sandwich shop here).

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It got me thinking about my 1st "real" job. At Kirkland's in the Mall. I got a headache every time I worked from all of the potpourri, LOL. But it was a pretty good gig overall (and honestly, I liked it better than babysitting).

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What was YOUR first job? Fond memories? Funny stories?
 
I worked at a dry cleaners. With all that machinery in a small space, it got very, very hot in there. Customers came in and said "boy, it's hot in here!" all the time. I did not need to be told that! I don't handle heat well and summers were miserable, but I was good at it, liked my co-workers, and could walk to work.
 
My first job was at a Six Flags working in the games dept. It was so fun ... full of young people and so many of us came back year after year. I ended up working there not only during High School summers but it was my go to job for college summers too. Met my husband there. Someone was always throwing an after work party. (many many marriages came out of those fun hot summer nights! haha :heartlub)
 
Oh and congrats to your son Jen! That's a big milestone ... as my son turns 16 tomorrow! Driving lessons will be starting soon here. AHHH!
 
I worked at Mervyn's department store in San Diego. I loved it the first year, then less so each year, but stuck with it for 5 years until I became a teacher. My fondest memories are from the first couple of years, including meeting my first boyfriend. But my favorite memory is the feeling of exhilaration and freedom I felt the last day I walked out of there.

I have to say, though, now, 20 years later, I'd rather return to a retail job than most kinds of teaching jobs.
 
My first real job was working in a food plaza at Boeing. My neighbors worked there and faked my paperwork. You had to be 18 to work there, but I was just over 16. That would never happen nowadays. :giggle I felt like I'd won the jackpot. I worked a 4-hour swing shift every weekday after school and had weekends free. We spent the first 90 minutes of our shifts getting food prepped and out to the plazas (for the next shift). After that, we'd head out to the plazas. We'd heat the dinners and soups and get everything stocked/ready. For a long time, I managed a plaza on my own. The plazas were like little convenience stores inside the Boeing buildings. I'd have anywhere from 75-120 guys come in within an hour, so I'd have to cash them out. It was crazy. There would be two lunch rushes. At times, you'd have over 40 guys standing in double lines and would have to get them out in under 10 minutes. I'd be taking money from one guy, giving him change, and telling the next four guys in line what their totals would be (#mentalmath). It was crazy, but lots of fun. Between rushes, I'd chat it up with stragglers, restock for the next rush, order/inventory, and do a little cleanup. I learned some really amazing customer service working there. I knew who liked what, what to stock/hold for the second rush, and how to stay away from handsy guys. It was a union job, and I made a lot of money for back then. I had insurance and was able to work split shifts during the summer. Not too shabby.
 
I started working the Monday after I graduated high school, I was 18. I was the assistant at a residential care home for the mentally disabled & took care of the owner's 2yr old as well. I cooked lunch and dinner, washed the dishes, bathed the residents, gave them their medication, and did data entry for the owner's husband. I made a whopping $5.50 an hour. I did that until October of the next year (1996). I remember my Macy's manager interviewing me & asking why I wanted to leave my other job. I said "Honestly, I want less responsibility and you pay 50 cents more." LOL. I worked at Macy's on & off from then until August of 2014. Since 1998, I'd never worked less than 2 jobs until finally leaving Macy's in 2014. I used to dream about ringing people up in my sleep. Then I'd tell myself "Jessica, you're sleeping. You can tell them to go away!"
 
When I turned 16, I worked at a Danish bakery about a mile from my home, part time, after school from 5-9 and on Saturdays. I got paid a whopping $1.25 an hour. After a few months, my boss gave me a $0.05 raise, and I didn't even notice it. Ha! Anyway, they had the BEST pastry items, napoleons, cookies, etc. One of the perks was that I could take things home and also eat things there. I quit after 5 months because I had already gained 15 pounds and my clothes weren't fitting anymore. There was no way I could buy new ones with my paycheck. :-)
 
My first "taxes taken out" job was at a dress shop called Impressions In Fashion. It was a locally owned and operated shop. I hated working there. The owner/boss made us clock out at 9 pm and then continue working, sometimes for up to two hours. I called her on it, telling her I was reporting her, and promptly quit. I felt sorry for the other girls that worked there, who were in their 20's and 30's, and didn't have the guts to confront this woman. Go me! I was only 17 and calling it like it was. LOL I don't know what happened to that gutsy chick sometimes, but at 17, I was ready to take on the world!

