OT: We all started somewhere- Your first job
My 14 year-old son begins his first "formal" job today. He will be working in a diner kitchen at a summer campground doing various chores and whatever gruntwork the new guy has to do. He's always been a good worker- I'm proud of him, and grateful he has this opportunity.
This got me thinking of my first "real" job. Working at a local vegetable farm. It was April - September, 7 AM - 5 PM (during the summer months- during school, 3:30 - 6 PM), and all manual labor. I was 12. It was hard work- but there was still plenty of time for dirtball fights, smoking cigarettes, listening to the radio, hot-rodding on the farm equiptment, teasing (and learning about) the girls that worked with you, and other various forms of mischief. I learned a lot and would not trade that experience for anything!
So just wondering, MGo community- what was your first job?
Go Blue!
Wow, way to humble brag about being a migrant worker-lite. Just kidding, haha. I mowed lawns when I was 13. Always ate a Big Mac at the end
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I was 14. The law said I had to be 15 but I faked it somehow because I really wanted that job as a busboy at Sizzler steakhouse. I still remember the 'interview' and all of the disgusting all you can eat shrimp that I had to dig out of the crevices in the booths. I loved it!
Best commercial of all time:
the longest commercial I've ever seen
infomercial territory
Wow on Sizzler commercial. Just wow. That is an incredible time capsule looking back 25 years.
woman at 2:17 is special. She seems hungry.
Thirsty
After watching that, is anyone else willing to die for Sizzler?
Over 2 million YouTube views???!!!
I have never been to Sizzler, or even seen one. But it's now my favorite restaurant.
I got my first handheld cell phone in 1991 when I was at Bell Labs working in the wireless telecom infrastructure business. It was the new "slim" model that still didn't fit in my briefcase which was pre-cell phone and pre-laptop PC. That was before nationwide roaming was fully implemented, so in some regions, you would need to dial a local access number to make a call. Good old analog FM transmission and about 2 years away from the phone cloning epidemic.
but then I caught the black dad with daughter on the Merry-Go-Round at 1:30. I had no idea they were so progressive. Or that Merry-Go-Rounds make you want to eat steak. You surprised me, Sizzler.
Wow! Now I think I understand why this was my grandparents favorite restaurant now. We used to go there every Sunday after church.
1st real job was at McDonalds. I was not even 16 yet. Worked there all through high school.
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I started at Mickey D's too. I was 16 though and fired before I turned 18. SMH.
my grandpa's friend got myself and another guy a job cleaning and removing everything out of a factory. There was no electricity and no air of any kind. I would conservatively estimate the temperature in the attic when we were up there was over 85 degrees. I came home filthy and sweat covered every day. Not fun.
The following summers through college graduation, I helped my friends family bail straw. I'm now very thankful for my air conditioned desk job, but what I learned about hard work from those jobs still drives me today.
Working in a greenhouse in FL. Awesome to work in a structure that makes you feel you are in The African Congo, to then get off work and walk outside to equally hot and humid weather.
17 years old... worked at a fish market. Made pretty good money, but had to shower with lemons at the end of every shift.
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And to think at the time you had no idea how the lemon showers would prepare you for your enjoyment of your favorite blog later in life.
I predict that 75% of the responses are going to be either fast food restaurant or bagging groceries.
Personally, my first job was bagging groceries.
Ditto
Also did my share of bagging. however I did have a paper route before that. The paper route was actually my first business endeavor. my route grew so big that I eventually started hiring other neighborhood kids to help with the route. eventually I was able to completely stop delivering the actual papers, and all I had to do was make sure the other kids were taking care of theirs while collecting my check. Ended up keeping the route all through college from 700 miles away. best job I ever had.
Same here
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if it wasn't going to be 100% extinct in the next few years, I would totally do it again when I become a retiree
Why do you say it will be extinct?
Stores typically either have their cashiers bag groceries or they have the self-checkouts. Very few stores have dedicated baggers anymore
publix still has baggers in the southeast. Probably part of the reason that I think they set the bar extremely high from a customer service perspective.
Wait so those jobs are supposed to be starting jobs? Huh, Ive been told they deserve $15/hr to fuck up my burger.
