What was your first job?

Silifaira

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I'm sitting here looking at my two unemployed teenagers and I was thinking of all the jobs I had as a teen.

I used to pick berries before I was 16, then I worked at Dairy Queen, then a movie theater (that was fun, I liked it), a pet store and the sears appliance repair shop (also fun, and it paid really well for a high school job.)



What was your first job?
 

Trekkan

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I was a paperboy when I was 12. I remember being upset when a friend got a paper route and I couldn't because I was 11 at the time and you had to be 12. But when I turned 12 I had the job within a month (I had been bugging my friends route manager the entire time before that).

Wasn't a bad deal at the time, because then we delivered the paper after school. When they switched to morning delivery... I quit. ;)

After that my first "real" job was at.... Cloth World! =) I basically took all the deliveries of bolts of cloth and inventoried them, etc. Man I got made fun of by my friends for that job... but... I always had beer/gas money so they didn't talk too much crap. ;)
 

Sicknessink

Member
my very first job was mcdonalds i worked 43 hours a week while going to high school i was in the money lol. then i switched to spencer gifts. i loved that job. then The Marines.
 

Dsan

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Had a double newspaper route my junior/senior years. It was nice to get some money but those hours were harsh. Got a summer job at phone survey place after that...

I'm sure it varies from place to place. Down here there's not much work for anyone under 18, and not much more for people in general.
 

Morigen

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Spent a week of Christmas break my Sophomore or Junior year of High School working at a dairy barn shoveling manure out of the barns. Got paid less than a dollar an hour for that.

Summer before my senior year I worked at a full service gas station. Washed cars, fixed flats, pumped gas, changed oil, etc.

First real job was a year after I graduated, I joined the Air National Guard. Spent the summer bewtween my freshamn and sophmore years of college in training. A year later, I got my first full time job (still in college but now married) working nights at a Tyson's chicken plant.
 

Alicia

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Senior year I got a receptionist job through our schools ROTC(?) program, not the military program. I was 16 and kept that job until I was 23 and left my hometown.
 

Zynn

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First job was at McDonalds. It lasted a couple weeks. I was like 15 and some older teenager was my boss. He had me sweep the greasy-ass floor, then he would hover over me telling me the spots I am missing (Because every little thing sticks to a greasy floor and is hard to get up). I got mad and made some comment like "What the fuck do you want me to do, lick it up"? Anyway, the next time I checked my schedule, I had 0 hours. I waited the next week and called in to get my schedule for that week. Again, 0 hours. No official firing or anything, just no hours scheduled.

After that I got a job at a Ponderosa washing dishes. I rode my bike to and from work, got home late at night some times, then had to go to school in the morning. I saved my money and bought an old 1980 Toyota Corolla. Ended up waiting tables after that.

At 17, I joined the Army (you can join at 17 with parental consent). Between my Junior and Senior years of high school, my summer vacation was boot camp. I left as a long-haired Junior wearing a denim jacket with an Iron Maiden back patch on it and came back to my senior year as a hyper and very fit, aggressive, and motivated soldier with a shaved head. I was protector of my science/Dungeons & Dragons nerd friends, and jocks and burnouts feared me. lol

I didn't walk during high school graduation because I was scheduled to immediately ship out, back to the Army, for more training, so I never got the whole cap and gown experience, I only have a diploma.

Sorry, I know you only asked about the first job. I sometimes ramble.
 
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BigChef

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I was a hit man for the mob when I was 8, they couldn't prosecute minors as adults until they were at least 15 back then...went legit at 14 and became a pimp/informant for the cops, code named Huggy bear.
 

Silifaira

JFF Administrator
JFF Member
I was a hit man for the mob when I was 8, they couldn't prosecute minors as adults until they were at least 15 back then...went legit at 14 and became a pimp/informant for the cops, code named Huggy bear.

I almost believe you.
 

KrazyGonk

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I was a farmhand for a really stingy guy then i worked at a sports(?!?) shop for a few years whilst i was not working the harvest and now i work in a supermarket delivery service =]
 

Emmi

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When I was in highschool I worked at a local childrens bookstore and I actually did some door to door sales as well (like gift wrap during the holidays and tupperware etc). I also made sure to do lots of local community service as well.
 

Malsirian

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My first job was on a farm... which is funny cause I am THE least farm-y guy you'll ever meet. It was operated by LSU and they experimented with new varieties of cotton and other crops. My dad spent his career was with LSU and he got me a job there for a summer so I could start saving for a car, I was 14. We spent our days in the Louisiana heat walking up and down rows of cotton with a hoe digging up weeds. Because of all the chemicals on the plants we had to wear long sleeves and jeans. Soooo Awful. After that I knew I never wanted to do that type of work again, so I spent the rest of my high school employment working as a runner for a law firm. I still miss that sometimes. =)
 

Zynn

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I think every teen should have a crappy job so they know to appreciate their adult job.
Exactly...
Instead, we have adults, doing jobs meant to be for teens, and they are protesting and complaining that they don't get paid enough to support their family.
 

Alchymia

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A bit delayed, but...

I've been working (officially) since I was 14 (32 now)... mowing lawns for my old church doesn't really count.

First job was working over the summer assisting the janitor of my junior high to prep the school for the upcoming year (strip and wax floors, paint, deep clean everything, destroy walls/partitions, mowing)

Junior and Senior year of high school, I worked at Hardees (started in kitchen, learned front, got promoted to crew trainer). They offered me a manager position on the eve of leaving for college...sad thing is, I would have made more there than I currently am making as a postdoc... haha! I also had a position at city hall working in the city managers office as a clerk, receptionist, assistant (jack of all trades). My senior year of high school, I was working 60 hour weeks between the two jobs, playing competitive hockey, and still in several AP high school classes... where the hell has that energy gone????

As a freshman in college, I started working in the Chemistry stockroom. The next year and subsequent years were working in various research labs and as a teaching assistant. Grad school was a job in itself (we got paid, albeit a mere pittance). Postdoc is better, but still not anywhere close to what my education should dictate! Haha! I guess it's for fun, not money.

Kind of long, but I like my jobs.
 

Hyip

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I kinda used to get in trouble a bunch when I was a kid. So summers during middle school I was sent to work at this nursery carrying plants around all day.
 

complexmath

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My first paying job was probably mowing lawns. Then caddying. After that I worked for a while at a Border's bookstore but was fired for badmouthing my manager. Probably some other jobs in there too that I've blocked out.
 

RaveKnave

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My first job was a field supervisor for Parks and Recreation, basically all i did was stand around at little kids games and make sure parents didn't kill one other. Then near the end of high school i started a big time career of getting high and drinking. After that i worked in restaurants started as a prep cook at CoCo's, the after a month there they closed. Then got a job at a place called Spoons which feed the family's and clients of Hospice, also severed the public and did caterings. Then got a job at a placed called Berna' B's in which i only did catering and meal prep for the local mental institution. Then got a job worked for a company named MDS (Mesa Development Services) Now know as Strive. I started there as a DSP (Direct Support Specialist) did total care/ hospice care in a group home of 8 people for two years. Then worked at Octopus Coffee for six months making coffee. Now i work for Home Watch Care Givers doing home health as a private aid.

there you have it.
 

Icenfyre

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JFF Member
I went to beauty school at the same time I was in high school. 8 hours in class followed by 4 more. My first real job was slinging hair for a cut-rate salon back before new salons cropped up on every street corner.

Then, when I was 25-ish I found this job at the Post Office and never went back to hair. about to retire now...(yeah, I feel old sometimes.)
 
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