Olivia just got her first "taxes taken out" job within the past month. She's working at Marshall's, which is a store linked in with TJMaxx.
 
So, the downside to my teenager working. He is missing baccalaureate tomorrow (only a Junior, so not the end of the world) b/c it's his first week and he is scheduled to work. AND he's closing 3 nights in a row (not off until 11pm). Mom's not liking these hours too much. Thank heavens he's done with school for the year.
 
That's a super big milestone! Congrats to him on the job :) My first job was working at a car wash. Gosh, I loved that job!! I got to be outside all summer and be around cars (which I love). I did that for 4 summers and I have always said I would probably have done it forever if it paid better.
 
I was 15 when I got my first job - salad bar girl at Bonanza (a steak & buffet restaurant). I will never forget that my Dad made me create an actual resume and wear a dress when I went in to talk with the manager. Ha! I was slightly overdressed but I got the job. I guess it never hurts to be professional. :) The salad bar gig was okay and the people were really fun. I liked it much better when I moved up to waitress.
 
I was a "page" at our local public library. A page shelves books and is official errand runner. If the day was slow, I straightened shelves and "read" shelves (i.e. made sure the books were in the proper order). I started in high school and worked there through out college, whenever I was home on breaks.
 
Congrats to him. That's a big milestone!

My first 'real' job (other than babysitting and vegetable picking for the neighbours!) was on the checkout at a big new supermarket.

I hated it because the supervisors and full-time checkout staff hated the part-timers and bullied us. And because the smallest uniform they had came down almost to my ankles and I looked ridiculous!
 
Congratulations to your son on his first job! Sorry about the crappy hours right now though :(

My first job was working as a waitress at Pizza Hut. I was barely 16 and I was so stoked to be making my own money! I'll never forget a story that still makes me blush to this day: I had only been working for a couple of days when a customer ordered a glass of beer with his pizza. No big deal. Well, I didn't know that I, legally, couldn't pour him his beer from the tap, nor could I take it to him after it was poured. I had poured beer for my dad at home before (not from a tap lol), so I didn't think anything of it! I input his pizza/beer order to the system, fetched a frosty glass and started pouring his beer. The cook saw me and yelled for me to stop, came out from the kitchen, finished pouring the beer and took it to the customer's table. When he got back behind the counter, he pulled me aside and told me that I needed to be sure to ask someone 21 or older to get the beer for customers, then complimented my pouring skills and laughed at me for making such a huge mistake. Good times, good times.

Oh! And I also spilled a tray of drinks all over a customer once lol ONLY ONE TIME THOUGH. I was really good at this job, I swear!! :giggle

.....aaaaaaannnddddd I may or may not have slipped on a wet spot on the kitchen floor and landed flat on my back, looking straight up at the ceiling.....I rule.
 
Congrats, such an exciting moment! Plus, YUMMY food! :)

I was a lifeguard at a YMCA. Then I progressed to a swim and dive instructor. It was easy, fun and pretty laid back.

My Mom didn't want me to work during high school, so she said she would only pay for the Lifeguarding class if I swam across a lake (pry a HUGE pond, lol) we vacationed at in Maine. So, to prove her wrong, I swam across and back, with my Dad in a row boat next to me. It was only about a mile total, but at 15, it seemed a lot bigger. :)
 
Hmmm, I'm trying to think of my first real job. I taught piano lessons, was a nanny and helped out at a local resort but those weren't "taxes taken out jobs". Those were jobs I had when I still lived at home. Then when I moved to college I got a job working as a nanny a couple days a week and worked at a daycare a couple days. I think the daycare may have been my first real tax paying job. Then I felt like I got a real job when I started working at Target! I loved it.
 
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