I was an illegal (underage,13 years old) dishboy that worked 10 hour days on Saturday and Sunday and only made $5 / hour 20 years ago. You know, when we weren't expecting hand outs. ;)
Logged in to downvote. A living wage shouldnt be considered (nor is it) a handout.
Then reduce the cost of everything else and it will be. They're trying to fix it on the wrong end.
You do realize if they pump the minimum wage up that much all the bills you pay and all the things you buy will raise in price as well? On top of that, the small businesses that employ workers will cut jobs to make up for the increase in overhead of payroll which will either cause mass layoffs and the remaining workers will have to increase their productivity by an exorbitant amount to make up for the workforce loss in said business or quite simply the small businesses will fold. As for large corporations, it will just be much cheaper to install automated workers (cashiers, line workers) than it will be to pay employees that price (in the long run) which also will result in a large layoff as well. UMxWolverines points out that they are fixing it on the wrong end, to which I agree. I wasn't saying they shouldn't raise the minimum wage, but to raise it to $15 a hour is not the fix.
Edit: Words and stuff.
I think everyone's first job...heck even there first several jobs...should suck!!! Best motivation to go to college in the world.
Kennel boy at 14 with the local veterinarian. Every bit as glamorous as it sounds.
I worked the meat counter at the local supermarket. Mostly I stocked and cleaned the cutting room at the end of the night. For reasons I don't quite understand, I really loved the job. As an added perk, those career meat guys taught me more about swearing and sex than I thought was possible.
I can envision the butcher being a master of profanity- but not so much a Don Juan.
But maybe a Fred Garvin...
Thinning apple trees for minimum wage with a couple guys that didn't speak English who acted like they were the most fortunate people on the planet. Yeah, learned a lot about hard work that summer.
My first informal job was mowing lawns at 13 or 14 - just up and down the street where I live, and as the lots were anything from 1 to 2 acres in size, the best part of the may have been driving a tractor up and down the street, much to the chagrin of drivers who would get stuck behind me. My first formal - as in, filled out the paperwork - job was somewhat related; I worked at a landscaping place (well, a couple over a few summers as I am not a good landscaper).
Worked retail for a year at Twelve Oaks. Hated it and went to work at a golf course for the remainder of high school and the summer when I was home for school. Loved my golf course job.
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Courtesy Clerk at Kroger in Flint. Cleaning the back of the bottle return is the absolute worst thing ever. Rotten pop and beer smell. Our drains backed up numerous times so we'd just have puddles of old beer sitting in the back. Not to mention all the shards of glass that made working back there fun.
to say cleaning out the "grease" trap under a dishwasher in a bar kitchen by hand might be worse... the things you have to do when management doesn't pay the bills on time...
Tomra machines are basically cockroach hotels located inside grocery stores with an unending buffet of half dried pop syrup.
Outside working for my Dad, it was probably working on my Uncle's celery farm. I was 13 and it was hard, hot work.
Driving the range ball cart at a local driving range while people tried to kill me all day
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I reffed grade school basketball throughout high school. Real eye opening experience as a 14 year old being screamed at by a grown man for calling a travel on his 10 year old daughter. All in all not a bad job though.
I had a similar experience reffing soccer. Parents at the games of young kids are the worst.
didn't have a "real" job until after college. spent 6 months working for AmeriCorps in Detroit as an middle school/high school tutor.
but i did earn pretty decent money in high school doing jazz gigs at places around town. made $25-50 bucks a pop, probably played at 2 shows every other week for 2 years. decent side money for a highschooler.
An usher at the old Huron theatre (burned to the ground) in Pontiac. Back in the day ushers took tickets INSIDE the theatre which meant I got to see over 300 showings of Bambi one summer.
Spoiler alert - his dad dies.
Bit of a curve ball...first job was punching numbers from a blueprint into a software program at an HVAC company that kicked out a number to size the units needed as well as ductwork. It was pretty cool, especially at 14.
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job I had was a paper boy when I lived in windsor, I was 15 and making some good cash... I had one of the largest routes in all of windsor (around 90 houses @ max)... hand delivered to each house... by myself it took me about an hour or so to complete, if my buddies helped it took about 20 mins...