What's new

First Job | Pad Patter 5.20.16.

I would've felt the same way! Red in the face, full of apologies and tail between my legs!
 
Congrats to your son! My 16 year old doesn't have a "gotta pay taxes" job yet. He works two cash only jobs cleaning local businesses (a dry cleaner and a personal trainer gym). He also delivers flyers door to door for the dry cleaner and some social media stuff for the trainer. He applied for a job with the Cubs but wasn't 16 by opening day. Just this week he registered with one of the extras casting companies here, since he doesn't need a special work permit anymore.

My first job was in high school, working for a plumbing wholesaler. They were part of a larger company and would send a carbon copy of all of their handwritten invoices off to the main office. They would, in turn, input those copies into their computer system and send printouts back. My job was to match up each printout to an original invoice... making sure none were missing and no mistakes were made when they entered them into the computer. Tedious work, but not a bad job. They closed pretty early in the evenings and they weren't open on the weekends so I could still do lots of social stuff. I worked there until about halfway through my senior year of college... over breaks and weekends during inventory.
 
First job I had was working for my dad, he had a laboratory at home (he worked as a boichemist ) and I would be encahrged to type the info my dad and all the technicians put in the books hand written, into the printed forms with the resulst of all exams (blood tests and all other testable things LOL) It was the early 70's , I was 12, and every afternoon when I came back from school, I would have lunch with the family, do my home work and then sit on a Remington manual type writer......
Remington12.jpg


it was exactly like this!!!
Computers were things of the Jetsons and Star Trek for us then LOL
 
My first real job was working at the local minor league baseball field selling programs when I was 16. The Oakland A's had a farm team there. When the game started sometimes I'd hold the rope at the reserved section or man a ticket booth. My brother was the bat boy so I'd have to wait until the game was over so I could take him home.
 
This has been really interesting to read the various jobs and how excited we were to have cash of our own even with taxes taken out.

My first job was at about 15 or 16 at a 5&Dime store near us. It was a brand new shopping center - small for these days - and the Sears was the lead store. LOL I handled the toy department and all it meant was watch that the children looking didn't break anything. We never worried about theft then and when it was quiet I just straightened the shelves out. It was pretty boring mostly and all I really had to do was stand around in that area. I don't know how much I made but I didn't think it was enough! :blush
 
I'm not sure if I paid taxes when I picked tobacco for a summer when I was 14? It was in Canada. I know it was a real paycheck.
But I know I had to pay taxes for my 7-11 job. I got hired at 15, because I was almost 16. And the hour restrictions weren't horrible for them to wait out. I stayed there through all of high school. It was nice, because I wasn't allowed to work alone until I was 18, so I always had company. My friend worked for them too, although a different store, but sometimes if it was really busy we could get them to work the two of us with another older employee. It came with free slurpees!

jenn mccabe said:
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)
Click to expand...

Oh my gosh! I was listening to This American Life last summer and they talked about this! It wasn't a Six Flags, but they talked about the games dept, and the relationships, and the year after year.

jenevang said:
AND he's closing 3 nights in a row (not off until 11pm)
Click to expand...
Ugh! That's hard!

y_baros said:
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
Click to expand...
I love that he complemented your pouring skills! And we have this rule in our state. There's always a 'minor' at the grocery store with the sign that they can't sell alcohol, pick another line.
 
I was a lifeguard/swim teacher making $1.15 an hour. My bathing suit strap broke once while diving in during lessons, but we won't go there.
 
bestcee said:
Oh my gosh! I was listening to This American Life last summer and they talked about this! It wasn't a Six Flags, but they talked about the games dept, and the relationships, and the year after year.
Click to expand...

I've never listened to This American Life ... that is funny! There is a movie with Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg called Adventureland that sums it up pretty well. The hubby and I watched it awhile ago and laughed so hard at some of the scenes.
 
jenn mccabe said:
I've never listened to This American Life ... that is funny! There is a movie with Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg called Adventureland that sums it up pretty well. The hubby and I watched it awhile ago and laughed so hard at some of the scenes.
Click to expand...

It's Episode 443, and it's Worlds of Fun amusement park. I had to look it up :) Apparently, they have a sweet sixteen gaming contest. I think I saw Adventureland, but I don't remember it well!
 
I started at McDonalds when I was 14, almost 15. I worked there all through high school and a couple of breaks in college. I had to work the opening shift on Saturday and Sunday and we had to be there at 4:00 a.m on Saturday and 4:30 am on Sunday. Ouch! The good news was that I could be off by 2:30.
 
This thread has been a fun read! And congrats to your son on his job.

My first job was great. I worked at a food booth at the Los Angeles Renaissance Faire when I was in high school (beef ribs, smoked chickens and turkey legs). It was weekends for 6 weeks, but the pay was amazing - $8.00 hr (+ double overtime) and that was when the minimum wage was $1.75. It was a real eye-opening experience, too, because let's just say I wasn't in church anymore! I saw things at age 16 that I wish I never had seen. Yet it was so fun. My boss was wonderful and he treated us so good. We served so many celebrities that it became commonplace to see them. My favorite was when Henry Winkler (Fonzie) came up to the booth and we told him that Ron Howard had just been there and sent him off in his direction to find him. I worked there for about 5 seasons, and it was a great job to come home from college to work at.
 
I started working the minute I turned sixteen, at local fast food place that served burgers, fries, tacos, bean burritos, etc. It was a couple towns away, but my three closest friends got jobs there too and we became friends with all the other teenage kids that worked there. Lots of fun and great memories! My social life in high school was more linked to this job than to anything going on at school.
 
lorryfach said:
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.
Click to expand...

Ha - my first real job too! My mom worked there pressing pants and got me a job in the shirt laundry part. Hot AND Steamy all the time! I looked like a well used rag when I left at the end of the day. Worst summer job i ever had.

And congratulations for your son @jenevang - awesome milestone to being a full fledged adult.
 
@jenevang Congrats to your son!

My first job was working through my tribe's summer jobs program. I worked at my school in the front office and the cafeteria doing various tasks such as cleaning, filing paperwork, etc. I was 14 and about to start high school. I think I got $4.25 an hr?
 
I started my first job when I was 17, a senior in high school. I was a cashier at the local grocery store. Way back in 1977, before the days of computerized registers. We had to add up all the coupons and deposits on pop bottles and then subtract that amount from the total, giving the customer that amount back. I hated when it was double coupon week. I made a lot of money back them - $3.50 an hour. I worked about 20 hours a week, which was all that a 17 year old could work and only between the hours of 4 and 9 pm on a school night. I did work some weekends, too, which meant a full 8 hour day. But then I'd have off 2 nights instead.
 
My 1st job that wasn't babysitting, was Burger King, when I was 14. It sucked..lol One day, I burned my hand pretty bad, on the fryer, and the manager basically told me to suck it up, and wouldn't let me go home. I quit shortly after that. Throughout high school I worked at the local grocery store, Dunkin' Donuts, Papa Gino's, and then I worked at CVS for the remainder of high school. I actually loved that job.
 
Back
Top