OT: We all started somewhere- Your first job

Paperboy for the Ann Arbor News, Route A-69 (later called 8622). Longshore Drive east to Pontiac, Amherst south to  Beckley Cemetery (road name escapes me).

Got when the came to my door looking for someone. I was maybe 10 years old...so around 1978.

Back then the paperboys/persons were 'independent contractors': We bought the papers from the News and sold them to customers. We were responsbile for collecting the monthly subsciption fee and paying the News every month. Taught me a lot about doing a good job (getting tips), dealing with people, etc.

Bag/cart boy at Meijer. It was a great first job. I always volunteered to do the carts.

Landscaping for a week and a half, then dishwasher 6 months, then busboy.

At 12, I walked around the stands and sold pop at the Toledo sports arena at big time wrestling, Goaldigger hockey games, and tractor pulls. Pretty dangerous job, as people didn't like urchins to get in the way of their entertainment.

Actually was a pretty cool job. Made a ton of cash... Got to meet a ton of the pros before they became pros. Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard, Tiger Woods, David Duvall. Met Chip Beck, Michael Jordan.

I bagged groceries at Kroger when I was 16. Not the worst job in the world, but definitely not the best.

paperboy and a dishwasher.

Started as a bus boy at Outback Steakhouse the day I turned 16. Got to serve when I was 19, worked there until I graduated college. I've eaten an entire bloomin onion more than once.

Guernsey Farms Dairy on Novi Rd.

Paperboy for the flint journal.

Forklift driver at Menards Distribution Center in Plano IL

and did that in Michigan through high school, in and around other part time jobs.  That, plus all of the yardwork I have done since, means I know way too much about the subject.  Ask me about mulching, watering, grass cut height - I'm the life of the party.

I started mowing lawns at 10. my brother and I had 4 on our block. I paid for my whole 8th grade trip to Washington dc by myself. then at 15 I bagged groceries for 2 weeks until I could get hired on at the local theater. then over the summer I would work in a box factory. been making boxes now for 18 years.

Technically first job was mowing lawns and helping people with general lanscaping such as putting up fence, cutting trees, mulching, etc when I was about 15. Started with my cousin and I kinda branched out on my own. I then worked on a vegetable farm for 4 years starting at 17...loved it. I didn't think it was hard but I don't think many things are. Farming is in my blood. I started at Lowes 2 months ago and quit on Monday. Got tired of being the only person in the Outside Garden Department while everyone else took breaks or socialized inside. I will be starting my first job in the engineering world after vacation this week. Either as an intern at an asphalt plant or a construction company that drives piles and caissons. Hoping the asphalt plant calls me on Monday.

Ponderosa Steak House in Wyoming, Mi. Washing dishes. Got a "nickel" raise after 90 days and said eff this. Here is the thing about dishes at a buffet...they never end. Ever.

and got a job at the neighborhood McDonalds. Bone Thugs in Harmony just released Creepin on ah Come Up and we kept playing "Foe the Love of Money" in the grill area.

At 13, I caddied at Red Run Golf Club. It sucked in many different ways and on many different levels.

Paper boy for the News Herald! Had a dynamite route. Could walk (or roller blade) the whole thing. Only Wednesday and Sunday. Saved up some good cash. Could throw a bagged paper 30 yards from the street to right in front of the door. MADD skillz

McDonalds for minimum wage.  $2.20 an hour.

In a former coal mining town with permanent double-digit unemployment, I thought I was a KING.

And truthfully, I had a great time.  It was very social.  People that would not talk to you otherwise became your best friends because we were all putting up with the same crap.

And we got our licks in too.  Like the time we all got busted for having a keg party on the roof of the McDonalds at 2:00 in the morning.  

Seemed like a good idea at the time . . . 

Gardner white furniture. I was 16 my co op teacher got me in I loaded and un loaded trucks

I helped run numbers for the Amish mafia in central Michigan. It was particularly exciting when I got to park their fancy buggies and rub shoulders with the made men.

I was a "custodial assistant" at ... The University of Michigan! This was between my sophomore and junior years of high school. I was the lowest-ranking person in a team of three, so I did the low-end stuff (toilets, etc.).

I remember that it was a union job and that I made about twice as much per hour as some of my classmates in generally crappier jobs. Felt fortunate .....

Bussing tables and packing carryout orders at a Chinese restaurant at 14.

 

I had a paper route in 8th grade that my dad would drive me around at 3am for. Had to quit when I started to fail math. At 15 I started working at Chick- Fila in the mall. When I was promoted to team leader at 16 I got all the free food I wanted and quickly gained 10 lbs. it was worth every bite though!

My mom was a manager of operations, and there was a little front desk small store area on the first floor (as you enter and go up the stairs). I got a job at 13 years old in there helping at the desk, and then helping clean. There was also a hotel that is now the dorm (I think?) where the maids went on strike, so I actually helped clean the hotel rooms too. The football team would eat every night in the basement, and I often watched them walk by in awe, and with crushes. Minimum wage had just been increased to $3.35/hour

Doorman/usher in a movie theater -- my first day was the night E.T. The Extraterrestrial opened.

My first job was making grave blankets. I got .75$ a blanket. By the time the season ended I was making 4 blankets an hour. Part time after school and Saturdays. Real good money for the late 60's.

Working on construction sites cleaning up after the drywall guys, manual labour with the landscapers, and designated runner sent to fetch coffee and cold drinks. 13 years old. Totally shaped my understanding of what it meant to "work" for a living. In hindsight... it was great.

For being snippy with my mom and she sent me out to get a job. I was 14 and I worked at a Dentist's office.